How popular is the baby name Menachemmendel 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 Menachemmendel.

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Popularity of the baby name Menachemmendel


Posts that mention the name Menachemmendel

Interesting one-hit wonder names in the U.S. baby name data

single flower

They came, they went, and they never came back!

These baby names are one-hit wonders in the U.S. baby name data. That is, they’ve only popped up once, ever, in the entire dataset of U.S. baby names (which accounts for all names given to at least 5 U.S. babies per year since 1880).

There are thousands of one-hit wonders in the dataset, but the names below have interesting stories behind their single appearance, so these are the one-hits I’m writing specific posts about. Just click on a name to read more.

2020s

  • 2020: Jexi

2010s

2000s

1990s

1980s

1970s

1960s

1950s

1940s

1930s

1920s

1910s

1900s

  • (none yet)

1890s

As I discover (and write about) more one-hit wonders in the data, I’ll add the names/links to this page. In the meanwhile, do you have any favorite one-hit wonder baby names?

Image: Adapted from Solitary Poppy by Andy Beecroft under CC BY-SA 2.0.

[Latest update: Apr. 2024]

The top boy-name debuts of 2014

lotus bud

The movie-inspired Llewyn was the top debut name for baby boys in 2014.

Of all the boy names appearing for the very first time on a Social Security Administration baby name list in 2014, the following were the most popular:

1. Llewyn, 38 baby boys
2. Keylor, 34
3. Feynman, 15
4. Sanav, 15
5. Jadaveon, 14
6. Rudransh, 14
7. Cavani, 13
8. Haigen, 13
9. Amirali, 12
10. Kharson, 12
11. Teller, 12
12. Alisher,11
13. Kavir, 11
14. Raynav, 11
15. Zacardi, 11

And a handful from the 10-and-under group: Crusoe, Adagio, Briggston/Brigston, Jetzael, Tyking, Voss, Coast, Cobalt, Flash, Liamgabriel, Roux, Acamas, Clutch, Kingcharles, Menachemmendel, Stallone, Winchester, Wrett, Bangaly, Billion, Cohutta, Knoxville, Legendary, Renegade, Rocker.

Where do the names above come from? Here are some explanations:

  • Llewyn – from the Coen brothers’ film “Inside Llewyn Davis” (2013).
  • Keylor – from Costa Rican footballer (goalkeeper) Keylor Navas, who made some notable saves during the 2014 World Cup.
  • Jadaveon – from American football player Jadeveon Clowney, who was a first round draft pick in 2014.
  • Cavani – from Uruguayan footballer (striker) Edinson Cavani, who also appeared in the 2014 World Cup.
  • Zacardi – from Zacardi Cortez, American gospel musician, whose second album came out in 2014.

Can you come up with explanations for any of the others?

Here are the boy name debuts for 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010.

U.S. Baby Names 2014: Most popular names, Top girl-name debuts, Top boy-name debuts, Biggest girl-name changes, Biggest boy-name changes, Top first letters, Top lengths

Source: SSA

Image: Adapted from LotusBud0048a (public domain) by Frank “Fg2” Gualtieri

How did Chaya Mushka Schneerson influence baby names in the late 1980s?

Chaya Mushka Schneerson (in the 1950s)

The branch of Hasidic Judaism called “Chabad Lubavitch” was founded in the Russian Empire (in the town of Lyubavichi) in the 1770s. After World War II broke out, the center of the movement was moved to the United States — to New York City specifically.

The last official leader of the movement was popular rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, whose wife was the equally beloved Chaya Moussia “Mushka” Schneerson.

When Chaya Mushka passed away in 1988, hundreds of Hasidic parents — most located in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn — named their daughters “Chaya Mushka” (or some variation thereof).

According to he U.S. baby name data, the baby name Chaya, which means “life” in Hebrew, saw a jump in usage in 1988:

  • 1990: 214 baby girls named Chaya [ranked 896th]
  • 1989: 232 baby girls named Chaya [ranked 819th]
  • 1988: 213 baby girls named Chaya [ranked 845th]
  • 1987: 144 baby girls named Chaya
  • 1986: 142 baby girls named Chaya

The same year, the rare name Mushka made its very first appearance in the data:

  • 1990: 17 baby girls named Mushka
  • 1989: 20 baby girls named Mushka
  • 1988: 18 baby girls named Mushka [debut]
  • 1987: unlisted
  • 1986: unlisted

Here are some extra details about the usage of Chaya and Mushka from a 2011 article in the Jewish publication Forward:

  • In New York City, “the popularity of the name “Chaya” surged shortly after the rebbetzin died, from about 100 girls annually during the mid-1980s to 150 girls annually during the early 1990s. It peaked in 2005 and 2006, with almost 200 girls named “Chaya” in each year.”
  • One Chaya Mushka (b. 1988) mentioned that, at her Beth Rivkah school in Brooklyn, about 75 of the 120 girls in her grade were called Chaya Mushka.
  • A Crown Heights matchmaker said that, currently, “almost one-third of the 200 women on her list of eligible brides are Chaya Mushkas.”

The Crown Heights matchmaker also mentioned that the name Menachem Mendel became extremely popular for boys after Chaya Mushka’s husband Menachem Mendel Schneerson passed away a few years later, in 1994. “In my son’s class, I would say about 90% [of the boys] are called Mendy.”

Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Indeed, the U.S. data reveals that Menachem both entered the top 1,000 for the first time and saw peak (relative) usage in 1994:

  • 1996: 138 baby boys named Menachem [ranked 944th]
  • 1995: 142 baby boys named Menachem [ranked 933rd]
  • 1994: 164 baby boys named Menachem [ranked 834th]
  • 1993: 83 baby boys named Menachem
  • 1992: 105 baby boys named Menachem

Interestingly, two decades after this peak, in 2014, the name Menachemmendel popped up in the data for the first and (so far) only time.

Finally, here’s a cool video about the many girls named Chaya Mushka:

Sources:

[Latest Update: Aug. 2021]