How popular is the baby name Gemini 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 Gemini.

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Popularity of the baby name Gemini


Posts that mention the name Gemini

Where did the baby names Gemini and Agena come from in the mid-1960s?

American astronaut Ed White performing a spacewalk (June 1965)
Ed White’s spacewalk

The name Yuri first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in the early ’60s, and the name Aldrin showed up in the late ’60s. But these aren’t the only two Space Race baby names that popped up on the charts during that decade.

The name Gemini, for instance, first appeared in the U.S. baby name data 1965. The name Agena followed a year later.

Girls named GeminiGirls named Agena
1968..
1967..
1966.15*
196513*.
1964..
1963..
*Debut

(Gemini would go on to reappear in the data, but Agena, the top one-hit wonder of 1966, remains a one-hit wonder to this day.)

Where did these two names come from?

They were inspired by NASA’s Project Gemini, which featured ten crewed spaceflights that took place from March of 1965 to November of 1966. Here are several highlights of the program:

  • On June 3, 1965, Ed White of became the first American to perform a spacewalk. He spent more than twenty minutes outside of the Gemini 4 capsule.
  • On December 16, 1965, U.S. television audiences witnessed the first live coverage of a spaceflight recovery following the splashdown of Gemini 6 in the western Atlantic Ocean.
  • On March 16, 1966, the first docking of two spacecraft in orbit was achieved when Gemini 8 docked with the Agena Target Vehicle — an unmanned spacecraft built specifically for this purpose.
The Agena Target Vehicle as seen from Gemini 8 (Mar. 1966)
Agena Target Vehicle

So how did Project Gemini and the Agena Target Vehicle get their names?

Gemini, which means “twins” in Latin, was chosen a nod to several things: the two-man crews of the Project Gemini missions, the fact that Gemini was NASA’s second human spaceflight program (after Mercury), and because one of the objectives of the program was to achieve a space rendezvous that involved two spacecraft.

Agena was named after the bright star Agena (a.k.a. Beta Centauri) in the constellation Centaurus. The name “Agena” is thought to have been coined by Connecticut astronomer Elijah H. Burritt (1794-1838) from the Greek words alpha, “first,” and gena, “knee,” as the star marks the knee of one of the centaur’s front legs.

Which do you like better as a baby name, Gemini or Agena?

Sources:

Images: Ed White First American Spacewalker (NASA), The First Docking in Space (NASA)

Popular baby names in England and Wales (UK), 2013

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

The top baby names in England and Wales were announced last week.

According to data from the Office for National Statistics, the most popular baby names last year were Amelia and Oliver.

Here are England and Wales’ top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2013:

Girl Names

  1. Amelia, 5570 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 4598
  3. Emily, 4049
  4. Ava, 3575
  5. Isla, 3526
  6. Jessica, 3507
  7. Poppy, 3422
  8. Isabella, 3246
  9. Sophie, 3013
  10. Mia, 2993
  11. Ruby, 2948
  12. Lily, 2883
  13. Grace, 2799
  14. Evie, 2767
  15. Sophia, 2764
  16. Ella, 2722
  17. Scarlett, 2643
  18. Chloe, 2401
  19. Isabelle, 2287
  20. Freya, 2266

Boy Names

  1. Oliver, 6,949 baby boys
  2. Jack, 6,212
  3. Harry, 5,888
  4. Jacob, 5,126
  5. Charlie 5,039
  6. Thomas, 4,591
  7. Oscar, 4,511
  8. William, 4,268
  9. James, 4,236
  10. George, 4,202
  11. Alfie, 4,138
  12. Joshua, 3,973
  13. Noah, 3,830
  14. Ethan, 3,572
  15. Muhammad, 3,499
  16. Archie, 3,265
  17. Leo, 3,264
  18. Henry, 3,248
  19. Joseph, 3,225
  20. Samuel, 3,188

There were some big moves on the boys’ side: Oscar rose from 17th to 7th, while Riley plummeted from 8th to 21st. (Here are the biggest moves overall for boy names and girl names.)

New to the top 20 are Scarlett, Archie, Henry and Joseph. They replaced Charlotte, Riley, Daniel and Max.

One thing I found interesting? Freya wasn’t on the England top 20. It also wasn’t on the Wales top 20. And yet still it managed to rank 20th on the combined top 20. Very sneaky, Freya.

Here are some of last year’s rare baby names, each given to between 3 and 10 babies (inclusive):

Rare Girl NamesRare Boy Names
Akvile, Alaska, Alphonsa, Andromeda, Arena, Arizona, Atlantis, Belinay, Bellatrix, Blousey, Boadicea, Boglarka, Bonnie-Blue, Boo, Boux, Charm, Cressida, Crystal-Rose, Daenerys, Delphie, Disney, Duru, Edwina, Ellery, Eloghosa, Enfys, Enlli*, Eos, Ernestine, Esila, Evan, Frayer, Freshta, Fausta, Garance, Gelila, Gemini, Gerda, Glorious, Halo, Honour, Io, Iole, Ionie, Iseult, Isla-Belle, Izna, Lava, Lleucu, Llinos, Llio, Loveday, Loxy, Mafalda, Man, Maple, Miami, Migle, Milda, Misk, Mirabella, Mirren, Myfi, Myrtle, Nandi, Nephele, Nma, Ottoline, Pebbles, Popi, Purity, Quorra, Quratulain, Rory, Ruby-Tuesday, Salsabeel, Sehrish, Sequoia, Sibel, Sobia, Solveig, Sundus, Tiggi, Tiggy, Tirion, Tulsi, Vespa, Vogue, YiyiAlaric, Bramwell, Cavalli, Ceirion, Denley, Diesel, Diggory, Drin, Eesaa, Eyoel, Fiachra, Finlo, Fyfe, Ghyll, Greatness, Gruff, Hanzala, Haoyu, Heathcliff, Henley-John, Ho, Hocine, Innis, Iori, J, Jai-Jai, Jay-J, Jaygo, Johnboy, Jonjoe, Kebba, Kelly, Khizr, King-David, Klevis, Lebron, Liutaruas, Llyr, Lochie, Messi, Mortimer, Nebi, Nimrod, Noman, Olti, Omarion, Orpheus, Osgar, Oska, Perseus, Ptolemy, Qi, Rhythm, Rozh, Rhon, Sandor, Shady, Shaquille, Sheriff, Shko, Soul, Swayley, T, Tiger, Tirath, Tobenna, Toprak, Tuguldur, Tylah, Tyrion, Ugnius, Viggo, Wentworth, Winter, Wolf, Wolfgang, Wren, Yanky, Yug, Zeus, Zsombor

*Enlli, which debuted last year, comes from the name of the Welsh island Ynys Enlli (called Bardsey Island in English). The island name is usually translated as “island of the current,” with ynys meaning “island,” and enlli meaning “current.” You can hear the proper pronunciation of Ynys Enlli at Forvo.

Finally, all of my previous posts on the popular (and unique) baby names in England and Wales: 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008.

Source: Baby Names, England and Wales, 2013 – ONS

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