How popular is the baby name Antoinette 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 Antoinette.

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Popularity of the baby name Antoinette


Posts that mention the name Antoinette

Girl names that end with a T-sound

Girl names that end with a T-sound

In the U.S., most of the names given to baby girls end with a vowel sound. And many of the remaining names end with an N-sound.

So, what about girl names that end with other sounds?

Below is a selection of girl names that end with a T-sound, regardless of last letter. The names are ordered by current popularity.

Charlotte
A French feminine form of Charles, which is derived from a Germanic word meaning “free man.” Here’s the popularity graph for Charlotte.

Scarlett
From the English surname, which originally referred to a person who worked with a woolen cloth called scarlet (which was often dyed red). Here’s the popularity graph for Scarlett.

Violet
From the type of flower. Here’s the popularity graph for Violet.

Margaret
From the Ancient Greek word for “pearl.” Here’s the popularity graph for Margaret.

Juliette
A French diminutive of Julie. Here’s the popularity graph for Juliette.

Colette
A short form of the French name Nicolette. Here’s the popularity graph for Colette.

Kate
A nickname for Katherine. Here’s the popularity graph for Kate.

Elliott
From the English surname, which is derived from the name Elias. Here’s the popularity graph for Elliott.

Scout
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Scout.

Bridget
A variant of the Irish name Brighid, meaning “the exalted one.” Here’s the popularity graph for Bridget.

Arlette
The French form of the Germanic name Herleva. Here’s the popularity graph for Arlette.

August
From the name of the month, which was derived from the ancient Roman title Augustus. Here’s the popularity graph for August.

Egypt
From the country in northern Africa. Here’s the popularity graph for Egypt.

Amethyst
From the type of precious stone. Here’s the popularity graph for Amethyst.

Harriet
The English form of the French name Henriette. Here’s the popularity graph for Harriet.

Bernadette
A French feminine form of Bernard, which is made up of elements meaning “bear” and “hardy.” Here’s the popularity graph for Bernadette.

Odette
A French diminutive of Oda. Here’s the popularity graph for Odette.

Montserrat
From the island in the Caribbean. Here’s the popularity graph for Montserrat.

Annette
A French diminutive of Anne. Here’s the popularity graph for Annette.

Kit
A nickname for Katherine. Here’s the popularity graph for Kit.

Merritt
From the English surname, which is derived from the place name Merriott, meaning “boundary gate.” Here’s the popularity graph for Merritt.

Nicolette
A diminutive of the French name Nicole. Here’s the popularity graph for Nicolette.

Paulette
A French feminine form of Paul, which is derived from a Latin word meaning “small.” Here’s the popularity graph for Paulette.

Ayat
An Arabic word meaning “signs.” Here’s the popularity graph for Ayat.

Beckett
From the English surname. Here’s the popularity graph for Beckett.

Yvette
A French feminine form of Yves. Here’s the popularity graph for Yvette.

Dalett
Coined by reality TV couple Larry Hernández and Kenia Ontiveros (Larrymania). Here’s the popularity graph for Dalett.

Yamilet
A Spanish form of the Arabic name Jamilah. Here’s the popularity graph for Yamilet.

Janet
A diminutive of Jane. Here’s the popularity graph for Janet.

Millicent
From a Germanic name made up of elements meaning “labor” and “strength.” Here’s the popularity graph for Millicent.

Cosette
A French word meaning “little thing.” Here’s the popularity graph for Cosette.

Jannat
An Arabic word meaning “gardens.” Here’s the popularity graph for Jannat.

Josette
A diminutive of the French name Joséphine. Here’s the popularity graph for Josette.

Everest
From the world’s highest mountain, located in Asia (but named after a British surveyor). Here’s the popularity graph for Everest.

Marguerite
A French form of the name Margaret. Here’s the popularity graph for Marguerite.

Evolet
Invented for a character in the action-adventure film 10,000 BC. Here’s the popularity graph for Evolet.

Jeanette
A diminutive of the French name Jeanne. Here’s the popularity graph for Jeanette.

Lynette
Based on the Welsh name Eluned. Here’s the popularity graph for Lynette.

Antoinette
A feminine form of the French name Antoine. Here’s the popularity graph for Antoinette.

Honest
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Honest.

Rehmat
An Arabic word meaning “mercy.” Here’s the popularity graph for Rehmat.

Georgette
A French feminine form of George, which is derived from an Ancient Greek word meaning “earthworker.” Here’s the popularity graph for Georgette.

