Popular and unique baby names in Sonoma County (California), 2021

Sonoma

According to the government of Sonoma, California, the most popular baby names in the county last year were Mia and and Mateo.

Here are Sonoma’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Mia, 29 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 26
  3. Isabella, 24
  4. Luca, 22
  5. Luna, 21
  6. Gianna, 18
  7. Aurora, 17 (tie)
  8. Emma, 17 (tie)
  9. Riley, 16 (tie)
  10. Eliana, 16 (tie)

Boy Names

  1. Mateo, 38 baby boys
  2. Liam, 29
  3. Noah, 28
  4. James, 23
  5. Oliver, 22
  6. Benjamin, 21
  7. Lucas, 19 (tie)
  8. Sebastian, 19 (tie)
  9. Jacob, 17 (4-way tie)
  10. Jack, 17 (4-way tie)

(The other two names in the 4-way tie were Henry and Julian.)

Here are some of the baby names that were bestowed just once in Sonoma last year:

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Ahsoka, Bowyn, Cordova, Dutton, Eivissa, Fiadh, Galdina, Hanalie, Indira, Jinora, Ketsana, Levaleah, Metzli, Nebula, Odette, Peninaiaiga, Quinnie, Rockella, Sersha, Tallulah, Umi, Vrianna, Wren, Yadelene, ZeyaAxis, Beaudin, Codiak, Delmar, Elymus, Fletcher, Gibb, Herbert, Ilumi, Jonael, Kalais, Lesinali, Maimonides, Neithan, Ozan, Perrin, Ratu, Samarth, Tonalli, Usyk, Ville, Waimea, Xavien, Yamikani, Zabdiel

Some thoughts on a few of the above…

  • Ahsoka is a character from the Star Wars universe.
  • Dutton is the surname of the family featured on the TV show Yellowstone.
  • Sersha looks like a phonetic rendering of Saoirse.
  • Maimonides refers to Moses ben Maimon, a medieval Jewish philosopher.
  • Tonalli is a Nahuatl word that refers to the warmth of the sun (among other things).

Finally, here are the 2020 rankings for Sonoma, if you’d like to compare.

Source: Sonoma County Baby Names

How did DePrise Brescia influence baby names?

Swimsuit model DePrise Brescia
DePrise Brescia

The rare name Deprise appeared in the U.S. baby name data for three consecutive years:

  • 1994: unlisted
  • 1993: 5 baby girls named Deprise
  • 1992: 12 baby girls named Deprise
  • 1991: 5 baby girls named Deprise [debut]
  • 1990: unlisted

The even rarer name Brescia was a one-hit wonder in the data a few years later:

  • 1997: unlisted
  • 1996: unlisted
  • 1995: 5 baby girls named Brescia [debut]
  • 1994: unlisted
  • 1993: unlisted

I’m pretty sure the source of both names is a single person: swimsuit model and actress DePrise Brescia, pronounced deh-PREESS — think “Denise” — BRESH-uh.

It’s hard to pinpoint a specific reason, though.

During the early-to-mid ’90s, she was one of the co-hosts on ESPN’s workout show BodyShaping (1988-98), she was featured in multiple Bikini Open pay-per-view specials (as was Symba Smith of Star Search), and she had small roles on several television shows (like Silk Stalkings and Renegade).

I’ve seen her first name rendered various ways (e.g., Deprise, De Prise) but I don’t know how it was coined.

Her surname, on the other hand, has a straightforward explanation: it refers to the city of Brescia in northern Italy.

What are your thoughts on the names DePrise and Brescia? Which one do you like better as a baby name?

Sources:

Baby name story: Aorangi

MV Aorangi
MV Aorangi

The MV Aorangi was a passenger ship that regularly traveled back and forth between Sydney, Australia, and Vancouver, Canada, from the 1920s to the 1950s.

In July of 1934, while the ship was en route to Canada, the wife of passenger William “Billy” Townsend (a Canadian professional boxer) gave birth to a baby girl.

The baby was named Aorangi, after the ship.

(The ship was named after New Zealand’s highest peak, called “Aoraki” by South Island Maori and “Aorangi” by North Island Maori.)

Sources:

Popular baby names in Moldova, 2020

Moldova

The Romanian-speaking country of Moldova — which is sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine — welcomed more than 27,000 babies in 2020. According to Moldova’s Public Services Agency, the most popular baby names in the country that year were Sofia and David.

Here are Moldova’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2020:

Girl Names

  1. Sofia
  2. Amelia
  3. Anastasia
  4. Maria
  5. Daria
  6. Victoria
  7. Eva
  8. Alexandra
  9. Evelina
  10. Andreea

Boy Names

  1. David
  2. Matei
  3. Bogdan
  4. Maxim
  5. Alexandru
  6. Damian
  7. Daniel
  8. Artiom
  9. Ion
  10. Gabriel

The top names in 2016 were also Sofia and David.

Source: Topul celor mai populare nume de baieti si fete pe care le-au ales parintii din Moldova in anul 2020

Where did the baby name Cybele come from in 1963?

The character Cybele from the movie "Sundays and Cybele" (1963).
Cybèle from “Sundays and Cybèle“

The ancient name Cybele first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in relatively modern times — the 1960s.

  • 1965: 14 baby girls named Cybele
  • 1964: 16 baby girls named Cybele
  • 1963: 15 baby girls named Cybele [debut]
  • 1962: unlisted
  • 1961: unlisted

The variant spelling Cybelle debuted the same year.

Where did they come from?

A 1962 French film called Les dimanches de Ville d’Avray (The Sundays of Ville d’Avray), which was later re-titled for English audiences: Sundays and Cybèle. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in April of 1963.

The movie followed an emotionally damaged war veteran named Pierre (played by Hardy Krüger) as he starts an innocent friendship with a neglected schoolgirl named Cybèle (played by 11-year-old Patricia Gozzi). Their relationship “ultimately ignites the suspicion and anger of his friends and neighbors in suburban Paris,” with tragic results.

Cybele was pronounced sih-BELL by the American media at the time. The name ultimately comes from the name of the Greco-Roman mother goddess, Cybele.

What are your thoughts on this name?

Sources: Sundays and Cybele – Wikipedia, Sundays and Cybèle (1962) – The Criterion Collection