How popular is the baby name Albertine in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Albertine.

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Popularity of the baby name Albertine


Posts that mention the name Albertine

What gave the baby name Coretta a boost in 1968?

Civil rights activist Coretta Scott King with her four children (Yolanda, Bernice, Martin III, Dexter) in 1971
Coretta Scott King and family

The baby name Coretta was the fastest-rising baby name of 1968:

  • 1970: 146 baby girls named Coretta [rank: 903rd]
  • 1969: 194 baby girls named Coretta [rank: 722nd]
  • 1968: 336 baby girls named Coretta [rank: 523rd]
  • 1967: 13 baby girls named Coretta
  • 1966: 16 baby girls named Coretta

The name also saw it’s highest-ever usage that year, as did the variant spelling Corretta. And another spelling, Koretta, appeared for the very first time in the data in 1968.

What was bringing all this attention to the baby name Coretta in 1968?

Coretta Scott King. She was the wife of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., until his assassination on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. This event put Coretta and her children (Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter, and Bernice*) in the national spotlight.

Not long after the death of her husband, Coretta took Martin’s place as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement. She was instrumental in establishing the national holiday Martin Luther King, Jr. Day — which happens to be today.

Coretta Scott King was named in honor of her paternal grandmother, Cora. The name Cora is a Latinized form of the ancient Greek name Kore (“maiden”), one of the epithets of the goddess Persephone.


*Usage of the names Yolanda and Dexter also increased markedly in 1968. The usage of Martin, which had been declining, saw an uptick that year. (Peak usage was in 1963, the year of MLK’s legendary “I have a dream” speech.) The usage of Bernice was seemingly unaffected by the assassination.

Incidentally, in her 1969 book My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King talked about the naming of her daughters Yolanda (nicknamed Yoki) and Bernice:

I chose the name Yolanda Denise, but my husband had reservations about it. He questioned whether people would call her Yolanda or would mispronounce the name. He was right. Her name is so frequently mispronounced that it bothered her when she was growing up.

There is a tendency among middle-class African Americans to give their children unusual names. Perhaps they are seeking elegance or some special identification. I fell victim to this custom, rather than following the sensible practice of naming the baby after a member of the family. Later Martin said, “If we ever have another baby girl, I’m going to give her a simple name like Mary Jane.”

When we did have another daughter, we called her Bernice Albertine, after her two grandmothers. Her name was not quite Mary Jane, but at least she was named for members of the family.

Sources: Coretta Scott King – Wikipedia, Cora – Behind the Name, SSA

Image: Adapted from Coretta Scott King and family with NEC President Gunther Schuller by New England Conservatory Archives under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Five-name Friday: Girl name for Wilbur’s sister

The new year is almost here! You’re at the liquor store stocking up on some extra champagne for the small get-together you’ll be hosting tomorrow night. (Your friends will be very impressed by your wreath!)

As you shop, you chat with a friendly lady who says she wishes she could do the champagne toast this year, but she can’t because she’s pregnant. You congratulate her, and as you gather up the last of the bottles, she mentions the type of baby name she’s searching for:

Wilbur’s little sister needs an uncommon name with history. Names that we love but can’t use are Sylvie, Lenore and Albertine.

“Do you have any suggestions?”

You’re a name-lover, and you could potentially give her dozens of suggestions. But these bottles are getting heavy, so you only have time to give her five baby name suggestions before you lumber over to the register.

But here’s the fun part: Instead of blurting out the first five names you come up with (which is what you’d be forced to do in real life) you get to press a magical “pause” button, brainstorm for a bit, and then “unpause” the scenario to offer her the best five names you can think of.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you brainstorm:

  • Be independent. Decide on your five names before looking at anyone else’s five names.
  • Be sincere. Would you honestly suggest these particular baby names out loud to a stranger in the store?
  • Five names only! All names beyond the first five in your comment will be either deleted or replaced with nonsense words.

Finally, here’s the request again:

Wilbur’s little sister needs an uncommon name with history. Names that we love but can’t use are Sylvie, Lenore and Albertine.

Which five baby names are you going to suggest?