How popular is the baby name Josephine 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 Josephine.
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Paris, the capital of France, has an area of 41 square miles and a population of about 2.1 million — making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world.
Last year, Paris’ most popular baby names were Alma and Gabriel.
Here are the city’s top 50+ girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:
Girl Names
Alma, 211 baby girls
Louise, 210
Emma, 152
Jeanne, 150
Anna, 144
Adèle, 138
Rose, 136
Gabrielle, 133
Chloé, 131
Jade, 128 (tie)
Léa, 128 (tie)
Victoria, 126
Alice, 120 (tie)
Lina, 120 (tie)
Sofia, 117
Iris, 115 (tie)
Olivia, 115 (tie)
Juliette, 114 (tie)
Victoire, 114 (tie)
Romy, 113
Eva, 111
Joséphine, 106
Ava, 104
Fatoumata, 103
Alba, 98
Diane, 96
Ambre, 94 (3-way tie)
Nina, 94 (3-way tie)
Zoé, 94 (3-way tie)
Charlotte, 92
Mia, 90
Alix, 89 (tie)
Julia, 89 (tie)
Léonie, 88
Sarah, 87
Ella, 86
Lou, 83
Suzanne, 82
Charlie, 81
Nour, 78
Héloïse, 75
Mariam, 74
Romane, 72
Inaya, 68
Agathe, 64
Inès, 63 (tie)
Maya, 63 (tie)
Madeleine, 62
Céleste, 59
Aminata, 57 (tie)
Fatima, 57 (tie)
Boy Names
Gabriel, 332 baby boys
Adam, 254
Raphaël, 250
Louis, 223
Mohamed, 209
Arthur, 199
Isaac, 190
Noah, 180
Gaspard, 175
Léon, 173
Léo, 158
Joseph, 154
Paul, 150
Lucas, 145
Victor, 139
Hugo, 119
Alexandre, 118
Jules, 116
Sacha, 115
Ibrahim, 109
Noé, 103
Augustin, 101
Liam, 95
Oscar, 94
Samuel, 92
Maël, 91
Marceau, 89 (3-way tie)
Simon, 89 (3-way tie)
Timothée, 89 (3-way tie)
Nathan, 88
Basile, 81
Côme, 80
Aaron, 79
Ethan, 78
Auguste, 77 (4-way tie)
Eliott, 77 (4-way tie)
Moussa, 77 (4-way tie)
Naël, 77 (4-way tie)
Marius, 75
Eden, 74
Mathis, 72 (tie)
Rayan, 72 (tie)
Achille, 71 (3-way tie)
Andrea, 71 (3-way tie)
Valentin, 71 (3-way tie)
Antoine, 70
Charles, 69
Ismaël, 68
Léonard, 66 (tie)
Martin, 66 (tie)
And here’s a selection of names from lower down in the rankings, which includes all names given to at least five Parisian babies (of one gender or the other) per year.
For a number of generations, the name Oscar has been particularly popular in Scandinavia — that is, the countries of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.
Why?
The simplest answer is King Oscar I of Sweden. But the more accurate answer, in my opinion, is Napoleon.
The story starts with Scottish poet James Macpherson, who, during the early 1760s, published a series of epic poems. He claimed that they were his translations of 3rd-century Scottish Gaelic poems by a bard named Ossian, but many of his contemporaries were suspicious of this claim. (The current consensus is that they were composed by Macpherson himself and based largely upon Irish mythology. The name Ossian, for instance, is Macpherson’s interpretation of the Irish name Oisín.)
Despite the controversy, Macpherson’s poems became extremely popular throughout Europe. And they were very influential: “[I]t is arguable that these poems constitute one of the canonical Ur-texts of the romantic nationalisms which spread across the Continent” over the century that followed.
French military officer Napoleon was among the prominent admirers of Macpherson’s poems.
Incidentally, Napoleon had tried his hand at writing. One of his unpublished novels, Clisson et Eugénie, written in 1795, was based in part upon his relationship with then-fiancée Désirée Clary.
He ended up marrying a different woman, Josephine, in March of 1796.
And former fiancée Désirée went on to marry a different French military officer, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, in August of 1798.
Désirée gave birth to the couple’s only child, a boy, in July of 1799. The baby was named Joseph François Oscar Bernadotte. “Joseph” was in honor of the baby’s uncle, Joseph Bonaparte — Napoléon’s brother, who happened to be married to Desiree’s sister. “François,” I presume, was a patriotic nod to France. And “Oscar”? Included at the suggestion of godfather Napoleon, the name Oscar referred to a heroic character from Macpherson’s poems. (Oscar was Ossian’s son.)
Later the same year, Napoleon became First Consul of the French Republic.
In May of 1804, he declared himself Emperor. Soon after, he promoted Bernadotte (and seventeen other generals) to the rank of Marshal of the Empire.
Bernadotte continued fighting in the Napoleonic Wars throughout the rest of the decade.
Then, in August of 1810, Bernadotte was unexpectedly invited to become heir-presumptive to the Swedish throne. The king of Sweden at the time, Carl XIII, was elderly and had no male heir.
(Why would the Swedes ask a Frenchman with no royal blood to rule their country? For several reasons, including: he had strong ties to Napoleon, he had proven military and administrative abilities, and, not least of all, “he already had a son to ensure the succession.”)
Bernadotte accepted. Several months later, he moved his family to Sweden. converted to Lutheranism, and was legally adopted by the king — thus becoming the country’s crown prince.
He became the de facto head of state right away, playing a key part in the formation of the Sixth Coalition (which fought against Napoleon from 1813 to mid-1814) and gaining control of Norway to create the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway (later in 1814).
In 1818, Carl XIII passed away. Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte — under the regnal name Carl XIV Johan — ascended to become King of Sweden and Norway. His wife Désirée became queen, and their son Oscar became crown prince.
More than a quarter century later, in 1844, Carl XIV Johan (Bernadotte) himself passed away, and Oscar succeeded his father as King of Sweden and Norway.
This explains the popularity of the name Oscar in the countries of Sweden and Norway, but what about Denmark? Usage started to increase there in 1848, when King Oscar sided with Denmark (instead of Germany) in the territorial dispute over Schleswig and Holstein.
Usage of the name is still strong in all three countries today. In 2021, the baby name Oscar/Oskar ranked 14th in Sweden, 2nd in Norway, and 1st in Denmark.
Speaking of England and Ireland…the name Oscar became trendy in England during the 1880s and 1890s thanks to Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde. Not long after he was born, in late 1854, his mother wrote to a friend: “He is to be called Oscar Fingal Wilde. Is not that grand, misty, and Ossianic?”
Kidd, Colin Kidd and James Coleman. “Mythical Scotland.” The Oxford Handbook of Modern Scottish History, edited by T. M. Devine and Jenny Wormald, Oxford University Press, 2012, pp. 62-77.
P.S. The House of Bernadotte remains the royal family of Sweden to this day. Descendants of Carl XIV Johan include Prince Bertil (b. 1912) and Princess Estelle (b. 2012).
Z-names (over 27,600): Zion, Zachary, Zayden, Zane
Source: SSA
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