Be on the Lookout for Merida in 2012
| 29 June 2011 | Filed under Baby Names, Girl Names, Pop Culture Baby Names, Prognostications, Unique Baby Names |
Here’s one to put on your calendars.
In June of 2012 — exactly a year from now — Pixar is planning to release its 13th feature film, Brave. The movie is a fairy tale set in Scotland. The protagonist, a red-haired girl named Merida, is both a princess and an archer.
As far as I know, Merida is not a traditional Scottish name. Mairead, Murron, Morag…these are Scottish. I have no idea how Pixar came up with Merida, though. (Maybe they were vacationing in Mexico at the time?)
Anyway, the film looks cute. I have no doubt it will do well at the box office. And what happens then? First, a surge in the number of kids who want to take archery lessons. Second, and more importantly, bazillions of baby girls named Merida.
But that’s a long way off. Until then, let’s look at some of the U.S. data on this very rare name:
- Best year? 1949, when 13 baby girls were named Merida.
- Second-best year? 1957, when 12 baby girls were named Merida.
- Most recent appearance on the SSA’s baby name list? 2002, with 5 baby girls named Merida.
Do you like the name Merida? Do you think it’s the sort of name that could really take off in the U.S.?
As someone who would love to use Meridian (and Magellan) as a name, I wish I could like Merida more.
When the trailer hit the internet, I looked up the origin of Spanish city’s name. Mérida is the feminine of the Latin ?meritus, meaning (“veteran”). So it seems very fitting for a courageous fighter and skilled archer.
My oldest childhood friend is Marita, and I love that one. But Merida sounds, to me, like a lazy pronunciation of Marita.
And here I liked the idea that my name was unique.
Merida comes from the phrase “Emerita Augusta”, referring to Roman soldiers that had done great deeds for their country. The name has come to assume the meaning “one who has achieved a high place of honor”. It’s been used as a name for men and women, although these days it’s generally a female name.
It’s similar to the Gaelic name Meridel, which means “mirthful, joyous” (from what I’ve seen in the spectacular trailers this appears to fit the character). The English equivalent of Meridel is Meredith, which when pronounced in the Scottish dialect does sound a bit like ‘Merida’; perhaps that’s how they came up with it. Over all I think it’s beautiful name for a fantasy character but I don’t see it hit the ‘Top 50 Girls Names’ anytime soon.
Merida has been a name passed through my family for several generations. My grandma is named Merida, and so is my aunt. My middle name is Merida. However, we have always pronounced it Mar-ee-duh. I like the name, but people always think it is Maria. I think that it will go up in popularity and recognition after the movie comes out.
I’ve lived for 62 years with my name Merida (Mah-ree-da) which very few people have been able to pronounce so they call me anything close to it. If I had a preference I would rather my mother had named me something not so exotic as to be a topic of conversation every time I met someone…there’s so much more to talk about. But to think that now it may finally be a popular name is appealing, however I wouldn’t want to have it be my name again. Life would be easier if I didn’t have to begin a conversation by correcting people in the pronunciation.
let me tell you that my last name is Mérida! (i’m from south america so we spell it with tittle) I didn’t know it could be a name too. I thought it was because of the spanish and mexican cities but all the explanations i have just read about roman and latin dialectics sound great haha