How popular is the baby name Electra 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 Electra.

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Popularity of the baby name Electra


Posts that mention the name Electra

Popular and unique baby names in Scotland (UK), 2017

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

According to National Records of Scotland (NRS), the most popular baby names in the country in 2017 were Olivia and Jack.

Here are Scotland’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2017:

Girl Names
1. Olivia, 512 baby girls
2. Emily, 460
3. Isla, 395
4. Sophie, 370
5. Amelia, 321
6. Jessica, 318
7. Ava, 294
8. Ella, 290
9. Charlotte, 280
10. Aria, 254

Boy Names
1. Jack, 486 baby boys
2. Oliver, 380
3. James, 368
4. Lewis, 356
5. Logan, 324
6. Noah, 318
7. Harris, 299
8. Alexander, 297
9. Leo, 289
10. Harry, 282

In the girls’ top 10, Aria replaced Lucy (now 11th).

In the boys’ top 10, Harris replaced Charlie (now 14th).

In 2016, the top two names were the same.

And here are some of the baby names that were bestowed just once in Scotland last year:

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Auristelle, Bella-Caledonia, Carcy, Debbie, Elpiniki, Fernie, Ghzal, Hanwen, Isatou, Jumana, Kuma, Larch, Magdiel, Nettle, Oreli, Paupi-Anais, Rebbl, Sibianca, Tuppence, Ultra-Violet, Verdie, Wanda, Xenia, Yana-River, Zacharoula-ElectraAmazon, Bzhyar, Cakrawala, Daro, Ernie, Findhorn, Ghillie, Harley-David, Isoa, Jhy, Kestrel, Little-One, Magnus-Ailig, Nimbus, Orlo, Peter-Gabriel, Reeco, Sochisth, Talisker-Brett, Uisdean, Vasco, Wulff, Xane, Ythan, Zeth

Bella-Caledonia could be a reference to Bella Caledonia, the Scottish pro-independence magazine. And Yana-River happens to be the name of a real pace: the Yana River in Russia.

Sources: Most popular names in Scotland, Scotland’s newest baby names are inspired by the constitutional question and Star Wars

Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)

Where did the baby name Dardanella come from in 1920?

Sheet music for the song "Dardanella" (1919)
“Dardanella” sheet music

In 1919 — years before radio broadcasting became a means of popularizing music — the song “Dardanella” was published as sheet music with lyrics. The song tells the tale of a “lonesome maid Armenian” named Dardanella. Here’s the chorus:

Oh sweet Dardanella, I love your harem eyes,
I’m a lucky fellow, to capture such a prize,
Oh Allah knows, my love for you,
And he tells you to be true,

Dardanella, oh hear my sigh, my Oriental,
Oh sweet Dardanella, prepare the wedding wine,
There’ll be one girl in my harem when you’re mine.
We’ll build a tent, just like the children of the Orient.

Oh, sweet Dardanella, my star of love divine.

“Dardanella” became so trendy that it inspired dozens of expectant parents to name their baby girls Dardanella in the early 1920s:

  • 1925: unlisted
  • 1924: 6 baby girls named Dardanella
  • 1923: unlisted
  • 1922: 6 baby girls named Dardanella
  • 1921: 15 baby girls named Dardanella
  • 1920: 23 baby girls named Dardanella [debut]
  • 1919: unlisted

In fact, Dardanella was the top debut name for baby girls in 1920. The spelling variants Dardenella (a one-hit wonder) and Darnella also surfaced on the list that year.

The name in the song is derived from the word Dardanelles, which is one of the Turkish Straits that separates European Turkey from Asian Turkey. The word Dardanelles can be traced back to the mythological figure Dardanus, son of Zeus and Electra.

It’s feasible that the Dardanelles Campaign of WWI was lyricist Fred Fisher’s direct inspiration. After all, several years earlier, in 1917, he’d helped create the song “Lorraine (My Beautiful Alsace Lorraine).” (And a few years before that, in 1910, he’d scored a big hit with “Come Josephine in My Flying Machine.”)

If you’d like to hear “Dardanella,” check out this 1920 recording by Gladys Rice and Vernon Dalhart [vid]. A version by Selvin’s Novelty Orchestra that was released in late 1919 became “the first pressing ever to sell more than a million copies.”

What do you think of the name Dardanella? Usable nowadays?

Source: “From ‘Dardanella’ On A Stroh To Stacked Tapes.” New York Times 13 Dec. 1964: 24.