How popular is the baby name Judith 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 Judith.

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Popularity of the baby name Judith


Posts that mention the name Judith

Glitch alert: Why are there gaps in the recent New York baby name data?

glitch

The baby name Esty (a diminutive of Esther) is primarily used in the state of New York, thanks to the large Jewish community in New York City.

But the name was also featured in the Emmy-winning Netflix series Unorthodox a couple of years ago. So, last year, I checked the Esty data (both the national data and the New York data) to see if the show had influenced the name’s usage.

It may have — Esty did indeed see its highest-ever usage both nationally and in New York in 2020. Even more intriguingly, though, I noticed what seemed to be gaps in the recent NY data. Specifically, New York had no data on the name Esty for the years 2016, 2018, and 2019.

Check it out:

Esty usage in the U.S.Esty usage in New York
20216357
20206860
201959
201841
20173636
201643
20153937
20143735

I mean, It’s possible that the New York usage of Esty simply dropped below the 5-baby minimum during those particular years. As per the SSA:

To safeguard privacy, we exclude from our tabulated lists of names those that would indicate, or would allow the ability to determine, names with fewer than 5 occurrences in any geographic area.

If that were the case, though, you’d expect to see corresponding dips in the national usage. And we don’t see that here.

It seems more likely to me that some of the New York data is simply…missing.

So the next question is: Are there gaps in the NY data for other names as well?

To check, I grabbed all the names with heavy New York usage listed in the 2021 state-by-state post and the 2020 state-by-state post — 34 names in total — and looked the data.

The result? Exactly half had similar gaps.

Here’s what I found…

The boy name Cheskel (a form of Chatzkel, which is based on Ezekiel) didn’t appear in the New York state data for 5 years straight:

Cheskel usage in the U.S.Cheskel usage in New York
20212929
202018
201927
201830
201723
201627
20152221
20142523

The girl name Chany (a diminutive of Channah) didn’t appear in the New York state data for 4 years straight:

Chany usage in the U.S.Chany usage in New York
20216558
202056
201960
201855
201756
20165555
20154443
20144241

The boy name Naftuli (based on the Biblical name Naphtali) didn’t appear in the New York state data for 4 years straight:

Naftuli usage in the U.S.Naftuli usage in New York
20212929
202033
201933
201827
201724
20163333
20152422
20142925

The girl name Idy didn’t appear in the New York state data for 4 years:

Idy usage in the U.S.Idy usage in New York
202146
20204747
20193126
201829
201726
201625
20151716
20141513

The boy name Shmiel (a form of Shmuel, which is based on Samuel) didn’t appear in the New York state data for 4 years:

Shmiel usage in the U.S.Shmiel usage in New York
20214040
202045
20193838
201831
201735
201644
20154444
20143837

The girl name Yides (a diminutive of Yehudit, which is a form of Judith) didn’t appear in the New York state data for 4 years:

Yides usage in the U.S.Yides usage in New York
202139
20203434
201951
20183232
201739
201635
20154242
20143838

The boy name Berl didn’t appear in the New York state data for 4 years:

Berl usage in the U.S.Berl usage in New York
202119
20201717
20192323
201818
201716
201622
20152121
20141918

The girl name Frady (a diminutive of Freyde) didn’t appear in the New York state data for 3 years straight:

Frady usage in the U.S.Frady usage in New York
20212525
202022
201923
201821
20172121
20162020
20151714
20141919

The girl name Pessy (a diminutive of Batya, which is a form of the Biblical name Bithiah) didn’t appear in the New York state data for 3 years:

Pessy usage in the U.S.Pessy usage in New York
20216351
202062
201941
20185446
20174133
201634
20154645
20144240

The boy name Lipa (a short form of Lipman, which is based on the name Liberman) didn’t appear in the New York state data for 3 years:

Lipa usage in the U.S.Lipa usage in New York
20215044
20204843
201953
20184438
201737
201642
20154340
20145050

