How popular is the baby name Pippin 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 Pippin.

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Popularity of the baby name Pippin


Posts that mention the name Pippin

Pi-names for Pi Day (3/14)

Pi Day pie

In mathematics, pi — the ratio of the diameter of a circle to its circumference — is a constant roughly equal to 3.14159. That means today, 3/14, is pi day!

What baby names start with Pi-? There are a bunch, but only a handful start with that same “pie” sound:

Other Pi- names that start with a different sound include:

Pia/Pio
Piedad
Pier
Pierce
Piero/Piera
Pierre
Pierrick		Pieter
Pietro/Pietra
Pihu
Pina/Pino
Pinchas
Pink/Pinkie
Piotr		Pip
Pippin
Pippa
Pilar
Piritta
Pixie
Piyush

What’s your favorite Pi- name?

The 20 children of Charlemagne

Charlemagne coin

The name Charlemagne — French for Carolus Magnus, or “Carl the strong” — debuted on the girls’ list last year, strangely.

Let’s celebrate this weirdness by checking out what the King of the Franks named his own kids.

Historians believe Charlemagne had about 20 children with various wives and concubines. His first child was born around 768 and his last came along in 807.

Here are the names of Charlemagne’s 11 daughters:

  • Adalhaid – based on the Germanic words adal meaning “noble” and heid meaning “sort, kind.”
  • Adaltrude – based on the Germanic words adal meaning “noble” and þruþ meaning “strength.”
  • Alpaida – ?
  • Amaudru – ?
  • Bertha – based on the Germanic word berht meaning “bright” or “famous.”
  • Gisela – based on the Germanic word gisil meaning “pledge.”
  • Hildegarde – based on the Germanic words hild meaning “battle” and gard meaning “enclosure.”
  • Hiltrude – based on the Germanic words hild meaning “battle” and þruþ meaning “strength.”
  • Rotrude, also written Hruodrud – based on the Germanic words hrod meaning “fame” and þruþ meaning “strength.”
  • Ruodhaid – based on the Germanic words hrod meaning “fame” and heid meaning “sort, kind.”
  • Theodrada – based on the Germanic words þeud meaning “people, race” and rat meaning “advice, counsel.”

And here are the names of Charlemagne’s 9 sons:

  • Carloman, later renamed Pepin/Pippin – the first based on the Germanic words karl meaning “free man” and man meaning “man,” the second of unknown origin, possibly based on the Germanic root bib-, meaning “to tremble.”
  • Charles – based on the Germanic word karl meaning “free man.”
  • Drogo – of unknown origin, possibly based on the Germanic word (gi)drog meaning “ghost,” the Germanic word tragen meaning “to carry,” or the Slavic word dorogo meaning “dear.”
  • Hugh – based on the Germanic word hug meaning “heart, mind, spirit.”
  • Lothair (twin) – based on the Germanic words hrod meaning “fame” and hari meaning “army.”
  • Louis (twin) – based on the Germanic words hrod meaning “fame” and wig meaning “war.”
  • Pippin – see Carloman.
  • Richbod – based on the Germanic words ric meaning “power, ruler” and bod meaning “ruler” or “messenger.”
  • Theodoric – based on the Germanic words þeud meaning “people, race” and ric meaning “power, ruler.”

Which of the above name(s) do you like best?

(And, does anyone know the etymology of either Alpaida or Amaudru? I’m stumped on those.)

Sources:

Image: Charlemagne denier Mayence 812-814

Middle-Earth baby names: Arwen to Thorin

lord of the rings poster

J. R. R. Tolkien’s 3-part The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) was first published in the mid-1950s.

The trilogy started becoming popular in the U.S. in the 1960s, and this is when we first see LOTR character names (like Galadriel and Gandalf) popping up on the SSA’s baby name list.

It became very popular when director Peter Jackson turned it into three successful movies (released in 2001, 2002 and 2003).

So how did the books and the movies influence U.S. baby names? Let’s check it out…

Arwen

Arwen debuted on the SSA’s list in 1968. Since then, over 2,080 baby girls have been named Arwen. Peak usage was in 2004.

The name Arwen means “noble maiden” in the fictional language Quenya (which Tolkien based largely on Finnish and Latin).

Aragorn

Aragorn debuted on the SSA’s list in 1970. Since then, over 50 baby boys have been named Aragorn. Peak usage was in 2004.

The name Aragorn means “revered king” in the fictional language Sindarin (based largely on Welsh).

Eowyn

Eowyn debuted on the SSA’s list in 1973. Since then, over 1,050 baby girls have been named Eowyn.

The name Eowyn means “horse joy” in the fictional language Rohirric (based on Old English).

Frodo

It’s never been on the SSA’s list, but I know of one in England.

The name Frodo is an English translation of Frodo’s real name, Maura, which means “wise” or “experienced” in the fictional language Westron.

Galadriel

Galadriel debuted on the SSA’s list in 1969. Since then, over 170 baby girls have been named Galadriel. Peak usage was in 2003.

The name Galadriel means “maiden crowned with a radiant garland” in Sindarin.

Gandalf

Gandalf was on the SSA’s list in 1970 only (5 babies named Gandalf that year).

The name Gandalf means “wand-elf” in Westron and other Mannish languages.

Legolas

Legolas debuted on the SSA’s list (and saw peak usage) in 2003. Since then, over 10 baby boys have been named Legolas.

The name Legolas is based on the name Laegolas, which means “greenleaf” in Sindarin.

Peregrin

Peregrin debuted on the SSA’s list in 2011. Since then, over 20 baby boys have been named Peregrin.

The name Peregrin is based on Peregrinus, which means “traveler” or “pilgrim” in Latin. (Peregrin is an English translation of Pippin’s Westron name, Razanur.)

Pippin

Pippin debuted on the SSA’s list (as a girl name) in 2009. Since then, over 30 baby girls and 5 baby boys have been named Pippin.

“Pippin” was Peregrin’s nickname.

Samwise

Samwise debuted on the SSA’s list in 2002. Since then, over 60 baby boys have been named Samwise.

The name Samwise is an English translation of Sam’s real name, Banazîr, which means “halfwise” or “simple” in Westron.

Strider

Strider debuted on the SSA’s list in 1973. Since then, over 240 baby boys have been named Strider.

“Strider” was Aragorn’s nickname.

Theoden

Theoden debuted on the SSA’s list in 2004. Since then, 180 baby boys have been named Theoden.

The name Theoden is based on the name Tûrac, which means “king” in Rohirric.

Thorin

Thorin debuted on the SSA’s list in 1968. Since then, over 1,170 baby boys have been named Thorin. (Commenter elbowin mentions that Thorin is now on the rise thanks to the character being featured in the more recent Hobbit movie trilogy, 2012-2014.)

The name Thorin is based on the Old Norse Þorinn, which means “bold one.”

P.S. Tori Amos’s daughter’s also has a Tolkien-inspired name.

Update, May 2015: The name Tauriel, though technically not a Tolkien name (it was created for the movies), debuted in the data in 2014.

Update: The name Beorn, from a character in the second two movies of the Hobbit trilogy, debuted in the data in 2015. (The Vikings name Bjorn may have been an influence as well.)

Update, April 2019: The name Tolkien itself debuted in the data in 2017. (The second syllable rhymes with the word keen.)