How popular is the baby name Pele 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 Pele.

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Popularity of the baby name Pele


Posts that mention the name Pele

Over 100 baby names for 100 years of the U.S. National Park Service

Grand Canyon National Park poster (NPS)

The U.S. National Park Service has a birthday coming up!

When the NPS was created on August 25, 1916, there were only 35 national parks and monuments. (The world’s first, Yellowstone, had been established in 1872.)

Nowadays the agency oversees 411 units. These units are located in the 50 states and beyond, and include national monuments (82), national historic sites (78), national parks (59), national historical parks (50), national memorials (30), national battlefields (11), national seashores (10), national lakeshores (4), national scenic trails (3), and more.

Let’s celebrate the upcoming centennial with more than 100 baby names that pay tribute to the national parks specifically:

Lassen Volcanic National Park poster (NPS)
  • Garland for Garland County, Arkansas, where Hot Springs National Park is located.
  • Gates for Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve.
  • Guadalupe for Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
  • Gunnison for Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
    • The park was established in 1999, and Gunnison debuted on the baby name charts the very same year. Did one event cause the other?
  • Jackson for Jackson Hole, where much of Grand Teton National Park is located.
  • Jarvis for Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve’s Mt. Jarvis.
  • Jefferson for Dry Tortugas National Park’s Fort Jefferson.
  • John for Virgin Islands National Park’s St. John Island.
  • Joshua for Joshua Tree National Park.
  • Kenai for Kenai Fjords National Park.
    • The derivation of Kenai is unknown, but it could come from either Dena’ina Athabascan (“big flat” or “two big flats and river cut-back” or “trees and brush in a swampy marsh”), Russian (“flat barren land”), or Iniut (“black bear”).
  • Kingston or Kingsley for Kings Canyon National Park.
  • Lake for any of the parks featuring lakes, such as Crater Lake National Park, Voyageurs National Park, Lake Clark National Park & Preserve, etc.
  • Lamar for Yellowstone National Park’s Lamar Buffalo Ranch.
  • Lassen for Lassen Volcanic National Park.
  • Lata for the National Park of American Samoa’s Lata Mountain.
  • Lehman for Great Basin National Park’s Lehman Caves.
  • Lewis for Glacier National Park’s Lewis Range.
  • Livingston for Glacier National Park’s Livingston Range.
  • Manning for Saguaro National Park’s Manning Cabin.
  • Mara for Joshua Tree National Park’s Oasis of Mara.
    • In the Serrano language, Mara means “the place of little springs and much grass.”
  • Martin for Katmai National Park & Preserve’s Mt. Martin.
  • Maui for the island of Maui, where Haleakala National Park is located.
  • Mauna for Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park’s Mauna Loa.
  • Miguel for Channel Islands National Park’s San Miguel Island.
  • Olympia for Olympic National Park.
Zion National Park poster (NPS)
  • Parker, Parks, Park, or Parke as a tribute to all national parks.
  • Pele as a symbol of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.
  • Prairie for any of the parks featuring a prairie, such as Badlands National Park, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, etc.
  • Pratt for Guadalupe Mountains National Park’s Pratt Cabin.
  • Rainier for Mount Rainier National Park.
  • Ranger as a tribute to all national parks and park rangers.
  • Reef for Capitol Reef National Park.
  • Rhodes for Biscayne National Park’s Old Rhodes Key.
  • Rocky for Rocky Mountain National Park.
  • Roosevelt for Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
  • Rosa for Channel Islands National Park’s Santa Rosa Island.
  • Royale or Royal for Isle Royale National Park.
  • Valley for any of the parks featuring a valley, such as Cuyahoga Valley, Death Valley, Kobuk Valley, etc.
  • Verda or Verdell for Mesa Verde National Park.
  • Virginia for Virgin Islands National Park.
  • Zion for Zion National Park.

For all you national park lovers out there: What other park-inspired names can you come up with?

Sources: List of national parks of the United States – Wikipedia, Quick History of the National Park Service, National Park System (U.S. National Park Service), Kenai Fjords National Park Profile 2015 (PDF)
Images (all from the LOC): Grand Canyon National Park poster, Lassen Volcanic National Park poster, Zion National Park poster

[Latest update: July 2023]

Names collected on Hawaii’s Big Island

Earlier this month, my husband and I spent a week camping on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Kilauea Iki pit crater, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
Kilauea Iki pit crater, Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park

It’s not easy to find names to blog about while you’re traversing the still-steaming surface of a pit crater, but I did manage to spot a few names here and there. :)

We spent the first half of the trip in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. Our campsite was located off Hilina Pali Road. Here’s the view:

Hilina Pali Lookout, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
Hilina Pali Lookout, Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park

Hilina, which immediately reminded me of Helena, seemed like it might be a name…but turns out it’s just a vocabulary word. In Hawaiian it means “struck (as by wind)” — which is appropriate, as the campsite was extremely windy. But hilina did help me discover Hilina’i on the SSA’s baby name list:

  • 2013: unlisted
  • 2012: 6 baby girls named Hilina’i (all born in Hawaii)
  • 2011: 11 baby girls named Hilina’i (9 born in Hawaii)
  • 2010: unlisted
  • 2009: 5 baby girls named Hilina’i (all born in Hawaii)
  • 2008: 7 baby girls named Hilina’i (all born in Hawaii) [debut]
  • 2007: unlisted

Hilina’i means “to believe, trust; to lean on, rely on; trust, confidence” in Hawaiian.

Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is also where the Thomas A. Jaggar Museum is located. It’s named after geologist Thomas Augustus Jaggar (1871-1953), founder of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO).

One of the museum’s exhibits included three posters that were blown-up copies of pages taken from the old Volcano House hotel register. Each included at least one Hawaiian name. The longest list of names on display came from May, 1891:

Volcano House register, 1891
Volcano House register page from 1891

These are the Hawaiian forenames I think I can make out:

  • Liliuokalani (Queen Lili’uokalani, perhaps?)
  • Kaniu
  • Kahae
  • Wakeki
  • Kaonowai
  • Kawahalama
  • Kele (the Hawaiian form of Jerry)

The Hawaiian names on the other two posters were Mihana, I Kaia, and Pele-liilii. (Liilii isn’t part of the name, but means “small; little; diminutive; young.”)

Another exhibit included a short bio of Thomas Jaggar, and it mentioned that he’d invented an amphibious vehicle in the 1920s “for offshore lava flow observations.”

Ohiki amphibious vehicle
‘Ohiki, the amphibious vehicle invented by Dr. Jaggar

The vehicle’s name? ‘Ohiki, Hawaiian for “sand crab.”

We also did a lot of sightseeing outside the park. One of the places we visited was Rainbow Falls in Hilo, on the east side of the island. One of the plants there had graffiti all over the leaves. We weren’t able to see every name, but here are shots of “Silas + Sarah F.” and “Rachel + Jackson.”

leaf names - leaves

The plant seemed healthy despite the vandalism, thankfully.

leaf names - plant

Something even cooler growing by the falls was this fantastic banyan tree. (That’s me hanging off the tree. Behind me is someone’s bicycle.)

Banyan tree at Rainbow Falls in Hilo, Hawaii
Banyan tree at Rainbow Falls in Hilo, Hawaii

Did you know that Banyan has been on the national baby name list for more than a decade now?

  • 2013: 22 baby boys named Banyan [6 in Hawaii]
  • 2012: 19 baby boys named Banyan [6 in California, 5 in Florida]
  • 2011: 26 baby boys named Banyan [5 in California]
  • 2010: 18 baby boys named Banyan [6 in California]
  • 2009: 21 baby boys named Banyan
  • 2008: 14 baby boys named Banyan
  • 2007: 13 baby boys named Banyan
  • 2006: 15 baby boys named Banyan
  • 2005: 7 baby boys named Banyan
  • 2004: 16 baby boys named Banyan
  • 2003: 7 baby boys named Banyan
  • 2002: 8 baby boys named Banyan
  • …
  • 1996: 5 baby boys named Banyan [debut]

Banyan trees grow best in warm climates, so it doesn’t surprise me that usage of the name is highest in warmer states.

…And that’s it! So I’ll wrap up with this gratuitous shot of the black sand beach in Pololu Valley:

Beach at Pololu Valley, Kohala, Hawaii
Pololu Valley, Kohala, Hawaii

Have you ever been to the Big Island? Do you remember seeing/hearing any interesting names while there?

Sources:

Soccer-inspired baby names

soccer game

Are you a soccer fan? Below are some of the names that have debuted in the U.S. baby name data thanks to soccer players.

Pele

The baby name Pele debuted as a boy name in 1975 thanks to Brazilian soccer player Edson Arantes do Nascimento, aka Pelé. He joined the New York Cosmos in 1975 and helped them become the NASL champions in 1977.

  • 1977: unlisted
  • 1976: unlisted
  • 1975: 5 baby boys named Pele [debut]
  • 1974: unlisted
  • 1973: unlisted

Eder

The baby name Eder debuted in 1982 because of Brazilian soccer player Éder Aleixo de Assis, who played for Brazil in the 1982 World Cup.

  • 1984: 28 baby boys named Eder
  • 1983: 37 baby boys named Eder
  • 1982: 48 baby boys named Eder [debut]
  • 1981: unlisted
  • 1980: unlisted

Josimar

The baby name Josimar debuted in 1986 thanks to Brazilian soccer player Josimar Higino Pereira, who played for Brazil in the 1986 World Cup.

  • 1988: unlisted
  • 1987: 6 baby boys named Josimar
  • 1986: 10 baby boys named Josimar [debut]
  • 1985: unlisted
  • 1984: unlisted

Xavi

The trendy baby name Xavi was probably inspired by Spanish soccer player Xavier “Xavi” Hernández. Though I can’t link the name’s debut to any particular event, I can tell you that the name saw peak usage in 2010 and 2011, at the height of Xavi’s career.

  • 2007: 21 baby boys named Xavi
  • 2006: 18 baby boys named Xavi
  • 2005: 6 baby boys named Xavi [debut]
  • 2004: unlisted
  • 2003: unlisted

Sneijder

The baby name Sneijder debuted in 2008 thanks to Dutch soccer player Wesley Sneijder, who played in the Euro 2008.

  • 2010: 14 baby boys named Sneijder
  • 2009: 5 baby boys named Sneijder
  • 2008: 10 baby boys named Sneijder [debut]
  • 2007: unlisted
  • 2006: unlisted

Which of the above names do you like best?

Source: SSA

Image: Adapted from Portugal 2-3 Denmark, Football by José Goulão under CC BY-SA 2.0.