How popular is the baby name Yordanka 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 Yordanka.

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Popularity of the baby name Yordanka


Posts that mention the name Yordanka

Popular baby names in Bulgaria, 2016

Flag of Bulgaria
Flag of Bulgaria

According to preliminary data released yesterday by Bulgaria’s National Statistical Institute, the most popular baby names in the country in 2016 were Viktoria and Aleksandar.

Here are Bulgaria’s projected top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2016:

Girl names

  1. Viktoria
  2. Maria
  3. Nikol
  4. Raya
  5. Sofia
  6. Aleksandra
  7. Gabriela
  8. Daria
  9. Yoana
  10. Simona

Boy names

  1. Aleksandar
  2. Georgi
  3. Martin
  4. Dimitar
  5. Ivan
  6. Nikola
  7. Viktor
  8. Daniel
  9. Kaloyan
  10. Nikolay

On the boys’ list, Aleksandar replaced Georgi as the #1 name.

The name Kaloyan can be traced back to Tsar Ivan II, who ruled Bulgaria from 1197 to 1207. His nickname, “Kaloyan,” was based on the Greek phrase kalos Ioannes, meaning “handsome John.” In fact, an increasing number of baby boys are being named after the “khans and the kings of the First and Second Bulgarian Kingdom, for example Asparuh, Tervel, Simeon, Samuil, Kaloyan.”

Trendy girl name Krisia isn’t in the top 10, but it was given to 169 baby girls in 2016 (and 222 in 2015) thanks to the influence of Bulgarian child singer Krisia Todorova.

And what are the most common first names in Bulgaria overall?

Female names overall

  1. Maria
  2. Ivanka
  3. Elena
  4. Yordanka
  5. Penka
  6. Daniela
  7. Rositsa
  8. Desislava
  9. Petya
  10. Gergana

Male names overall

  1. Georgi
  2. Ivan
  3. Dimitar
  4. Nikolay
  5. Petar
  6. Hristo
  7. Aleksandar
  8. Stefan
  9. Yordan
  10. Vasil

Interesting entries in the overall top 20 include the female name Rumyana and the male names Stoyan, Atanas (from Athanasius), and Plamen.

Sources: Names in Bulgaria in 2016 (preliminary data) – NSI (PDF), Kaloyan – Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Bulgaria (public domain)

Inventive baby names in Cuba

Havana, Cuba

Here are some of the inventive baby names that have been bestowed in Cuba over the last few decades, according to the article “Julio or Juliabe? Inventing Baby Names Popular in Cuba,” published at Fox News Latino yesterday.

  • Adianez (Zenaida backwards)
  • Ailed (Delia backwards)
  • Boris
  • Aledmys
  • Danyer (from the English word “danger“)
  • Dayesi
  • Disami
  • Geyne (combination of Geronimo and Nelly)
  • Hanoi (from the name of the capital of Vietnam)
  • Juliabe
  • Katia
  • Leydi (from the English word “lady”)
  • Maivi (from the English word “maybe”)
  • Mayren (combination of Mayra and Rene)
  • Migdisray (combination of Migdalia and Raymundo)
  • Odlanier (Reinaldo backwards)
  • Olnavy (from “Old Navy”)
  • Orazal (Lazaro backwards)
  • Robelkis (combination of Roberto and Belkis)
  • Tatiana
  • Usnavi (from “U.S. Navy”)
  • Widayesi
  • Yadel
  • Yakarta (based on Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia)
  • Yamisel
  • Yander
  • Yaneymi (combination of Yanet and Mijail)
  • Yanisey
  • Yasnaya (possibly based on Yasnaya Polyana, the name of several locations in Russia)
  • Yirmara
  • Yoanni
  • Yoelkis
  • Yohendry
  • Yolaide
  • Yordanka
  • Yosbel
  • Yotuel (from the Spanish words yo, tu, el, meaning “I, you, he”)
  • Yovel
  • Yulieski
  • Yumara
  • Yumilsis
  • Yunier
  • Yuri
  • Yuset

Why all the “y” names? It has to do with the Soviet Union’s influence in Cuba, which made Russian-sounding names (often ones that start with “y”) fashionable on the island for a number of years. Cubans born during the ’70s and ’80s have been referred to as Generación Y, in fact.

Finally, Aurora Camacho, a member of the Cuban Institute for Literature and Linguistics, notes that more traditional names like Maria and Pedro are still being used in Cuba, but “certainly with less frequency.”

Image: Adapted from Oldtimers on Paseo de Marti, Havana, Cuba by kuhnmi under CC BY 2.0.