How popular is the baby name Kristin 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 Kristin.

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Popularity of the baby name Kristin


Posts that mention the name Kristin

What gave the baby name Marylou a boost in 1961?

Ricky Nelson's single "Hello Mary Lou" (1961).
“Hello Mary Lou” single

The baby name Marylou was generally on the decline during the second half of the 20th century, but there was a conspicuous spike in usage in 1961 specifically:

  • 1963: 207 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 708th]
  • 1962: 207 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 719th]
  • 1961: 300 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 580th]
  • 1960: 227 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 675th]
  • 1959: 223 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 670th]

You can see it on the graph:

Graph of the usage of the baby name Marylou in the United States since 1880
Usage of the baby name Marylou

What caused the spike?

The Ricky Nelson song “Hello Mary Lou” (1961), which peaked at #9 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in May of 1961.

It was written by Gene Pitney, but sounded enough like the earlier song “Merry, Merry Lou” [vid] by Cayet Mangiaracina that the two musicians are now credited as co-authors.

Here’s “Hello Mary Lou”:

The song was released as the B-side to Nelson’s #1 hit “Travelin’ Man.” It was also included on his sixth studio album, Rick Is 21.

That album title is notable because, on his 21st birthday, Nelson — born Eric Hilliard Nelson in 1940 — officially changed his recording name from “Ricky Nelson” to “Rick Nelson.”

The name change was a hard sell, though, because audiences had known him for so long as Ricky. He’d gone by “Ricky” on his family’s long-running sitcom, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (on radio and/or television from 1944 to 1966), and he’d continued to use “Ricky” when he launched his recording career in 1957. (His first five albums were called Ricky, Ricky Nelson, Ricky Sings Again, Songs by Ricky, and More Songs by Ricky.)

One of the ways he promoted his songs — “Hello Mary Lou” included — was by performing them at the end of weekly Ozzie and Harriet TV episodes. (Elvis Presley was a fan of these musical segments, incidentally.)

Getting back to Mary Lou…what are your thoughts on the compound name Marylou? Would you consider using it?

And, which song you like better: “Hello Mary Lou” from 1961, or “Mary Lou” from 1926?

Sources:

P.S. In April of 1963, Rick Nelson married 17-year-old Kristin Harmon. Later the same year, she began appearing regularly (as “Kris”) on Ozzie and Harriet. As a result, the names Kristin and Kris both saw increased usage in 1963.

Popular baby names in Iceland, 2021

Flag of Iceland
Flag of Iceland

Iceland is a sparsely populated (and actively volcanic!) island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean, very close to the Arctic Circle.

Last year, Iceland welcomed 4,866 babies. What were the most popular names among these babies? Embla and Aron.

Here are Iceland’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Embla, 31 baby girls
  2. Emilía, 29 (tie)
  3. Sara, 29 (tie)
  4. Sóley, 26 – means “buttercup” in Icelandic.
  5. Aþena, 25 (tie) – form of Athena.
  6. Matthildur, 25 (tie) – form of Matilda.
  7. Katla, 24
  8. Guðrún, 23
  9. Eva, 22 (3-way tie)
  10. Saga, 22 (3-way tie)
  11. Viktoría, 22 (3-way tie)
  12. Anna, 21 (4-way tie)
  13. Bríet, 21 (4-way tie)
  14. Emma, 21 (4-way tie)
  15. Hekla, 21 (4-way tie)
  16. Júlía, 19
  17. Móeiður, 18
  18. Aldís, 17 (3-way tie)
  19. Andrea, 17 (3-way tie)
  20. Elísabet, 17 (3-way tie)
  21. Freyja, 16 (tie)
  22. Kristín, 16 (tie)
  23. Ísabella, 15 (tie)
  24. Katrín, 15 (tie)
  25. Alexandra, 14 (7-way tie)
  26. Hanna, 14 (7-way tie)
  27. Klara, 14 (7-way tie)
  28. Margrét, 14 (7-way tie)
  29. Rakel, 14 (7-way tie)
  30. Salka, 14 (7-way tie)
  31. Una, 14 (7-way tie)
  32. Hrafnhildur, 13 (3-way tie) – comprised of elements meaning “raven” and “battle.”
  33. Íris, 13 (3-way tie)
  34. Þórdís, 13 (3-way tie)
  35. Kolbrún, 12
  36. Berglind, 11 (7-way tie)
  37. Birta, 11 (7-way tie)
  38. Helga, 11 (7-way tie)
  39. Kamilla, 11 (7-way tie)
  40. Laufey, 11 (7-way tie)
  41. María, 11 (7-way tie)
  42. Sóldís, 11 (7-way tie)
  43. Amelía, 10 (14-way tie)
  44. Aría, 10 (14-way tie)
  45. Áróra, 10 (14-way tie)
  46. Elín, 10 (14-way tie)
  47. Hafdís, 10 (14-way tie)
  48. Heiðdís, 10 (14-way tie)
  49. Hildur, 10 (14-way tie)
  50. Hrafntinna, 10 (14-way tie) – based on the Icelandic word hrafntinnu, meaning “obsidian.” (The elements mean “raven” and “flint.”)
  51. Lena, 10 (14-way tie)
  52. Lóa, 10 (14-way tie)
  53. Mía, 10 (14-way tie)
  54. Natalía, 10 (14-way tie)
  55. Unnur, 10 (14-way tie)
  56. Ylfa, 10 (14-way tie)