The boy name Usher (a form of Asher) didn’t appear in the New York state data for 3 years:

Usher usage in the U.S.Usher usage in New York
20214136
202037
201958
20183629
201734
20164135
20154540
20143128

The boy name Avrum (a form of Abraham) didn’t appear in the New York state data for 3 years:

Avrum usage in the U.S.Avrum usage in New York
20214234
20203728
201924
20182924
201727
201625
20151716
20142322

The boy name Lazer (a form of Eliezer) didn’t appear in the New York state data for 3 years:

Lazer usage in the U.S.Lazer usage in New York
202140
20203731
20194539
201829
201728
20164335
20152928
20143331

The boy name Yossi (a diminutive of Yosef) didn’t appear in the New York state data for 3 years:

Yossi usage in the U.S.Yossi usage in New York
20213529
202030
20192318
20183024
201721
201629
20152019
20142519

The girl name Goldy (a diminutive of Golda) didn’t appear in the New York state data for 2 years:

Goldy usage in the U.S.Goldy usage in New York
20216957
20206353
20195144
20186254
201756
201646
20154842
20142822

And, finally, the boy name Nachman didn’t appear in the New York state data for 2 years:

Nachman usage in the U.S.Nachman usage in New York
20212718
20202317
201918
20182012
201721
20162116
20152824
20142720

If the gap years matched up more closely with one another — as with the glitch of 1989, for instance — I could chalk it up to a few incomplete batches of data.

But they don’t, so…I don’t know what to make of this.

Do you guys have any thoughts, or theories?

(If you’d like to examine the New York data for yourself, download the “State-specific data” file from the SSA website.)

Sources: Behind the Name, SSA
Image by Michael Dziedzic from Unsplash

Name quotes #98: Judith, Xochitl, Rajaonina

double quotation mark

From an article about famous people reclaiming their names in The Guardian:

Earlier this year, the BBC presenter formerly known as Ben Bland changed his surname to Boulos to celebrate his maternal Sudanese-Egyptian heritage.

[…]

The Bland name had masked important aspects of his identity that he had downplayed as a child, not wanting to be seen as in any way “different”, including his Coptic faith, Boulos said. “Every name tells a story – and I want mine to give a more complete picture of who I am.”

Boulos’s grandparents, who came to Britain in the 1920s, had chosen the surname Bland because they feared using the Jewish-Germanic family name “Blumenthal”. “They decided on the blandest name possible — literally — to ensure their survival,” he wrote.

From the book I Speak of the City: Mexico City at the Turn of the Twentieth Century (2015) by Mauricio Tenorio-Trillo:

Babies were baptized with new and strange names, particularly in the 1920s, names taken from the titles of various socialist experiments (for instance, in Tabasco with Garrido Canaval, who established socialist baptisms), and as a result of the emergence of the radio and the indigenist turn of the city’s language. Masiosare became a boy’s name (derived from a stanza of the national anthem: “Mas si osare un extraño enemigo…”), but also Alcazelser (after the popularity of Alka-Seltzer), Xochitl, Tenoch, Cuauhtémoc, Tonatihu (the biblically named Lázaro Cárdenas named his son Cuauhtémoc).

From the book Cecil B. DeMille’s Hollywood (2004) by Robert S. Birchard:

DeMille interviewed Gloria Stuart for the part of the high school girl [in This Day and Age], Gay Merrick, and said she was “extremely enthusiastic,” and he also considered Paramount contract player Grace Bradley, but ultimately he selected a former model who called herself Mari Colman. In April 1933 Colman won a Paramount screen test in a New York beauty competition, and DeMille was apparently delighted by the innocent image she projected.

