How popular is the baby name Mushka 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 Mushka.

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Popularity of the baby name Mushka


Posts that mention the name Mushka

Popular and unique baby names in Quebec (Canada), 2012

Flag of Quebec
Flag of Quebec

The most popular baby names in Quebec were announced a little while ago.

According to the Régie des rentes du Québec, the province’s top names last year were Emma and William.

Here are the top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2012:

Girl Names

  1. Emma (505 baby girls)
  2. Lea (474)
  3. Olivia (458)
  4. Florence (439)
  5. Alice (386)
  6. Zoe (385)
  7. Rosalie (377)
  8. Juliette (358)
  9. Camille (348)
  10. Mia (344)
  11. Laurence (335)
  12. Charlie (317)
  13. Jade (293)
  14. Alicia (292)
  15. Anais (292)
  16. Victoria (288)
  17. Maelie (287)
  18. Beatrice (285)
  19. Eva (282)
  20. Chloe (278)

Boy Names

  1. William (855 baby boys)
  2. Nathan (839)
  3. Olivier (798)
  4. Alexis (746)
  5. Samuel (737)
  6. Gabriel (731)
  7. Thomas (707)
  8. Jacob (706)
  9. Felix (702)
  10. Raphael (590)
  11. Antoine (560)
  12. Liam (522)
  13. Noah (462)
  14. Benjamin (446)
  15. Xavier (444)
  16. Emile (440)
  17. Mathis (417)
  18. Adam (412)
  19. Justin (405)
  20. Zachary (389)

Check out Charlie in 12th place for girls. For boys, it’s all the way down in 145th place.

Charlie is being used more and more often as a girl name in the U.S. as well.

The next-most-popular Charl- names for each gender were Charlotte in 24th place and Charles in 21st place. (Though, if you count the hundreds of baby boys with a Charles combination-name, e.g., Charles-Antoine, the total for Charles jumps to over 750, putting the name in 4th place.)

And what about the less-common names?

First, some stats:

  • Of the 9,074 girl names bestowed last year…
    • 6,686 (74%) of them were given to 1 baby girl, and
    • 8058 (89%) of them were given to 1, 2, 3 or 4 baby girls.
  • Of the 7,921 boy names bestowed last year…
    • 6,107 (77%) were given to 1 baby boy, and
    • 7121 (90%) were given to 1, 2, 3 or 4 baby boys.

Here are some of Quebec’s unique names (used only once):

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Ayagutaq
Becky Tillikasak
Cocolo
Desneiges
Euphelie
Fleurange
Garrissa
Ietohrhuostha
Justinique
Katsitsenhawitha
Lyora Lyssandre
Maisie Inuusiq
Nephthalia Elani
Orlguine
Paglianie Stacy
Qullik
Qupanuaq
Roldyanna
Stephanie Daystar
Tally-Ann Uapikuniss
Vinuki Sethlini
Wazberly
Windflower
Yvedianah
Zaely Hyacinthia
Aws
Brudginel-Bryan
Christian Braveheart
Davinnsly
Enbo
Fougnigue
Ghemsley Nollens
Hichembentaiba
Ittulaaq
Judley
Klyf
Lafleche William
Manhattan-Zola
Nyrlberson
Olmo Centeotl
Perseus Koperqualuk
Quindlley
Raniehtenha Wi
Shaquille-Shanqi
Tiesto
Uqittuk
Victor-Sam Ikuagasak
Wa’kenhrawakon
Yanga
Zack Browndly

Among the girl names given to two babies last year, I spotted both Chaya Mushka and Katniss.

P.S. Want to compare the top Quebec baby names of 2012 with those of 2009, or 2006?

Source: List of Baby Names – Retraite Québec, Emma usurps Lea for top spot on Quebec’s baby name list

Image: Adapted from Flag of Quebec (public domain)

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]