How popular is the baby name Lal 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 Lal.

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Popularity of the baby name Lal


Posts that mention the name Lal

More names from “Star Trek”

Sybo, from a 1967 episode

Yesterday, we looked at three Star Trek characters that influenced U.S. baby names back in the late 1960s.

But those three were just a handful of the many interestingly-named characters from the original Star Trek. Here are some of the others.

For those with names that have appeared in the SSA data before, I’ve included links to the graphs.

Female charactersMale characters
Areel, Aurelan*, Daras, Deela, Drea, Droxine, Elaan, Eleen, Gem, Losira, Luma, Miramanee, Miri, Natira, Nona, Odona, Rayna, Sayana, Sirah, Sybo, Tamoon, Tamula, Thalassa, T’Pau, T’Pring, Tula, Vanna, ZarabethAbrom, Akaar, Akuta, Anka, Apella, Ayelborne, Balok, Bela, Bele, Bilar, Claymare, Cloud, Decius, Dionyd, Duur, Egen, Ekor, Eraclitus, Goro, Hacom, Hanar, Hengist, Henoch, Jahn, Jaris, Kahless, Kalo, Kang, Kartan, Keel, Khan, Kloog, Korax, Korob, Krako, Kras, Krell, Krodak, Kryton, Lal, Landru, Lokai, Maab, Makora, Marplon, Melakon, Merik, Midro, Mirt, Morla, Nilz, Parmen, Plasus, Rael, Reger, Rojan, Salish, Sargon, Shras, Stonn, Tamar, Tark, Tepo, Thann, Thelev, Tomar, Tongo, Trefayne, Trelane, Tyree, Wu, Yutan, Zabo, Zefram

*Aurelan is from Aurelan Kirk, Captain Kirk’s sister-in-law.

Do you like any of the names above? Are any usable, in your opinion?

Source: Star Trek (1966-1969) – IMDb

P.S. The word “Trek” itself started appearing in the data in the early 1970s, also likely due to the show.

Where did the baby name Indira come from in 1966?

Indian politician Indira Gandhi (1917-1984)
Indira Gandhi

The baby name Indira not only first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1966, but it was the top debut name of of the year.

  • 1970: 20 baby girls named Indira
  • 1969: 14 baby girls named Indira
  • 1968: 16 baby girls named Indira
  • 1967: 17 baby girls named Indira
  • 1966: 43 baby girls named Indira [debut]
  • 1965: unlisted

Why? Because in January of 1966, Indira Gandhi — no relation to Mahatma Gandhi — became the third Prime Minister of India.

She succeeded the former Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, who had died suddenly on January 11 while overseas in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She was elected on January 19th and assumed office on January 24th.

Indira was the only child of India’s very first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. She was named after her great-grandmother Indrani (a.k.a. Jeorani) and was called “Indu” by family members. The name Indira means “beauty” in Sanskrit.

So far, Indira Gandhi has been the only female Prime Minister of India. She served from 1966 to 1977, then again from 1980 until 1984, when she was assassinated.

Source: Two Alone, Two Together: Between Indira Gandhi & Jawaharlal Nehru, 1922-1964. Ed. Sonia Gandhi. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2004.

Palindrome names: Alula, Hannah, Natan, Viv

duck and reflection

If you’re someone with a deep appreciation of symmetry, this list of palindrome names is for you!

A palindrome is a word or phrase that can be read the same way in either direction, i.e., both forwards and backwards. For instance, the words “civic,” “kayak,” and “wow” are all palindromes.

Here are over 130 names (collected from the SSA’s huge database of U.S. baby names) that happen to be palindromes.

Palindrome names

  • Aba
  • Abba
  • Ada
  • Adda
  • Aenea
  • Afa
  • Afifa
  • Ahsha
  • Aia
  • Aicia
  • Aidia
  • Ailia
  • Aisia
  • Aja
  • Ala
  • Alala
  • Aleela
  • Alela
  • Alila
  • Alla
  • Alula
  • Alyla
  • Ama
  • Amima
  • Amma
  • Ana
  • Anana
  • Anina
  • Anna
  • Anona
  • Ara
  • Arbra
  • Ardra
  • Arora
  • Arra
  • Artra
  • Asa
  • Assa
  • Ata
  • Atta
  • Ava
  • Aviva
  • Avva
  • Awa
  • Axa
  • Aya
  • Aza
  • Azeeza
  • Aziza
  • Azza
  • Bob
  • Divid
  • Ebbe
  • Ebe
  • Ebube
  • Ece
  • Ede
  • Eevee
  • Efe
  • Ege
  • Eillie
  • Eimie
  • Ele
  • Elle
  • Eme
  • Emme
  • Ese
  • Eve
  • Eze
  • Habibah
  • Halah
  • Hallah
  • Hanah
  • Hannah
  • Havah
  • Hawah
  • Hayah
  • Idi
  • Ireri
  • Iri
  • Itati
  • Ivi
  • Izzi
  • Kanak
  • Kerek
  • Kilik
  • Lal
  • Laval
  • Layal
  • Ledel
  • Lemel
  • Lennel
  • Lil
  • Lul
  • Luul
  • Maham
  • Maram
  • Nalan
  • Naman
  • Nan
  • Natan
  • Navan
  • Nayan
  • Neven
  • Nin
  • Nitin
  • Nivin
  • Nixin
  • Nolon
  • Noon
  • Nosson
  • Nylyn
  • Ororo
  • Oso
  • Oto
  • Otto
  • Pip
  • Ramar
  • Reber
  • Reinier
  • Rekker
  • Remer
  • Rener
  • Renner
  • Rever
  • Sabas
  • Sahas
  • Saras
  • Savas
  • Savvas
  • Silis
  • Siris
  • Sylys
  • Talat
  • Umu
  • Viv
  • Yanay

Two of the above, Ava and Hannah, happen to be very popular choices for baby girls at the moment.

Which palindrome name do you like best?

(And, did you know that pairs of names can be palindromes as well?)

Image: Adapted from Male northern pintail at Llano Seco by Frank Schulenburg under CC BY-SA 4.0.

[Latest update: April 2023]