In a comic sequence in David O. Selznick’s 1937 production of A Star Is Born, the studio’s latest discovery, Esther Blodgett, is given a new name more in keeping with her status as a movie starlet. As This Day and Age was getting ready to roll, Mari Colman was subjected to the same treatment as DeMille and Paramount tested long lists of potential screen names. Among the suggestions were Betty Barnes, Doris Bruce, Alice Harper, Grace Gardner, Chloris Deane, and Marie Blaire. Colman herself suggested Pamela Drake or Erin Drake. On May 15, Jack Cooper wrote DeMille that he had tried several names on seventeen people. Eleven voted for the name Doris Manning; the other six held out for Doris Drake. Somehow, the name ultimately bestowed upon her was Judith Allen. DeMille and Paramount had high hopes for Allen, and she was even seen around town in the company of Gary Cooper, one of the studio’s biggest stars.

From an academic paper by Denis Regnier called “Naming and name changing in postcolonial Madagascar” (2016):

[T]he spread of the Christian faith in the nineteenth century resulted in people increasingly giving names from the Bible to their children. These biblical names were often modified to follow the phonological and morphological rules of the Malagasy language (e.g., John becomes Jaonina or Jaona), and often the honorific particle Ra-, the word andriana (lord), or both were added to them (e.g., Rajaonina and Randrianarijaona)

And let’s end with a related quote about Madagascar’s very long names:

Names were reduced in length when French colonization began in 1896 — the shortest names today include Rakotoarisoa, Rakotonirina, Andrianjafy or Andrianirina, and tend to have around 12 characters minimum.

From a DMNES blog post announcing the publication of “Names Shakespeare Didn’t Invent“:

In this article, we revisit three names which are often listed as coinages of Shakespeare’s and show that this received wisdom, though oft-repeated, is in fact incorrect. The three names are Imogen, the heroine of Cymbeline; and Olivia and Viola, the heroines of Twelfth Night. All three of these names pre-date Shakespeare’s use. Further, we show in two of the three cases that it is plausible that Shakespeare was familiar with this earlier usage.

For more quotes about names, check out the name quotes category.

Popular baby names in New Zealand, 2020

Flag of New Zealand
Flag of New Zealand

According to New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs, the most popular baby names in the country in 2020 were Isla and Oliver.

Here are New Zealand’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2020:

Girl Names

  1. Isla, 243 baby girls
  2. Charlotte, 222
  3. Amelia, 213
  4. Olivia, 208
  5. Willow, 184
  6. Harper, 177
  7. Ava (tie), 175
  8. Lily (tie), 175
  9. Sophie, 168
  10. Ella, 163

Boy Names

  1. Oliver, 315 baby boys
  2. Jack, 261
  3. Noah, 240
  4. Leo, 235
  5. Lucas, 206
  6. George, 197
  7. Charlie, 183
  8. William (tie), 175
  9. Thomas (tie), 175
  10. Hunter, 174

In the girls’ top 10, Lily and Ella replaced Mila and Ruby.

In the boys’ top 10, Hunter replaced James.

Notably, top girl name Isla “first made the top 100 girls’ names in 2004.”

Here are a few other factoids:

Taylor and Darcy are the most evenly split gender-neutral names for 2020, with a 51/49 per cent divide between boys and girls.

There were no Jacindas or Judiths on the top 10 list and no increase in Ashleys despite these names appearing often in the media during 2020.

The top Maori baby names of 2020 were Mia, Aria and Maia for girls and Nikau, Manaia, and Ari for boys.

Back in 2019, the top names were Amelia and Oliver.

Sources: Top Baby Names in New Zealand, Top 2020 baby names: Same name tops list eight years in a row

Image: Adapted from Flag of New Zealand (public domain)

Numerology: Baby names with a value of 9

Baby names with a numerological value of 9

If you’re on the hunt for baby names with a numerological value of 9, you’re in luck! Because today’s post features hundreds of 9-names.

Before we get to the names, though — how do we know that they’re “nines” in numerology?

Turning names into numbers

Here’s how to calculate the numerological value of a name.

First, for each letter, come up with a number to represent that letter’s position in the alphabet. (Letter A would be number 1, letter B would be number 2, and so forth.) Then, add all the numbers together. If the sum has two or more digits, add the digits together recursively until the result is a single digit. That single digit is the name’s numerological value.