Harvest
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Harvest.

Cennet
A Turkish word meaning “heaven.” Here’s the popularity graph for Cennet.

Lizette
A diminutive of Elizabeth. Here’s the popularity graph for Lizette.

Summit
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Summit.

Mannat
An Urdu word that refers to a vow made to a deity in exchange for the granting of a particular wish. Here’s the popularity graph for Mannat.

Suzette
A French diminutive of Susanna. Here’s the popularity graph for Suzette.

Saint
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Saint.

Spirit
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Spirit.

Less-common girl names that end with a T-sound include Lilibet, Ayelet, Sonnet, Meklit, Garnet, Olivette, and Delight.

Which of the above do you like most? What others can you think of?

Sources:

Babies named for Napoléon Bonaparte

Portrait of French Emperor Napoleon I (1769-1821)
Napoléon Bonaparte (circa 1812)

French military leader Napoléon Bonaparte may have spent his life trying to conquer a continent, but that life began and ended on islands.

He was born (as “Napoleone Buonaparte”) on the Mediterranean island of Corsica in 1769 — the same year that France took Corsica from the Republic of Genoa (now part of Italy). He died while in exile on the remote South Atlantic island of Saint Helena in 1821.

In between, Napoléon: attended military school on the mainland, began serving in the French Army, rose to prominence during the French Revolution and the French Revolutionary Wars, became the de facto leader of France in 1799, declared himself Emperor in 1804, and proceeded to build a vast empire via the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815).

Needless to say, a large number of babies all over the world have been named “Napoleon” since that time.

I don’t want this post to get too crazy, though, so I’ve decided to collect namesakes from just two locations — France and the U.S. — and to stick to the years during which Napoléon was active.

Portrait of First Consul Napoléon Bonaparte (1769-1821)
Napoléon Bonaparte (circa 1803)

Napoléon’s namesakes in France

Thousands of French babies were named in honor of Napoléon from the mid-1790s to the mid-1810s.

In contrast with namesakes in other countries (like the U.S. and England), most of his French namesakes were given only his first name — not both names — and it was typically combined with one or more traditional French names (e.g., “Louis Napoléon,” “Jean Baptiste Napoléon”).

With that in mind, I went out of my way to find combinations that were a bit more varied…

  • Napoléon Baillot, b. 1793 in France
  • Jacques Napoléon Desiré Campa, b. 1795 in France
  • Napoléon Stéphanie Joseph Therin, b. 1797 in France
  • Napoléon Joseph Buttin, b. 1799 in France
  • Napoléon-Jean Demeester, b. 1800 in France
  • Napoléon Nicolas Senelar, b. 1801 in France
  • Guillaume Napoléon Pelletier, b. 1802 in France
  • Willebrod Napoléon Désiré Degrave, b. 1803 in France
  • Charlemagne Napoléon Lambert, b. 1804 in France
  • Napoléon Louis François Richounne, b. 1805 in France
  • Napoléon Parfait Furpille, b. 1806 in France
    • parfait means “perfect” in French
  • Bienaimé Napoléon Le Cagneux, b. 1807 in France
    • bienaimé means “beloved” in French
  • François Desiré Prosper Napoléon Loiseau, b. 1808 in France
  • Napoléon La Paix Lemasson, b. 1809 in France
    • la paix means “peace” in French
  • Gustave Napoléon Fichet, b. 1810 in France
  • Esprit Napoléon Houdry, b. 1811 in France
    • esprit means “spirit” in French
  • Napoléon Bonaventure Dusautier, b. 1812 in France
  • Auguste César Napoléon Decoene, b. 1813 in France
  • Napoléon-Etienne Vernoni, b. 1814 in France
  • Fructueux Napoléon Artigue, b. 1815 in France
    • fructueux means “successful” in French

Almost all of the namesakes in this group were boys, but a handful were girls with feminized forms of the name (like Napoléonne, Napoléonide, and Napoléontine).

Several dozen more boys — most of them born early on — were given only the surname:

  • Jacques Dominique Bonaparte Venkirch, b. 1796 in France
  • Augustin Bonaparte Joseph Galle, b. 1797 in France
  • Jean Baptiste Bonaparte Mollard, b. 1798 in France
  • Séraphin Adolphe Bonaparte Decorne, b. 1799 in France
  • Alexis Sébastien Bonaparte Poirée, b. 1801 in France

Napoléon had usually been called “General Bonaparte” or “citizen Bonaparte” before mid-1802, when the people of France went to the polls to decide: “Should Napoléon Bonaparte be consul for life?” Millions voted yes, and, after that, “he was generally known as Napoléon rather than Bonaparte.”

