How popular is the baby name Ilys 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 Ilys.

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Popularity of the baby name Ilys


Posts that mention the name Ilys

Rare baby name: Liati

I stumbled upon the quote “love is all there is” in an article I was reading recently. The author of the article said it came from a Beatles song.

I believe the author was actually thinking of the lyric “love is all you need” from the 1967 song All You Need Is Love. So, in this case, “love is all there is” is likely a mondegreen. Regardless, my first thought upon seeing “love is all there is” in quotes was that the acronym Liati — just like Ily, Ilys, and other love-based acronyms — would make a cute baby name.

“Liati” has never popped up in the U.S. baby name data before, but I managed to find one real-life Liati in an article about unusual personal names that ran in the Toledo Blade in 2003. Liati Huff, who was 23 years old at the time, had this to say about her unique name:

Most people think my name is either Italian or Hawaiian. The most unique guess was Russian. When I tell them it’s an acronym for ‘love is all there is,’ they usually think it’s so sweet, or a lot of people will respond by, ‘Oh, your parents loved the Beatles, right?’

What are your thoughts on Liati as a baby name? Would you consider using it?

Source: Sewell, Rhonda B. “People share the stories behind their unusual monikers.” Toledo Blade 21 Sept. 2003.

Image: Adapted from Emojione1 2764 by Emoji One under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Baby born to Liverpool F.C. fans, named Ynwa

Liverpool F.C. logo

Norwegian couple Tor-Eric and Eirin Iversen, big fans of Liverpool F.C. (the English soccer team), welcomed a baby girl back in 2010 and named her Karoline Ynwa.

The middle name Ynwa is an acronym that stands for “You’ll Never Walk Alone” — the song that was adopted as Liverpool’s anthem in the 1960s. It originally comes from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel (1945).

Tor-Eric and Eirin weren’t sure about the name Ynwa (which they pronounce “yee-nwa”) at first, but it grew on them over time. Before Ynwa they’d considered the name Gerrard (for Steven Gerrard) but decided that Gerrard wouldn’t work well for a girl.

Pål Christian Møller, head of Liverpool FC Supporters Club Norway, says the Liverpool-inspired baby name he sees most often is simply “Liverpool.” (He said if he could give himself another name, he’d add Oliver and become “O Liverpål.”) Another acronym-based Liverpool name he’s seen is Tia, which stands for “this is Anfield.” Anfield is the stadium at which Liverpool F.C. has been playing since the 1890s.

Now that news of a child named Ynwa has surfaced, do you think Liverpool fans in England will start using the name? And, if so, do you think Ynwa will ever reach the minimum usage requirement of 3 babies per year to be included on a future England and Wales baby name list?

Sources: Ynwa (4) fikk ikke velge favorittlag selv, Liverpool FC fans from Norway name their daughter YNWA (discovered originally via Clare’s Name News)

P.S. Other modern-day acronym baby names include Ily, Ilys & Ktyal. I’ve also heard rumors that the baby name Yolo now exists, but I have yet to see proof of this.

Baby name story: Sarah

rescue helicopter

In February of 1956, Joyce Atherton of Ugthorpe, England, went into labor. An ambulance from nearby Whitby couldn’t reach her because of the snow on the ground, so helicopter pilot Ron Salt of the No. 275 Squadron RAF (Royal Air Force) flew in, picked her up, and transported her to the hospital.

Days later, a baby girl arrived. She was named Mary Sarah Atherton. Where did her middle name come from? It was inspired by the acronym SARAH, “Search And Rescue And Homing,” as Ron’s group was also known as a Search and Rescue and Homing Squadron.

(SARAH was actually a piece of equipment the squadron pilots used. It was a miniature transmitter developed in the early 1950s to help rescuers locate downed pilots, especially during air-sea rescues.)

Source: “Sarah Named After Her Air Rescuers.” Bulletin and Scots Pictorial 19 Mar. 1956: 5.

[Other acronym baby names: Kytal, Ily, Ilys, Ynwa, Liati]

Acronym baby names: Ily, Ilys, Ktyal

I’ve seen acronym baby names like Ily (I love you) and Ilys (I love you so) before.

And I’m familiar with all those crazy Soviet-era acronym names like Lunio (Lenin is dead, but his ideas remain) and Vilorik (Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, liberator of workers and peasants).

But this is the first Ktyal I’ve ever seen:

When Verna Cornelia Price gave birth to a daughter four years ago, she and her husband named the baby Ktyal, an acronym for “Know That You Are Loved.”

How do you think they pronounce Ktyal?

Have you spotted any other acronym baby names lately?

Source: Pfitzinger, Julie. “Ann Bancroft Awards.” Minneapolis Star-Tribune 25 Sept. 2006.