How popular is the baby name Lilith 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 Lilith.
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According to the U.S. baby name data, the uncommon name Adia more than doubled in usage in 1998, then rose even higher in 1999:
2000: 134 baby girls named Adia
1999: 155 baby girls named Adia
1998: 116 baby girls named Adia
1997: 51 baby girls named Adia
1996: 45 baby girls named Adia
Why?
Because of the Sarah McLachlan single “Adia” (pronounced ay-dee-uh), which was released in March of 1998. The song peaked at #3 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart later the same year, in August.
During a 1999 appearance on the The Rosie O’Donnell Show, McLachlan revealed that “Adia” had originally been called “Emily.” She decided to change the name, though, because Simon & Garfunkel had already used Emily in the title of their song “For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her” (1966).
Here’s the music video for “Adia”:
What are your thoughts on the name Adia?
P.S. The late ’90s is also when Sarah McLachlan was involved in the traveling music festival Lilith Fair.
The name Lilith (which we’ve talked about recently, in the post about the Lilith Fair) and the name Lillian may sound alike, but they have very different origins.
Lillian, though it sounds like the flower name Lily, likely started as a diminutive of Elizabeth.
Lilith, on the other hand, is thought to be derived from the Akkadian word lilitu — the name of a type of demon (!) in ancient Mesopotamia.
If you were having a daughter, and you had to name her either Lilith or Lillian, which would it be? Why?
Musician Sarah McLachlan announced a few months ago that the Lilith Fair would not be coming back.
Lilith Fair was a touring summer music festival that featured female solo artists and female-fronted bands. The initial run (1997-1999) was successful, but the 2010 revival “flopped,” according to Rolling Stone.
McLachlan had named the festival after Lilith, who, according to Jewish folklore, was the original wife of the first man, Adam.
Here’s what McLachlan told MTV about Lilith back in 1997:
She was Adam’s first wife, before Eve. He was like, “Get below me woman,” and she said, “I’m sorry. If you’re not going to treat me as an equal, I’m out of here.”
So did the festival (either directly or indirectly) inspire more parents to name their baby girls Lilith? Yes, I’d say so:
2002: 103 baby girls named Lilith
2001: 98 baby girls named Lilith
2000: 89 baby girls named Lilith
1999: 89 baby girls named Lilith
1998: 63 baby girls named Lilith
1997: 29 baby girls named Lilith
1996: 12 baby girls named Lilith
1995: 15 baby girls named Lilith
1994: 9 baby girls named Lilith
1993: 9 baby girls named Lilith
And the name’s been on the rise ever since. In 2010, it made the top 1,000 for the first time with 254 baby girls.
No doubt the name is now riding the sounds-like-Lily wave, but I’m sure at least a handful of parents are naming their daughters Lilith with either the music festival or the legendary character in mind.
Folks in that latter group may be dismayed (shocked?) to learn that, before Lilith was a proto-feminist, she was a baby-killing succubus. The Straight Dope offers an interesting analysis, including this:
To guard against Lilith, superstitious Jews would hang four amulets, one on the wall of each room of a newborn babe, with the inscription “Lilith – abi!” [“Lilith – begone!”] which some think is the origin, much later, of the English word “lullaby.”
And there you have it: baby killer to baby name. Talk about a turnaround.
The top 1,000 baby girl names of 2009 can be found at the Social Security Administration’s website. But what about all the other names that were doled out last year? Those names are also available via the SSA I recently discovered (thanks Kelly!).
Just a few hours ago I posted a list of boy names that didn’t make the top 1,000 last year, but were still given to 100+ babies. Here is the equivalent (and much longer) list of girl names, grouped by the number of babies that received each name:
*Nyasia could have made the top 1,000. In fact, it should have made the top 1,000. It was given to 263 babies, just like the names that ranked 996th-1,000th (Gretchen, Karli, Kloe, Lilyanna and Mireya). But it came in last alphabetically, so in the eyes of the SSA it’s name #1,001. Sad, sad…
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