For instance, the letters in the name Rockwell correspond to the numbers 18, 15, 3, 11, 23, 5, 12, and 12. The sum of these numbers is 99. The digits of 99 added together equal 18, and the digits of 18 added together equal 9 — the numerological value of Rockwell.

Baby names with a value of 9

Below you’ll find the most popular 9-names per gender, according to the latest U.S. baby name data. I’ve further sub-categorized them by total sums — just in case any of those larger numbers are significant to anyone.

9

The letters in the unisex baby name Ace add up to 9.

9 via 18

The letters in the following baby names add up to 18, which reduces to nine (1+8=9).

Girl names (9 via 18)Boy names (9 via 18)
Lea, Gaia, Ela, Acacia, AddiCan, Adal, Acie, Edi, Jag

9 via 27

The letters in the following baby names add up to 27, which reduces to nine (2+7=9).

Girl names (9 via 27)Boy names (9 via 27)
Leia, Alma, Aleah, Aya, Chana, Adele, Dalia, Elia, Emi, Amal, Eila, Safa, Koa, Daila, AdleeCaden, Koa, Jake, Ahmad, Eddie, Cain, Cian, Job, Geo, Oak, Jeff

9 via 36

The letters in the following baby names add up to 36, which reduces to nine (3+6=9).

Girl names (9 via 36)Boy names (9 via 36)
Malia, Lina, Angie, Kiana, Halo, Anika, Maddie, Vida, Belle, Darla, Zia, Erica, Nila, Reece, Emme, Aoife, Nahla, Lani, Irha, Leen, Sanaa, Coco, Indi, Amila, Maila, Una, Safia, AikoChase, Reid, Jay, Caiden, Reece, Alden, Lian, Kiaan, Kase, Bilal, Davi, Kip, Ilan, Neel, Deegan, Zade, Fidel, Dakoda, Earl, Caelan, Halo, Chet, Luc, Rael, Mick, Chip, Abdias

9 via 45

The letters in the following baby names add up to 45, which reduces to nine (4+5=9).

Girl names (9 via 45)Boy names (9 via 45)
Remi, Arya, Ariel, Fiona, Selah, Raya, Kora, Helena, Emelia, Briana, Yara, Tiana, Kenna, Emmie, Dulce, Amelie, Paola, Ayra, Kacey, Jayde, Eleni, Anita, Zadie, Areli, Nailah, Amilia, Nechama, Delani, Regan, Ahlani, Tania, Cori, Iqra, Makena, Audra, Alaska, Debora, Denali, Minha, Ivie, Jiya, Oona, Cove, Marla, Denim, Auden, Alahni, Kyah, Zen, Avila, Rhema, Luci, Caleigh, Ilani, Camari, Arlie, Kalli, Ilse, MahaliaElijah, Daniel, Luka, Cohen, Clark, Tadeo, Ariel, Kayce, Emir, Ty, Remi, Koen, Enoch, Azael, Damir, Zen, Khalid, Vance, Meir, Fox, Kacey, Keon, Gino, Kenan, Denim, Aydan, Lamar, Cove, Coby, Rico, Jaleel, Aziah, Auden, Camari, Chayce, Saleh, Duane, Jamil, Haider, Kolbe, Lucah, Melo, Rakan, Arya, Ciro, Jakub, Opie, Gohan, Wali, Ojas

9 via 54

The letters in the following baby names add up to 54, which reduces to nine (5+4=9).

