How popular is the baby name Cortana 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 Cortana.

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Popularity of the baby name Cortana


Posts that mention the name Cortana

Where did the baby name Ozlo come from in 2016?

Ozlo

The curious name Ozlo debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 2016, stuck around for one more year, then disappeared again:

  • 2019: unlisted
  • 2018: unlisted
  • 2017: 6 baby boys named Ozlo
  • 2016: 5 baby boys named Ozlo [debut]
  • 2015: unlisted
  • 2014: unlisted

What was the influence?

A short-lived artificial intelligence startup called Ozlo.

The company was founded in late 2013, but it didn’t start making headlines until October of 2016, when the Ozlo personal assistant app was launched.

Ozlo logo

The face of the app was a wide-eyed, light blue creature named Ozlo. Initially he helped users find restaurants and recipes, but, as time went on, he moved beyond food and learned to talk about other topics (like movies and weather).

One reporter, recounting a discussion with Ozlo’s CEO, said: “[T]he two of us immediately had a nice laugh about the repetitive female names for assistants in the marketplace right now — Ozlo, by name alone, is already something different.”

Ozlo was also different from the “female” personal assistants (Alexa, Cortana, Siri, and Viv) in that it performed searches “from a position of information neutrality” — that is, it extracted information from many competing sources, as opposed to a handful of preferred sources.

But the startup was acquired by Facebook in July of 2017, and the Ozlo app — less than a year after being introduced — was shuttered as part of the deal.

If the company had remained independent, do you think the baby name Ozlo would have continued popping up in the data?

Sources: Introducing Ozlo by Charles Jolley, Ozlo Week 1 by Charles Jolley, Ozlo, the Assistant That Works for You, Launches on iOS and Web, Ozlo AI assistant is the new underdog filling the void left by Viv, Facebook buys Ozlo to boost its conversational AI efforts, Ozlo – Cruchbase Profile

(h/t Becca)

Popular baby names in the Netherlands, 2016

Flag of the Netherlands
Flag of the Netherlands

According to data released by Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) in mid-January, the most popular baby names in the Netherlands in 2016 were Anna and Daan.

Here are the Netherlands’ top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2016:

Girl Names
1. Anna, 665 baby girls
2. Emma, 664 (tie)
2. Tess, 664 (tie)
4. Sophie, 644
5. Julia, 639
6. Zoë, 558
7. Evi, 557
8. Mila, 549
9. Sara, 542
10. Eva, 526

Boy Names
1. Daan, 681 baby boys
2. Noah, 679
3. Sem, 663
4. Lucas, 651
5. Jesse, 645
6. Finn, 640
7. Milan, 630
8. Max, 617
9. Levi, 597
10. Luuk, 595

On the girls’ list, Anna replaced Emma as the #1 name and Evi replaced Lotte in the top 10.

And on the boys’ list? All kinds of drama! Liam, which rose very quickly over the last few years to reach the top spot in 2015, not only lost that top spot to Daan, but dropped out of the top 10 entirely (!), replaced by Max. Liam now ranks unlucky 13th.

And what about unique names in the Netherlands? Here are a whole bunch, each used just once last year:

