The movie Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children came out in late September. It’s a dark fantasy based on the best-selling 2011 novel of the same name.
I haven’t seen the movie, but the usage of “Miss Peregrine” in the title has me wondering whether we’ll see a corresponding uptick in the usage of Peregrine-the-girl-name in 2016.
Peregrine is traditionally a male name, of course, but it has started seeing regular usage as a girl name recently. In fact, in 2012 and 2014 it was bestowed more often upon baby girls:
- 2015: 15 baby boys, 8 baby girls named Peregrine
- 2014: 6 baby boys, 7 baby girls named Peregrine
- 2013: 6 baby boys, (0-4) baby girls named Peregrine
- 2012: 6 baby boys, 7 baby girls named Peregrine
- 2011: 9 baby boys, 5 baby girls named Peregrine [debut]
- 2010: 12 baby boys, (0-4) baby girls named Peregrine
The character Miss Peregrine — actually “Miss Alma LeFay Peregrine,” played by actress Eva Green — could easily tip the scale back to to majority-female in 2016.
What do you think of the name Peregrine? Do you think it works better as a boy name or as a girl name?
P.S. A more explicitly feminine form of the name is Peregrina, which was a one-hit wonder on the charts in 2006 thanks to the Mexican telenovela Peregrina.
Sources: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (film) – Wikipedia, Peregrina – IMDb, SSA