How popular is the baby name Petain 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 Petain.

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Popularity of the baby name Petain


Posts that mention the name Petain

Popular and unique baby names in Alberta (Canada), 2019

Flag of Alberta
Flag of Alberta

According to the government of Alberta, the most popular baby names in the Canadian province in 2019 were Olivia and Noah.

Here are Alberta’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2019:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 229 baby girls
  2. Charlotte, 188
  3. Sophia, 181
  4. Emma, 178
  5. Ava, 161
  6. Amelia, 159
  7. Emily, 150
  8. Abigail, 141
  9. Hannah, 137
  10. Elizabeth, 124

Boy Names

  1. Noah, 275 baby boys
  2. Liam, 234
  3. Oliver, 225
  4. Ethan, 213
  5. Jack, 198
  6. William, 185
  7. Lucas, 174
  8. Owen, 167
  9. Benjamin, 163
  10. Jacob, 162

In the girls’ top 10, Hannah returned and ousted Harper.

In the boys’ top 10, Owen replaced Logan, Alexander, and James. (It’s uneven because there were two ties in the 2018 top 10.)

Rare baby names that were bestowed just once in Alberta last year include…

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Anesidora, Aviendha, Brungus, Castrence, Calluna, Doxa, Eilish, Fitia-Jane, Giannajoe, Historia, Isleigh, Jennathul, Kriscilla, Kipper, Kurdistan, Lilith-Luna, Lillix, Loonskin, Maxeld, Navaline, Neepin, Ovalah, Phoemella, Ruftael, Starbrit, Tenacious, Timely, Uzuvira, Verily, Waskway, Xanthal, Yuvleen, ZsanelleAbundance, Apollo-July, BlueJay, Couloir, Cousteau, Cowboy, Despot, Ellejon, Felix-Ivan, Glenter, Gravity, Handsome-Jack, Harmonick, Humbly, Iguttaq, Iskotew, Jenzieland, Kitterick, Luxton, Maxjay, Nomatic, Ozmo, Pétain, Ranxel, Revic, Sprocket, Thundersky, Uael, Varis, Whirlwind, Xiron, Ylan-Maël, Zagger

Explanations and/or potential influences for a few of the above:

  • Aviendha was a character from Wheel of Time book series (1990-2013) by author Robert Jordan.
  • Waskway is the Cree word for “birch” or “birch tree.”
  • Couloir is the word for “a steep gully in alpine terrain” (from the French word for “corridor” or “hallway”).
  • Iguttaq is the Inuktitut word for “bumblebee.”
  • Iskotew is the Cree word for “fire.”
  • Nomatic is a company that creates minimalist travel products.
  • Revic (“revolutionary” + “optics”) is a company that makes rifle scopes.

In 2018, the top two names in Alberta were Olivia and Liam.

Sources: Alberta’s Top Baby Names, Alberta reveals top baby names of 2019, Online Cree Dictionary, Couloir – Avalanche.org

Image: Adapted from Flag of Alberta (public domain)

Name quotes #70

double quotation mark

It’s April Fools’ Day! I don’t have any pun names (like Seymour Butts) for you today, but here are some name quotes…

From an article about the top baby names across Ontario:

As for Maverick — the number one boy name in Sault Ste. Marie — Government and Consumer Services Minister Bill Walker said it’s an interesting choice, quipping: “It’s better than Goose” — referring to the main characters from the movie Top Gun.

From a collection of baby name stories contributed by Long Island moms:

My grandfather hated tattoos. He used to tell his standard stories and would say only people who had tattoos in ‘his day’ were sailors. He said their tattoos always said either ‘death before dishonor’ or ‘true love Mabel.’ He always used Mabel as the example name. I’m not sure why. He died in 2013. We named our daughter Mabel as a nod to him.

From a 2011 article in Fortune about finance guru Ramit Sethi:

Sethi says his name was originally supposed to be Amit, not Ramit. But when his parents realized that Amit Singh Sethi’s initials spelled out a profanity, they went back to the registrar and convinced him that he had erroneously dropped an “R.” “Like true immigrants, they didn’t request a name change, because that would be, like, $50,” he says.

From the blog of UK historian Elizabeth Walne:

Some first names can be very helpful in providing an approximate birth date for an individual if you are unsure. I once researched a family with sons Foch, Petain and Joffre – all Marshals of France during WWI, effectively ‘dating’ them to around 1914-18.

Another example with less specific dates is the girl’s name ‘Adelaide’ which became popular with Adelaide, wife of William IV (born 1792, crowned Queen Consort 1831 and died 1849) and then fell in popularity – but importantly for red herring purposes didn’t disappear completely – after the turn of the century.

How columnist Richard Ord chose a middle name for his son:

His great grandad on his mother’s side was called Aston, so my wife told me, and so that became his middle name.

It wasn’t until a few months after his birth that my wife’s dad asked me about where the name came from.

Surprised, I told him that he took the family name of Aston. “You know, after his great grandad?!”

“Oh,” he replied. “But that wasn’t his name. That was his nickname. His mates called him Aston because he was the only Aston Villa supporter in the West End of Newcastle!”

In my book that makes his middle name even better.

For more quotes about names, check out the name quotes category.