Napoléon’s namesakes in the U.S.

Napoléon didn’t wage any wars on North American soil (though he did sell a lot of that soil in 1803, when he let go of the Louisiana Territory for $15 million). Nonetheless, U.S. newspapers paid close attention to him:

French plebiscite mentioned in U.S. newspaper (July, 1802)
The “consul for life” vote mentioned in a Virginia newspaper, 1802

Americans were clearly impressed by Napoléon’s achievements, judging by the hundreds of U.S. namesakes born in the late 1790s and first decades of the 1800s. Many of these babies received both his first name and his surname:

Others were given only his first name:

And a good number simply got his surname:

  • Buonapart Manly Towler, b. 1796 in New York
  • Buonaparte Bennett, b. 1797 in Maryland
  • Buonaparte Mann, b. 1798 in Rhode Island
  • William Bonaparte Wood, b. 1799 in Massachusetts
  • Charles Bonapart Hunt, b. 1800 in Maine
  • George Washington Bonaparte Towns, b. 1801 in Georgia
  • Louis Bonaparte Chamberlain, b. 1802, probably in Mississippi
  • Lucion Bonaparte Keith, b. 1803 in Massachusetts
  • Consul Bonaparte Cutter, b. 1804 in Massachusetts
    • Napoléon Bonaparte served as Premier consul from 1799 to 1804
  • John Bonaparte Dixon, b. 1805 in North Carolina
  • Erastus Bonaparte White, b. circa 1806 in Rhode Island
  • Socrates Bonaparte Bacon, b. 1807 in Massachusetts
  • Bonaparte Crabb, b. 1808 in Tennessee
  • Madison Bonaparte Miller, b. 1809 in Vermont
    • James Madison served as 4th U.S. president from 1809 to 1817
  • Bonaparte Hopping, b. 1810 in New Jersey
  • Israel Bonaparte Bigelow, b. 1811 in Connecticut
  • Joseph Bonaparte Earhart, b. 1812 in Pennsylvania
  • Ampter Bonaparte Otto, b. 1813 in New York
  • William Bonaparte Steen, b. 1814 in South Carolina
  • Leonard Bonaparte Williams, b. 1815 in Virginia

A few of the people named Bonaparte (but not Napoléon) did have other given names — like Lucien, and Jerome — that could have been inspired by other members of the Bonaparte family. I found a Josephine Bonaparte Evans (b. 1815), for instance, who was probably named after Napoléon’s first wife.

Another of the relatively few females in this group was Federal Ann Bonaparte Gist (b. 1799), the daughter of Joshua Gist, who served in the Maryland Militia during the Revolutionary War.

Portrait of French Emperor Napoleon I (1769-1821)
Napoléon Bonaparte in coronation robes

Defining “Napoléon” and “Bonaparte”

Other famous men named Napoléon Bonaparte (including Napoleon III) also had namesakes, but it was the original Napoléon Bonaparte who put these two unusual names on the map.

So…what do they mean?

The Italian forename Napoleone has obscure origins, so the meaning isn’t known for certain. One popular theory is that it’s made up of the elements Neapolis, the original name of Naples, and leone, meaning “lion.” When Bonaparte was born in 1769, the name was “relatively common around Genoa and Tuscany,” though it was spelled a variety of ways (e.g., Nabulio, Nabulione, Napulione, Napolionne, Lapulion). The name had been used in his family before; his father’s uncle, for instance, was also named Napoleone.

The Italian surname Buonaparte, on the other hand, is much more straightforward: it’s made up of the elements buona, meaning “good,” and parte, meaning “part, share, portion.”

Was anyone in your family tree named after Napoléon?

Sources:

Popular baby names in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1868

19th-century Providence, Rhode Island
19th-century Providence

Years ago, I discovered three documents with relatively complete lists of births for the city of Providence, Rhode Island, for the years 1866, 1867, and 1868. I’ve already created Providence’s baby name rankings for 1866 and 1867 using the first two documents, and today (finally!) I’ve got the third set of rankings for you.

