Will the royal wedding popularize “Pippa”?

Were you one of the supposedly two billion people who tuned in to watch the royal wedding?

I wasn’t. But I did see some of the wedding photos. And I couldn’t help but notice the pretty girl behind Kate Middleton, helping out with that long train.

Who was she? Philippa “Pippa” Middleton, Kate’s little sister.

Pippa impressed many people, it seems. US Weekly dubbed her the “hottest bridesmaid ever.” The ladies on The View insinuated that she outshone her sister. Justin Bieber tweeted about her. And her bum currently has 27,471 fans on Facebook.

The name Pippa has always been rare in the United States. In 2009, only 21 baby girls were named Pippa. Do you think Pippa Middleton’s sudden fame in the U.S. will give the name a boost in 2011?

(Also, did you like Kate’s dress? How about Pippa’s?)

UPDATE: Here’s the answer! (For England and Wales, too!)

8 thoughts on “Will the royal wedding popularize “Pippa”?

  1. I think it could definitely help to popularize Pippa a little more in the United States. I was already a fan of Pippa (and Phillipa) but I have to admit I enjoyed hearing her name repeated throughout the day.

    I really liked both Kate and her sister’s dresses, although I thought it was a little odd that her maid of honor was also in white….

  2. I loved the whole wedding, I thought it was beautiful. Pippa (love it, not so much Phillipa though..) and Kate (hate that she is changing her name to Catherine..) both looked gorgeous… And Kate’s dress wasn’t pure white, it is supposed to look a bit off-white because she is not a virgin. Diana could wear white because she was pure, Kate wasn’t..

  3. In case you were wondering, the “Pippa Middleton Ass Appreciation Society” now has 72,746 members.

  4. Well, as the mom of a six-year-old Philippa (Pippa), I’m hoping it’s not going to skyrocket. Our Pippa was born in the UK (hubby is English), but we have lived in the US for most of her life now. The Pippa Middleton fame has been nice for us because people who may once have thought “What a weird name!” are now realizing it is a perfectly normal, but very British name, which is more what we were going for. So, I’m glad for the name to have a slightly higher profile, but hopefully not too much higher.

  5. I truly hope it doesn’t become overly popular in the U.S. My husband and I just welcomed our first little one, a daughter, on April 18, 2011. We named her Philippa Jeanne and were calling her Pippa. We loved the obscurity of the name and received many compliments on it in the hospital. Much to our chagrin, two weeks later the Royal Wedding took place and Pippa Middleton arrived on the scene. Now when strangers ask what my daughter’s name is, I groan inwardly because I fear they think I’m some ninny who would name my daughter after a British girl whose derriere stole the show!

  6. Here are the numbers for Pippa and Philippa:

    2011: 69 baby girls named Pippa
    2010: 16 baby girls named Pippa
    2009: 21 baby girls named Pippa

    2011: 53 baby girls named Philippa
    2010: 25 baby girls named Philippa
    2009: 18 baby girls named Philippa

    From 2010 to 2011, usage for Pippa more than quadrupled and usage for Philippa more than doubled.

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