How popular is the baby name Miriam 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 Miriam.
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The intriguing name Shindana appeared in the U.S. baby name data for a total of three years:
1975: unlisted
1974: 6 baby girls named Shindana
1973: unlisted
1972: unlisted
1971: 6 baby girls named Shindana
1970: 5 baby girls named Shindana [debut] – all 5 in California
1969: unlisted
1968: unlisted
Where did it come from?
Shindana dolls, which were manufactured by Shindana Toys.
Shindana Toys was founded in 1968 as a division of Operation Bootstrap, located in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. Operation Bootstrap was a job training center formed in the wake of the Watts riots (mid-August, 1965).
Black-owned and Black-operated, Shindana Toys was one of the first companies to make black dolls with ethnically correct features. The name of the company means “compete” in Swahili.
Though their very first doll was called Baby Nancy (introduced in 1968), many of their other dolls — such as Malaika (1969), Talking Tamu (1970), and Baby Zuri (1972) — had Swahili names. These Swahili names were “defined on the doll’s boxes or accompanying literature.” Malaika means “angel,” Tamu means “sweet,” and Zuri means “beautiful.”
Here’s the U.S. usage of each of these names (for baby girls) during the late ’60s and early ’70s:
Malaika
Tamu
Zuri
1974
43
36
6
1973
59
26
10
1972
72
55
.
1971
56
46
5*
1970
37
13
.
1969
7
7*
.
1968
8*
.
.
1967
.
.
.
*Debut
[It’s curious to me that each of these names debuted a year before the corresponding dolls were introduced. Haven’t been able to figure that one out yet…]
Shindana Toys ended up producing over 30 black dolls (along with other types of toys and games). The company reached peak productivity in the mid-1970s, but slowed down after that, and finally ceased operations in 1983. Today, Shindana dolls are sought-after collectibles.
What are your thoughts on the baby name Shindana?
P.S. If you know of any of the other Swahili names used for Shindana dolls, please comment! I couldn’t find a definitive list online.
Sources:
Garrett, Debbie Behan. The Definitive Guide to Collecting Black Dolls. Grantsville, MD: Hobby House Press, 2003.
The baby name Makeba started appearing in the U.S. baby name data in the early 1960s:
1966: 8 baby girls named Makeba
1965: unlisted
1964: 5 baby girls named Makeba
1963: 5 baby girls named Makeba
1962: 5 baby girls named Makeba [debut]
1961: unlisted
1960: unlisted
It saw peak usage in the early 1970s.
Where did it come from?
South African singer Miriam Makeba, who was born near Johannesburg in 1932 to a Xhosa father and a Swazi mother.
Miriam Makeba began singing professionally in the early 1950s. In the late ’50s she met famous Jamaican-American singer Harry Belafonte, who introduced her to American audiences. Her fame grew (both in the U.S. and in Europe) during the ’60s, and she became “the first African artist to globally popularize African music.”
Her first name at birth was actually Zenzile, nickname Zenzi. (The English name Miriam was adopted later for career purposes.) According to Makeba, the name Zenzile means “you have no one to blame but yourself” or “you have done it to yourself.”
But “Zenzile Makeba” wasn’t her full name. Her full name was Zenzile Makeba Qgwashu Nguvama Yiketheli Nxgowa Bantana Balomzi Xa Ufun Ubajabulisa Ubaphekcli Mbiza Yotshwala Sithi Xa Saku Qgiba Ukutja Sithathe Izitsha Sizi Kkabe Singama Lawu Singama Qgwashu Singama Nqamla Nqgithi.
Why so long?
The reason for its length is that every child takes the first name of all his male ancestors. Often following the first name is a descriptive word or two, telling; about the character of the person, making a true African name somewhat like a story. This may sound most unusual to Americans, but it is the custom of my people.
I haven’t had any luck tracking down the etymology of Makeba, but I know the name came from Miriam’s mother, Nomkomendelo Christina Makeba. The name Nomkomendelo means “the one whose father was commandeered” (as she was born on the day her father was forced to join the British army to help fight the Second Boer War).
What are your thoughts on the name Makeba?
Sources:
Makeba, Miriam and Nomsa Mwamuka. Makeba: The Miriam Makeba Story. Johannesburg: STE Publishers, 2004.
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, Addi
Can, 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).
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.
Speaking of Icilma, here’s another name associated with a bygone English brand: Vinolia.
Vinolia scented soaps (and other products) were on the market from the late 1880s until the 1960s. I don’t know how the founders of the English toiletries company came up with the name “Vinolia,” but I do know that the company was granted a Royal Warrant as the official soap-maker of Queen Victoria in 1900. And, rather famously, a rose-scented version of soap was offered to first-class passengers aboard the ill-fated Titanic. (The “otto” part of the name refers to attar of roses.)
Unlike the name Icilma, the personal name Vinolia existed before the company was founded. (Here’s one in Texas in 1860, for instance.)
But when Vinolia products and ads started coming out, it does seem like usage of the name increased in various regions of the British empire. As an example, here’s a record for Miriam Vinolia Wilson, who was born in Saint James, Jamaica, in April of 1918:
(The second-born twin was her sister Violet Maud Wilson.)
Do you like Vinolia as a baby name? Would you use it?
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