Let’s start with some stats:

  • 1,762 babies were born in Providence in 1868, by my count. According to the introduction of the document I’m using a source, however, the total number is 1,866. I don’t know how to account for this discrepancy.
  • 1,617 of these babies (791 girls and 826 boys) had names that were known at the time of publication. The other 145 babies got blank spaces. Either their names hadn’t been registered yet, or they hadn’t been named yet, or perhaps these babies died young and never received a name.
  • 284 unique names (143 girl names and 141 boy names) were shared among these 1,617 babies.

And now, on to the names!

Top 5

A quick look at the top 5 girl names and boy names in Providence in 1868:

Top baby girl namesTop baby boy names
1. Mary
2. Catherine
3. Sarah
4. Ellen
5. Margaret		1. John
2. William
3. James
4. Charles
5. George

All Girl Names

  1. Mary, 149 baby girls
  2. Catherine, 39
  3. Sarah, 38
  4. Ellen, 31
  5. Margaret, 28
  6. Elizabeth, 25
  7. Alice, 24
  8. Anna, 20
  9. Ann, 16
  10. Emma, 14
  11. Eliza, 13
  12. Clara & Martha, 11 each (tie)
  13. Hannah & Lucy, 10 each (tie)
  14. Bridget, Grace, Jennie, Julia & Maria, 9 each (5-way tie)
  15. Annie, Florence, Jane, Minnie & Susan, 8 each (5-way tie)
  16. Agnes, Caroline, Cora, Ella & Harriet, 7 each (5-way tie)
  17. Anne, Carrie, Hattie, Ida, Mabel & Nellie, 6 each (6-way tie)
  18. Eva, Joanna, Lydia & Rosanna, 5 each (4-way tie)
  19. Abby, Charlotte, Emily, Jessie, Josephine, Lillian, Lizzie, Louisa, Louise, Marion, Phebe, Rosella & Theresa, 4 each (13-way tie)
  20. Anastasia, Bertha, Edith, Gertrude, Isabella, Nettie, Pearl, Rebecca & Susanna, 3 each (9-way tie)
  21. Ada, Almira, Edna, Fannie, Flora, Frances, Helen, Henrietta, Inez, Laura, Lelia, Lillie, Lottie, Maud, Priscilla & Virginia, 2 each (16-way tie)
  22. Addie, Adelaide, Adelicia, Adeline, Agatha, Allene, Amanda, Amy, Angelica, Antoinette, Arabella, Augusta, Aurelia, B.*, Belle, Bessie, Betsey, Catharine, Celia, Claudia, Della, Eleanor, Eleanora, Estella, Estelle, Esther, Eudavelia, Eulalie, Evelyn, Francenia, Genevieve, Georgia, Honora, Imogene, Jesse, Juliette, Kate, Leonora, Lilla, Lillias, Lorena, Luella, Luetta, Magdalena, Marian, Marietta, Matilda, Mercy, Minerva, Miriam, Myra, Myrtis, Nanoan, Nora, Pauline, Reberta, Rhoda, Roberta, Rosa, Rose, Ruth, Sabrina, Sophia, Stella & Winifred, 1 each (65-way tie)

*What do you think the “B.” might have stood for?

All Boy Names

  1. John, 112 baby boys
  2. William, 68
  3. James, 64
  4. Charles, 52
  5. George, 45
  6. Thomas, 37
  7. Frederick, 25
  8. Henry, 23
  9. Joseph, 22
  10. Edward, 19
  11. Daniel & Patrick, 18 each (tie)
  12. Robert, 17
  13. Frank, 16
  14. Francis, 15
  15. Walter, 13
  16. Michael, 11
  17. Albert, 10
  18. Arthur, 9
  19. Benjamin, Peter & Samuel, 7 each (3-way tie)
  20. Freddie, Harry, Herbert & Stephen, 6 each (4-way tie)
  21. Edwin, Lawrence, Lewis, Martin & Timothy, 5 each (5-way tie)
  22. Bernard, Edmund, Eugene, Louis, Philip & Richard, 4 each (6-way tie)
  23. Alfred, Augustus, Christopher, Eben, Horace, Howard, Hugh, Jeremiah, Matthew & Willard, 3 each (10-way tie)
  24. Abel, Barney, Byron, Dennis, Edgar, Ferdinand, Gilbert, Luke, Max, Nathaniel, Owen, Roger, Solomon & Victor, 2 each (14-way tie)
  25. Alden, Alexis, Allen, Alrick, Amos, Andrew, Ansel, Anson, Archibald, Asa, Ashby, Bartholomew, Calvin, Carlos, Clarence, Clark, Clarke, Clement, Clifford, Collyer, Crolander, Darius, David, Earl, Elisha, Ellis, Eri, Ernest, Erwin, Eusebe, Everett, Felix, Forrest, Foster, Franklin, Fred, Gardner, Jacob, Jason, Jerome, Jireh, Joaneto, Josiah, Jubal, Justin, Lawson, Lodovic, Louis, Lucien, Lyman, Major, Malachi, Manuel, Melbourne, Monroe, Morey, Morris, Myron, Nelson, Nicholas, Olney, Orville, Oscar, Pendleton, Ralph, Reuben, Rolfe, Rowland, Rufus, Simeon, Simon, Steven, Stewart, Theodore, Ulysses*, Volney, Warren, Whiting, Willie & Winchester, 1 each (80-way tie)

