I saw lots of news last week about baby names in Alberta, Canada. The media didn’t focus on the Alberta’s most popular names of 2011, which happen to be these:
Girl names
- Olivia
- Sophia
- Emma
- Emily
- Ava
- Chloe
- Abigail
- Lily
- Brooklyn
- Sophie
Boy names
- Liam
- Ethan
- Mason
- Lucas
- Jacob
- Benjamin
- Alexander
- Noah
- William
- Logan
Instead, the media focused on Alberta’s unique names, which is something that I’ve been writing about for years (literally: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009).
The official list of Albertan baby names isn’t ready yet, but preliminary data is available via the Edmonton Journal. Here are some unusual names I spotted on the Journal’s list:
| Boy names | Girl names |
|---|---|
| Crevance, Dawnwalker, Dybry, Flourish, Goliath, Jheizzller, Knowledge-Tree,* Lefarius, Llord-Xedric, Madrid, Matt-Dainon, Moo, Moxon, Nzoputa, Princelife, Pure, Spyder, Mskr, Tata-peh, Wanderingspirit, Wisherlee, Vedder | April-May, Chaz-a-rae, Cupid, Dayleigh, Dazzelyn, Duffni, Eirachloe, Evolet, Glennizelle, Gobza, Laker-Lynn, Mississippi, Nomalisa, Phetlunda, Psanatcsakor, Q’Tyyr’N, Rainejewelle, Sheamus, Starr-shine, Thespina, Thipphaphone, Vylet, Xyza, Zxyvian |
*I’m guessing at the last letter; I think it was cut off.
Many of the news articles also claimed that baby names in Alberta had been inspired by royals William and Kate, who visited Canada last July. This could be true — there were a few more Princes and Dukes than usual in 2011:
- 2011: 199 Williams, 50 Kates, 8 Princes, 6 Princesses, 9 Dukes, 0 Duchesses
- 2010: 184 Williams, 44 Kates, 5 Princes, 5 Princesses, 0 Dukes, 0 Duchesses
- 2009: 198 Williams, 67 Kates, 5 Princes, 2 Princesses, 2 Dukes, 0 Duchesses
- 2008: 178 Williams, 68 Kates, 4 Princes, 0 Princesses, 3 Dukes, 0 Duchesses
- 2007: 185 Williams, 67 Kates, 5 Princes, 1 Princess, 3 Dukes, 0 Duchesses
The names Kate and William didn’t move too much, though.
Image: Adapted from Flag of Alberta (public domain)
Q’Tyyr’N – means “Builder of Leadership with Integrity and Compassion”