Boy Names

  1. Aron, 41 baby boys
  2. Jökull, 36 – (pronounced yoh-kut, roughly) means “glacier” in Icelandic.
  3. Alexander, 31
  4. Kári, 30
  5. Emil, 28
  6. Jón, 27
  7. Óliver, 25
  8. Matthías, 24 (tie)
  9. Mikael, 24 (tie)
  10. Atlas, 23 (tie)
  11. Elmar, 23 (tie)
  12. Óðinn, 22
  13. Birnir, 21 (tie)
  14. Sigurður, 21 (tie)
  15. Baldur, 20 (6-way tie)
  16. Birkir, 20 (6-way tie) – based on the Icelandic word birki, meaning “birch”
  17. Brynjar, 20 (6-way tie)
  18. Ísak, 20 (6-way tie)
  19. Stefán, 20 (6-way tie)
  20. Tómas, 20 (6-way tie)
  21. Dagur, 19
  22. Styrmir, 18
  23. Úlfur, 18
  24. Bjartur, 17 (5-way tie)
  25. Daníel, 17 (5-way tie)
  26. Fannar, 17 (5-way tie)
  27. Guðmundur, 17 (5-way tie)
  28. Róbert, 17 (5-way tie)
  29. Ari, 16 (6-way tie)
  30. Jóhann, 16 (6-way tie)
  31. Kristófer, 16 (6-way tie)
  32. Óskar, 16 (6-way tie)
  33. Theodór, 16 (6-way tie)
  34. Viktor, 16 (6-way tie)
  35. Baltasar, 15 (3-way tie)
  36. Bjarki, 15 (3-way tie)
  37. Ólafur, 15 (3-way tie)
  38. Benedikt, 14 (9-way tie)
  39. Benjamín, 14 (9-way tie)
  40. Einar, 14 (9-way tie)
  41. Hjörtur, 14 (9-way tie)
  42. Hrafn, 14 (9-way tie)
  43. Jakob, 14 (9-way tie)
  44. Kristján, 14 (9-way tie)
  45. Magnús, 14 (9-way tie)
  46. Ýmir, 14 (9-way tie)
  47. Hinrik, 13 (4-way tie)
  48. Hlynur, 13 (4-way tie) – means “maple” in Icelandic.
  49. Máni, 13 (4-way tie) – based on the Old Norse word máni, meaning “moon.”
    • Máni was the personification of the moon in Germanic mythology.
  50. Ragnar, 13 (4-way tie)

Notably, the girl name Saga jumped from 80th place in 2020 to 10th in 2021.

Here are several interesting names from outside the top 50:

More Girl NamesMore Boy names
Dagbjört (“day” + “light”), 5Frosti (“frost”), 12
Melkorka (a character from a saga), 5Nökkvi (“boat, skip”), 9
Kría (“arctic tern”) 4Víkingur, 8
Ósk (“wish”), 2Snæbjörn (“snow” + “bear”), 5
Ugla (“owl”), 2Örlygur (“warrior”), 2

And, because Iceland releases all of its baby name data (yay!), we can check out names at the other end of the spectrum.

