While looking over the most popular baby names of 2005, I was surprised to see that Ulysses (#978) ranked far below its Spanish equivalent, Ulises (#545).
I’m not used to seeing English names* rank lower than their foreign language equivalents; I’m much more accustomed to rankings such as these:
- Alexander (#12), Alejandro (#97), Alessandro (#664)
- Alexandra (#37), Alejandra (#220), Alessandra (#454)
- Anthony (#8), Antonio (#92)
- Charles (#56), Carlos (#70), Carlo (#829)
- Michael (#2), Miguel (#94)
- Peter (#161), Pedro (#217)
- Paul (#130), Pablo (#284)
- Vincent (#111), Vicente (#562), Vincenzo (#895)
When I went back through the 2005 list to see if I could find more ‘Ulises trumps Ulysses’-type scenarios, I was amazed by just how many I found. Here are several of them:
- Alberto (#290), Albert (#343)
- Alfredo (#352), Alfred (#714)
- Arturo (#300), Arthur (#355)
- Eduardo (#129), Edward (#134)
- Ernesto (#370), Ernest (#655)
- Francisco (#142), Francis (#527)
- Gilberto (#529), Gilbert (#594)
- Jorge (#118), George (#139)
- Mauricio (#368), Maurice (#414)
- Paola (#306), Paula (#667)
- Rodrigo (#391), Roderick (#782)
- Rolando (#551), Roland (#742)
This trend is no doubt being fueled by the growing number of Spanish-speakers living in the U.S., though I bet it’s also partly due to the declining popularity of names like Gilbert and Alfred (which just can’t compete against modern favorites like Tyler, Dylan, Chase and Jayden).
*By “English names” I mean to refer to names commonly used by English speakers, not to names that originated in the English language.
2 Comments
I think people are also attracted to exotic and unusual sounding names. My babies are furkids but I’m always on the look out for names that will make them stand out. Unfortunately everyone else always has the same idea at the same time and you get name trends…
Talia Mana, what did you mean by “My babies are furkids”?