Girl names (9 via 54)Boy names (9 via 54)
Elliana, Bailey, Alayna, Alivia, Regina, Marlee, Carmen, Ariya, Zahra, Margo, Melina, Karina, Love, Milena, Keyla, Hadleigh, Zola, Mazie, Melani, Gianni, Zarah, Siya, Lori, Keidy, Sofie, Geneva, Elly, Sheila, Jessa, Tamara, Brenna, Zari, Maura, Bowie, Kaori, Arayah, Emmalee, Inez, Devin, Alyana, Maleni, Elisha, Kamaria, Joann, Kaley, Carrie, Aithana, Malinda, Raiya, Syeda, Nikki, Kolbie, Kiyah, Layana, Runa, JadynMateo, Gabriel, Kairo, Angelo, Gideon, Gianni, Devin, Rocco, Izaiah, Musa, Harlan, Elisha, Jrue, Lyle, Bowie, Jaxen, Eason, Dovid, Ayman, Henri, Azlan, Bailey, Axell, Keoni, Shaya, Hardin, Valen, Camren, Hazen, Lenin, Iver, Diesel, Kainen, Salim, Azir, Lior, Banner, Jadyn, Amaru, Arlin, Keion, Khaleel, Rider, Aeson, Sayed

9 via 63

The letters in the following baby names add up to 63, which reduces to nine (6+3=9).

Girl names (9 via 63)Boy names (9 via 63)
Madeline, Brielle, Olive, Noelle, Miriam, Angelina, Hattie, Fernanda, Zariah, Paris, Beatrice, Reyna, Johanna, Rayne, Meilani, Luella, Kailey, Korra, Kaylie, Imogen, Maizie, Ireland, Kamille, Keeley, Lakyn, Divine, Odessa, Tess, Carleigh, Janyla, Navya, Kyrah, Aliyana, Nyx, Vanya, Asiyah, Goldy, Melodie, Aster, Anissa, Emeline, Landrie, Leylah, Sandy, Atley, Aziza, ElloraMatias, Emilio, Leonel, Saint, Jaziel, Kylo, Nehemiah, Kylan, Otis, Caspian, Gatlin, Azrael, Bridger, Roger, Kaiser, Jones, Rishi, Coleman, Bentlee, Anson, Carmine, Macklin, Zealand, Ranger, Deangelo, Ismail, Shaun, Santi, Chevy, Jhett, Divine, Yohan, Avyan, Amauri, Keller, Mikhail, Reyan, Jeyden, Naftali, Domenic, Nicolai, Konrad, Rayne, Deonte, Paris, Jaylan, Jaidyn, Nikhil, Tyr, Kellin, Mahlon, Kavon, Romel, Mikey

9 via 72

The letters in the following baby names add up to 72, which reduces to nine (7+2=9).

Girl names (9 via 72)Boy names (9 via 72)
Sophie, Aubrey, Valerie, River, Magnolia, Everlee, Holly, Lorelai, Itzel, Jayleen, Mikayla, Charley, Savanna, Jaylani, Lilianna, Judith, Ryann, Soleil, Kynlee, Emmaline, Betty, Jaylene, Kaylin, Mercedes, Karely, Silvia, Kailyn, Cooper, Kenley, Chevelle, Zylah, Saphira, Blakeleigh, Ashanti, Laikyn, Blythe, Izabelle, Rainey, Theadora, Hosanna, Elyanna, Kylani, Karley, Loralei, Maisey, ZemiraCooper, River, Tanner, Kylian, Darius, Mohammed, Rocky, Jordy, Yasir, Tylan, Khyree, Canyon, Dwayne, Aubrey, Phineas, Kamron, Irvin, Charley, Hendrick, Jahaziel, Pranav, Casimir, Lucky, Reyes, Deshaun, Clement, Broly, Markell, Brendon, Masyn, Kavion, Syair, Elimelech, Cashmere, Rony

9 via 81

The letters in the following baby names add up to 81, which reduces to nine (8+1=9).

