How popular is the baby name Christina 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 Christina.

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Popularity of the baby name Christina


Posts that mention the name Christina

What gave the baby name Hanni a boost in 1980?

Olympic skier Hanni Wenzel
Hanni Wenzel

The name Hanni first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1976. When it popped up again four years later, it was given to nearly three dozen baby girls:

  • 1982: 10 baby girls named Hanni
  • 1981: 15 baby girls named Hanni
  • 1980: 34 baby girls named Hanni [peak usage]
  • 1979: unlisted
  • 1978: unlisted
  • 1977: unlisted
  • 1976: 8 baby girls named Hanni [debut]
  • 1975: unlisted
  • 1974: unlisted

What’s the influence here?

Alpine skier Hannelore “Hanni” Wenzel, who twice represented the tiny country of Liechtenstein at the Olympics.

At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, she won her country’s very first Olympic medal, a bronze in the slalom.

At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, she became her country’s first Olympic champion by winning gold in both the slalom and the giant slalom. She also won silver in the downhill.

Hanni’s four medals represent 40% of Liechtenstein’s total 10 Olympic medals — all of which were won in alpine skiing. Two more were won by her brother, Andreas “Andi” Wenzel, and the most recent was won by her daughter, Christina “Tina” Weirather, in 2018.

Hanni was born in West Germany, but relocated with her family to Liechtenstein when she was a child.

The German name Hannelore (pronounced ha-nuh-lo-ruh) is a combination of Hanne, a diminutive of Johanna, and Lore, a diminutive of Eleonore, the German spelling of Eleanor.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Hanni? (Do you like it more or less than Hannelore?)

Sources:

Charles Barkley named his baby after a mall in Delaware

Christiana mall in Delaware
Christiana mall

On an episode of his podcast The Steam Room, former basketball star Charles Barkley mentioned that Syndey was his “favorite girl name” and that he’d use it for a daughter if he ever had another.

Then he revealed how he named his first daughter (and only child), Christiana:

Well she’s named after a mall, in fairness. There’s a Christiana Mall in Delaware that I used to always go by. That’s how she got her name, Christiana.

When co-host Ernie Johnson asked why he named his daughter after a mall, Charles answered:

I don’t know. I just liked the mall.

Later in the conversation, Ernie joked, “If you’d had a son, how about Orange Julius?” Charles one-upped him with: “Burger King.”

The Christiana Mall was named for its location — the community of Christiana in northern Delaware. The location was named after the Christina River, which, in turn, was named after 17th-century Swedish queen Christina. The river was once part of Sweden’s only New World colony, New Sweden, which existed from 1638 to 1655.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Christiana Mall between Macy’s and Target by Dough4872 under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Where did the baby name Taina come from in 1955?

Finnish actress Taina Elg
Taina Elg

Today we have the tale of two Tainas — one pronounced TIE-nah, the other pronounced tah-EE-nah.

The first version of the name Taina debuted in the U.S. baby name data in the mid-1950s:

  • 1957: 12 baby girls named Taina
  • 1956: 8 baby girls named Taina
  • 1955: 21 baby girls named Taina [debut]
  • 1954: unlisted
  • 1953: unlisted

The inspiration here was Finnish dancer/actress Taina (pronounced TIE-nah) Elg, who was being introduced to American audiences in 1955 in the film The Prodigal, a biblical epic starring Lana Turner.

A bizarre advertising campaign from the same year asked readers to rename Taina:

Taina advertisement
Taina Elg re-naming contest

Hurry and enter! Just suggest your choice of a name for Taina Elg — the star with the most unusual name in Hollywood. She’s an acclaimed ballerina, and an actress with M-G-M! She’s 5’5?, with dark blonde hair and sparkling gray-green eyes. Taina (rhymes with Dinah) loves to cook, delights in outdoor sports. […] With that in mind, what do you think her name should be? Look through your telephone book and make up original name combinations. The first name that pops into your mind right now — might very well be the winner! Just find a name you think fits this lovely young star.

Her name, which is a Finnish diminutive of the name Tatiana, was never changed (of course). Elg went on to win two Golden Globes later that decade — one in 1957, the other in 1958 — and also have success on stage and in television. In fact, usage of the name spiked in 1980, the year Taina Elg could be seen on two different U.S. soap operas: Guiding Light (1980) and One Life to Live (1980-2).

Now fast forward to 2001, when the name Taina was suddenly boosted into the top 1,000 for the first and only time:

  • 2003: 130 baby girls named Taina
  • 2002: 168 baby girls named Taina
  • 2001: 248 baby girls named Taina [ranked 913th]
  • 2000: 73 baby girls named Taina
  • 1999: 61 baby girls named Taina

The inspiration in this case? The short-lived Nickelodeon series Taina that aired from early 2001 to mid-2002. The main character, Taina (pronounce tah-EE-nah) Morales, was “a sassy 15-year-old Latina” in NYC played by actress Christina Vidal.

…So Taina is a name with one spelling, but two distinct pronunciations. Which pronunciation do you prefer?

Sources:

 

Pop culture baby name game, 2021

Happy birthday, Elvis!

Tomorrow would have been Elvis Presley’s 86th birthday. (Happy birthday, Elvis!)

You guys know what that means…time for the annual Pop Culture Baby Name Game!

Think back to the pop culture of 2021 — movies, music, TV shows, online shows, social media, video games, sports, news, cultural events, politics, products, brands, etc.

Which of these things had an influence on U.S. baby names, do you think?

More specifically, which baby names will see higher usage (or appear for the very first time) in the 2021 U.S. baby name data thanks to 2021 pop culture?

Here are some initial ideas…

Plus…

  • Names from the movie Eternals (like Sersi, Ikaris, Makkari)
  • Names from the movie Dune (like Chani, Atreides, Leto)
  • Turkish names from any of the Turkish dramas being aired in Spanish on Univision/Telemundo
  • Names from any new sci-fi/fantasy series (like Shadow and Bone, The Nevers, The Wheel of Time)

Some of the names mentioned in the 2020 game might be see increases in 2021 as well.

What other names should we add to the list? Let me know by leaving a comment!

I’ll post the game results after the SSA releases the 2021 baby name data (in May of 2022).