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Aimée-Amélie
Alien
Alouette
Annephine
Anthillia
Aprilmoon
Aunorin
Ayudissa
Bardot
Bellefien
Berfu
Berilinci
Bixx
Blue-Ivy
Cacharell
Carovienne
Cephei
Cleodie
Coco-Chloè
Comfort
Cortana
Daxana
Daylite
Dimphey
Djoody
Dorka
Ecrin Ans
Egberdina
El’genneallèe
Eliflina
Emily-Vespii
Fairlychiona
Farangis
Faten
Faybe
Floore
Foxx
Frozan
Gigi-Ice
Gilviëntelly
Gynniva
Hillegonda
Indivancely
Ismini
Jochempje
Joomony
Kicky
Kricheliënne
Lammerdina
Lemon
Lilly-Phylou
Marryth
Medellín
Medusa
Meritxell
Nawprisca
Ot
Peggy-Sue
Pidoux
Pippilotta
Pluk
Ponyo
Quby
Quvenshané
Raidiënsheanix
Riva-Beaugeane
Ro-Quennety
Rover
Safrinza
Sensabelle
Seven
Sharvienshelly
Shomookh
Similiza
Ska
Smadar
Spogmay
Stin-cay
Swendelyn
Sybrecht
Tanzilla
Tippie-Tipper
Tulp
Umm
Utopia
Valexiane
Vellizar
Vilouella
Wesseldina
Xee’D
Yesmae
Yf
Ypie
Yucki
Zeltia
Zwanny
Aizeyosabor
Alain-Rainièr
Alaith
Alpcan
Amazing
Andrianiaina
Apache
Avestan
Bentivolio
Boef (“crook”)
Bonifacius
Bowdy
C-cayden
Casey-Chase
Chyrome
Cimarrón
Cornelis-Wilhelmus
Criff
D’Har-Chenoo
Daex
Dandy
Day-sravencio
Depp
Diablo
Digentley
Divinepraise
Djesco
Dubbele
Earlysean
Exegese
Ferdixon
Fince
Floki
G-Wendley
Gantulga
Ghevently
Ginuwine
Givenchy
Guevara
Guswently
Haliltalha
Heavenly-ion
Hunk
Iody
Jaap-Joost
Jacquill
Jill-Qiano
Jinx
Kainoa
Kiff
King-Maldive
Laiphanara
Largo
Marcus-Aurelius
Mcnelly
Mees-Senn
Motomichi
Mowgli
Mylox
Myway
Niamh
Ntsinzi
Oovy
Phat
Pit
Poppy
Pux
Q’ZHN
Quintyliano
Rafflow
Ridge
Rowinio
S’Lienio
Scato
Sergiovanni
Sicco
Solve
Splinther
Stork
Sunnery
T’cxzayneau
Tamonry
Taverdu
Thaividley
Trelawny
Typhoon
Vishnu
Wagdy
Wart
Xuze
Ymt
Yucca
Zbigniew
Zhyphienyoh
Zjurvendell
Zweder

At first I thought Sergiovanni might be an epic mash-up of Sergio and Giovanni, but then I found out that it’s just an Italian surname — Giovanni prefixed by ser, an occupational word for a notary.

Sources: Kindernamen – SVB, Daan and Anna top the list of most popular Dutch baby names – DutchNewsn.nl

Image: Adapted from Flag of the Netherlands (public domain)

Where did the baby name Cortana come from in 2008?

The character Cortana from the video game "Halo 3" (2007)
Cortana from “Halo 3”

The baby name Cortana first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 2008:

  • 2010: 10 baby girls named Cortana
  • 2009: 7 baby girls named Cortana
  • 2008: 12 baby girls named Cortana [debut]
  • 2007: unlisted
  • 2006: unlisted

The debut was influenced by the (virtual) character Cortana from the popular military/sci-fi video game series Halo.

The first Halo game was released by video game company Bungie in 2001, and Cortana — who is described as a “unique and incredibly powerful artificial intelligence” — has been part of the series since the beginning. But Cortana began playing a larger role in the game starting with Halo 3, which came out in 2007, and this is what accounts for the 2008 debut.

In the game, Cortana acts as a guide to the protagonist, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117. Here’s what the lead writer at Bungie had to say about Cortana’s evolving role in the game:

Over time, Cortana became a fully realized character — a friend and companion to the Chief, not to mention the only person to poke revealing holes in his tough-guy exterior.

Through his interactions with Cortana, the Chief revealed his humanity (e.g., players learned the Chief had a sense of humor when he banged his helmet to stop Cortana from talking). And it was for these reasons that we focused so much on the Chief-Cortana relationship.

Cortana’s name is thought to refer to a type of short, blunt sword more commonly known as a curtana (from the Latin word curtus, meaning “shortened”).

The baby name saw its highest-ever usage (so far) in 2015:

  • 2017: 6 baby girls named Cortana
  • 2016: 16 baby girls named Cortana
  • 2015: 30 baby girls named Cortana [peak]
  • 2014: 16 baby girls named Cortana
  • 2013: 21 baby girls named Cortana

This was the year after Microsoft introduced a digital assistant also named Cortana.

The name is no coincidence — Microsoft has owned Bungie since the turn of the century.

The digital assistant was code-named Cortana during development because “the Cortana character was a great description of the helpful, intelligent, intuitive character that you get to know and trust over time.”

The name wasn’t meant to be attached to the final product…but then it leaked to the public:

When it did, people just clamored for us to keep the name. They created petitions and voted on polls. It was that passion of the community that helped us do something a little, maybe, surprising for Microsoft

What are your thoughts on Cortana as a baby name?

Sources: Cortana (Halo) – Wikipedia, Cortana | Characters | Universe | Halo – Official Site, Cortana – Wikipedia, Why Microsoft Named Its Siri Rival ‘Cortana’ After a ‘Halo’ Character, Bungie: “Immersion was the main goal” in creating Master Chief