Girl names (9 via 81)Boy names (9 via 81)
Brynlee, Vanessa, Xiomara, Jennifer, Malaysia, Louise, Jenesis, Sariyah, Arlette, Yasmin, Aubriella, Tiffany, Lottie, Elisabeth, Ruthie, Jaelynn, Nathaly, Lavender, Venus, Tenley, Maisyn, Gitty, Karolina, Stori, Vivien, Hudson, Jaslyn, Kalliope, Beatriz, Destinee, Ivette, Taylin, Elisheva, Ramsey, Reilly, Ozzie, Arantza, Twyla, Novella, ElyssaOliver, Hudson, Nicholas, Lawrence, Samson, Jamison, Nikolas, Mustafa, Zavier, Rodney, Aurelio, Rogelio, Ernest, Kolter, Eliyahu, Orson, Ozzie, Ramsey, Jamarion, Dezmond, Kyzen, Taylin, Braylin, Conway, Eliott, Dayvon, Heston, Reilly, Selvin, Alastair, Marius, Jenesis, Timur, Davonte, Prynce, Tavion, Baltazar

9 via 90

The letters in the following baby names add up to 90, which reduces to nine (9+0=9).

Girl names (9 via 90)Boy names (9 via 90)
Autumn, Saylor, Leighton, Skyler, Evangelina, Anderson, Paxton, Bridgette, Honesti, Payson, KensleighTheodore, Sebastian, Matthew, Waylon, Maxwell, Paxton, Clayton, Anderson, Raymond, Westin, Skyler, Leighton, Curtis, Terrell, Aleksander, Reyansh, Atreyu, Gonzalo, Sulaiman, Marcelino, Saylor, Romello, Yonatan, Olivier, Alphonse

9 via 99

The letters in the following baby names add up to 99, which reduces to nine (9+9=18; 1+8=9).

Girl names (9 via 99)Boy names (9 via 99)
Emersyn, Gracelynn, Priscilla, Yoselin, Jupiter, Verity, Yitty, Stormie, Grayson, Presleigh, Swayze, CerenityGrayson, Cristobal, Kassius, Rockwell, Jupiter, Stuart, Jeronimo, Kingsten, Whitten

9 via 108

The letters in the following baby names add up to 108, which reduces to nine (1+0+8=9).

Girl names (9 via 108)Boy names (9 via 108)
Journey, Roselyn, Emberlynn, Violette, Kollyns, Rylynn, Jacquelyn, Gwenivere, Scotlyn, Yatziri, EllingtonAlessandro, Vincenzo, Cristiano, Journey, Fitzgerald, Truitt

9 via 117

The letters in the following baby names add up to 117, which reduces to nine (1+1+7=9).

Girl names (9 via 117)Boy names (9 via 117)
Novalynn, Marguerite, Quinnley, Augustine, RoslynnAugustine, Yitzchok, Treyton, Maximillian, Trystan, Stockton

9 via 126

The letters in the following baby names add up to 126, which reduces to nine (1+2+6=9).

Girl names (9 via 126)Boy names (9 via 126)
Brooklynn, Quinlynn, Tennyson, Quinnlyn, StellaroseTennyson, Dionysus, Marvelous, Artavious, Atharvreddy

Number 9: Significance and associations

What does the number nine mean in numerology?

There’s no definitive answer, unfortunately, because various numerological systems exist, and each one has its own interpretation of the number nine. That said, if we look at a couple of modern numerology/astrology websites, we see 9 being described as “humanitarian,” “tolerant,” “helpful,” “determined,” and “compassionate.”

We can also look at associations, which are a bit more concrete. Here are some things that are associated with the number 9:

  • Pregnancy (9 months long)
  • Baseball (9 players on the field; 9 innings)
  • K-9 (“canine”) police dog units
  • “Cloud nine” (expression)
  • “Nine lives” of a cat (expression)
  • “To the nines” (expression)
  • “The whole nine yards” (expression)

What does the number 9 mean to you? What are your strongest associations with the number?

P.S. To see names with other numerological values, check out the posts for the numbers one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight.

Sources: SSA, Numerology – Cafe Astrology, The meaning of the numbers 1 – 9 – World Numerology, 9 – Wikipedia

[Latest update: Jan. 2024]