*Ulysses was likely named in honor of Ulysses S. Grant, who was elected president in 1868.

Twins

Finally, nineteen sets of twins were born in Providence in 1868. (All of these twin names are accounted for in the rankings above.)

Girl-girl twinsGirl-boy twinsBoy-boy twins
Caroline & Harriet
Lucy & Lydia
Mary & Rosanna
Margaret & Mary
Lizzie & Martha
(blank) & (blank)		Anne & Thomas
Emma & Charles
Florence & William
Hannah & Josiah
Ida & John
Isabella & John
Jennie & Horace		Charles & William
Francis & Robert
George & John
James & John
James & Stephen
(blank) & (blank)

Have any thoughts about these rankings, or about any of the specific names above?

Source: Snow, Edwin M. Alphabetical Lists of the Names of Persons Deceased, Born and Married in the City of Providence. Number three. Providence: Millard & Harker, 1870.

What popularized the baby name Tennille in the 1970s?

music, 1970s, baby name, tennille
Captain and Tennille

The baby name Tennille debuted impressively in the U.S. baby name data in 1975. In fact, it was one of the top debut names of the 1970s overall. It also inspired dozens of variant spellings (even more than Deneen had!):

Name1974197519761977
Tanielle5*.77
Tennille.103*769425
Tenille.18*124107
Taneal.11*9.
Tanelle.5*10.
Tyneal.5*..
Tennile..32*26
Tennelle..20*19
Taneil..14*5
Tenelle..13*8
Tennielle..13*.
Teneil..12*7
Teneal..11*.
Tenile..11*.
Tanille..10*.
Teneille..10*5
Tannille..8*.
Tenneal..8*.
Tennell..8*5
Tenneil..7*.
Tennillie..7*.
Taniel..6*.
Tenniel..6*.
Tinelle..6*.
Taneille..5*.
Teneile..5*.
Tenneill..5*.
Tenneille...5*
Tennill...5*
Tinnelle...5*
TOTAL51421,136629
*Debut

(Tyneal, Tennielle, Tannille, Tenneal, Tennillie, Tinelle, Taneille, Teneile, Tenneill, Tenneille, Tennill, and Tinnelle were one-hit wonders.)

Tennille’s trendiness only lasted a few years, but the name was popular enough to reach the top 1,000 for three years straight in the late 1970s:

  • 1981: 87 baby girls named Tennille
  • 1980: 140 baby girls named Tennille
  • 1979: 113 baby girls named Tennille
  • 1978: 141 baby girls named Tennille [rank: 984th]
  • 1977: 425 baby girls named Tennille [rank: 462nd]
  • 1976: 769 baby girls named Tennille [rank: 300th]
  • 1975: 103 baby girls named Tennille (debut)
  • 1974: unlisted
  • 1973: unlisted

So, where did the name come from?

The musical duo Captain & Tennille, made up of married couple “Captain” Daryl Dragon and Cathryn Antoinette “Toni” Tennille. Their first hit song was the very ’70s-sounding “Love Will Keep Us Together,” which was released in April of 1975 and peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in June.

The band got even bigger in 1976: “Love Will Keep Us Together” won the Grammy for Record of the Year, “Muskrat Love” became their second hit, and they began hosting the weekly Captain and Tennille variety show on television. (It lasted 20 episodes.)

The surname Tennille is probably of French origin. My guess is that it’s a variant of Tenniel, which is thought to derive from the French place name Thénioux.

Do you like Tennille as a baby name? Would you use it? (How would you spell it?)

Sources:

P.S. Did you know that there are two Canadian country singers named Tenille?