The pretty name Amoreena first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1971 and saw peak usage a couple of years later:
- 1974: 10 baby girls named Amoreena
- 1973: 17 baby girls named Amoreena [peak]
- 1972: 15 baby girls named Amoreena
- 1971: 14 baby girls named Amoreena [debut]
- 1970: unlisted
- 1969: unlisted
Where did it come from?
The Elton John song “Amoreena.” It was never released as a single, but was featured on the album Tumbleweed Connection, “a loose concept record about the Old West written by two people [composer Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin] who had never even been to America.” The record came out in the UK in October of 1970 and the U.S. in January of 1971.
According to one source, the song was a nod to Joe Cocker’s “Delta Lady” (1969). “Both songs paint lyrical images of a lusty country girl in a pastoral setting.”
So how did Bernie Taupin come up with the name?
No one knows. One theory is that it’s based on amor, which means “love” in several Latin-based languages (including Spanish).
But we do know that the wife of Ray Williams (Elton John’s first manager) was pregnant at the time, and that Taupin suggested “Amoreena” as a potential baby name. Amoreena Joanne Williams was born during the first half of 1970, months before the album was released.
What are your thoughts on the baby name Amoreena?
Sources:
- Bernardin, Claude and Tom Stanton. Rocket Man: Elton John from A-Z. CT, Westport: Praeger Publishers, 1996.
- I discovered Sir Elton – Daily Mail
- Readers’ Poll: The 10 Best Elton John Deep Cuts
P.S. More than a decade later, the Elton John song “Nikita” had a similar influence on the name Nikita.