Over 340 girl names and over 360 boy names were bestowed just once in Iceland last year. Here’s a selection of Iceland’s unique baby names of 2021:

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Álfrún, Blíða, Charlotta, Dýrleif, Elínrós, Fanndís, Gígja, Hjaltey, Irmý, Jökla, Kristrún, Lílú, Marlaug, Myrkey, Nanna, Oddný, Pála, Quin, Rökkva, Svanhvít, Þórkatla, Unndís, Viðey, Wilrie, Ylfur, ZojaÁstmar, Barði, Carlos, Döggvi, Dreki, Ellert, Feykir, Greipur, Himri, Ísarr, Jörfi, Klettur, Kveldúlfur, Loftur, Myrkvi, Númi, Öxar, Pálmi, Röskvi, Skúmur, Sumarliði, Þorfinnur, Vigfús, Xander, Yariel, Zoran

Some simplified definitions for a few of the above…

  • Döggvi, “dew”
  • Dreki, “dragon”
  • Dýrleif, “deer” + “heir”
  • Fanndis, “snowdrift” + “woman”
  • Feykir, “fire”
  • Gigja, “fiddle”
  • Himri, short for himbrimi, “common loon” in Icelandic
  • Jökla, feminine version of Jökull, the #2 boy name
  • Myrkvi, “darkness (caused by fog or a storm)” or “eclipse“
  • Sumarliði, “summer-farer”
  • Svanhvit, “swan” + “white”

There was also a single non-binary name, Blær (“light breeze”), registered in Iceland last year.

Interestingly, about a decade ago, a teenager named Blær forced Iceland to legally recognize her name — which, at that time, was considered solely masculine — by taking the government to court. Perhaps that court battle paved the way for Blær to become a dual-gender name in Iceland? Hm…

The last time I posted rankings for Iceland, in 2018, the top two names (Embla and Aron) were the same.

Sources: Vinsælustu nöfnin 2021 | Þjóðskrá, Vinsælustu nöfnin 2021 | Þjóðskrá, Nordic Names

Image: Adapted from Flag of Iceland (public domain)

Baby names in the news: Smokey, Indica, Wilfred

Some recent baby names from the news…

Indica: A baby girl born in the U.S. (in Baltimore?) in February of 2020 was named Indica, after the strain of cannabis. Indica has an older sister named SaTiva, after another strain of cannabis. (Metro)

Onyx: The baby boy born to rappers Iggy Azalea (real name: Amethyst Kelly) and Playboi Carti (Jordan Carter) earlier this year was named Onyx, which, like mom’s first name, refers to a semi-precious gemstone. (Page Six)

Ranvijay: A baby boy born in India in March of 2020 was named Mohammad Ranvijay, middle name in honor of police officer Ranvijay Singh, who’d helped the baby’s father attend the birth during lockdown. (NDTV)

Smokey: A baby boy born in New South Wales, Australia, in November of 2019 — while the Gospers Mountain fire was burning — was named Smokey. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Víðir Þór Almarsson: A baby boy born in Iceland in May of 2020 to quarantining parents Almar Þór Jónsson and Kristín Vigdís was named Víðir Þór Almarsson after Iceland’s COVID-19 trifecta: “Chief of Police Víðir Reynisson, Chief Epidemiologist Þórolfur Guðnason, and Director of Health Alma Möller.” (Reykjavik Grapevine)

Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas: The baby boy born in England in April of 2020 to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his fiancee, Carrie Symonds, was named Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas — Wilfred after Boris’s grandfather, Lawrie after Carrie’s grandfather, and Nicholas after Dr. Nicholas Price and Prof. Nicholas Hart, “the two doctors that saved Boris’s life last month.” (The Guardian)

Wyatt: The baby boy born in April of 2020 to news anchor Anderson Cooper was named Wyatt after Anderson’s late father, Wyatt Cooper. (PinkNews)

Name quotes #58: Ailsa, Kikkan, Rose

double quotation mark

About the choosing of Ailsa, the first name of the daughter of gold-medal winning Olympic curler Joe Polo:

Both her parents were curlers, members of a tight-knit sport where an intense reverence for the game tends to bleed over into the players’ personal lives. And so it was only natural that Joe and Kristin Polo decided to name their future daughter Ailsa, after the Scottish island where the granite that makes curling rocks is mined.

(Ailsa Craig is an uninhabited islet located about 10 miles off the coast of southwestern Scotland. “Ailsa” may derive from the Old Irish word ail, meaning “rock.”)

About the coining of Kikkan, the first name of gold-medal winning Olympic cross-country skier Kikkan Randall:

After Randall’s birth on Dec. 31, 1982, Ronn wanted to name her Kikki, after Kiki Cutter, the first American skier, male or female, to win a race in a World Cup event, a slalom in 1968. Deborah preferred Meghan. They compromised on Kikkan.

(Kiki Cutter = Christina “Kiki” Cutter.)

From an article about Rose Collom in True West Magazine:

Rose was the perfect name for the Grand Canyon’s first official botanist, because self-taught Rose Collom blossomed when exposed to the state’s flora.
…
Rose discovered several varieties of plants previously unknown, and each was named after her.

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