In September of 2004, identical twin boys were born to Iowa City couple Brian and Amy Boelk, who met while attending the University of Iowa.
The boys’ names?
Kinnick and Carver — after the school’s Kinnick Stadium and Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Kinnick Stadium was named after Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick, while Carver-Hawkeye Arena was named (in part) after Iowa philanthropist Roy J. Carver.
The name Kinnick first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 2004 — the year the twins were born, curiously. (Did news of their names have an influence on other expectant parents…?)
Unsurprisingly, most of the usage so far has been in the state of Iowa:
Looking for baby names that feature the appealing letter-pair PH?
I’ve collected hundreds of options for you in this post!
Before we get to the names, though, let’s get one big question out of the way…
Why does PH sound like “F”?
In English, PH is a digraph, which means that it’s a pair of letters that make a single sound. (It’s interesting that the word “digraph” contains a digraph, isn’t it?)
Most of the English words that have PH were derived from Greek — specifically, from Greek words that included the Greek letter phi:
Phi (uppercase)
In ancient times, the Greek letter phi made an aspirated p-sound. (The unaspirated p-sound, on the other hand, was made by the Greek letter pi.)
When Greek was transliterated into Latin, the letter phi was written as “ph” to denote this aspiration — that is, to signal that the letter “p” was accompanied by a brief puff of air.
So, what happened?
In the first several centuries A.D., the pronunciation of the Greek letter phi changed. It slowly evolved from an aspirated p-sound into an f-sound.
As a result, the letter-pair “ph” underwent a corresponding (though somewhat illogical) pronunciation change. It, too, came to represent an f-sound — and still does to this day.
Now, on to the names!
Names with PH
Below you’ll find a long list of names that contain the letter-pair PH. Many of these names come directly from the U.S. SSA’s baby name data. Others are ancient names that aren’t used much (if at all) in modern times.
Aleph
Alpha
Alphaeus
Alpharetta
Alphie
Alphonsa
Alphonse
Alphonsine
Alphonso
Alphonsus
Amphion
Amphirho
Amphithea
Aphaea
Aphra
Seventeenth-century writer Aphra Behn was one of the first English women to earn her living by writing.
On January 17, 1969, on the campus of UCLA, a dispute broke out during a meeting of the African Student Union. The dispute turned violent and, ultimately, two members of the Black Panther Party — Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter, 26, and John Huggins, 23 — were shot and killed by a member of a rival group, the black nationalist US Organization.
The next year, the rare name Alprentice appeared for the first time in the U.S. baby name data. It stayed there for a total of three years:
1973: unlisted
1972: 5 baby boys named Alprentice
1971: 5 baby boys named Alprentice
1970: 7 baby boys named Alprentice [debut]
1969: unlisted
Both Carter and Huggins “had been accepted for UCLA’s “high potential” program for minority students who do not otherwise qualify academically for admission.”
In 2010, a plaque in memory of the men (“slain in the ongoing struggle for student empowerment and social justice”) was hung outside the classroom in which they were killed.
I’m not sure where Alprentice’s first name came from, but his nickname, “Bunchy,” was bestowed by one of his grandmother’s friends when he was a baby. Here’s how his mother, Nola Mae Carter, told the story:
“He was real plump when he was a baby, and she came and she started […] calling him Bunchy. And that’s how he got Bunchy” — like a bunch of greens.
According to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), the most popular baby names in Northern Ireland last year were Grace and Jack.
Here are the country’s top 50 girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2021:
Girl names
Grace, 182 baby girls
Emily, 150
Fiadh, 149
Olivia, 148
Isla, 138
Sophie, 128
Aoife, 122
Ella, 111
Anna, 106
Sophia, 102
Amelia, 101
Lucy, 100
Charlotte, 98
Lily, 94
Evie, 92 (tie)
Freya, 92 (tie)
Ava, 90
Annie, 87
Mia, 82
Ellie, 80
Erin, 76 (3-way tie)
Molly, 76 (3-way tie)
Rosie, 76 (3-way tie)
Willow, 69
Eabha, 67
Ruby, 64
Poppy, 62
Meabh, 61 (tie)
Niamh, 61 (tie)
Eva, 60
Maisie, 59
Katie, 58
Cora, 56
Hannah, 55 (tie)
Ivy, 55 (tie)
Cara, 54 (tie)
Clodagh, 54 (tie)
Georgia, 52 (4-way tie)
Harper, 52 (4-way tie)
Jessica, 52 (4-way tie)
Zara, 52 (4-way tie)
Chloe, 51 (tie)
Rose, 51 (tie)
Aria, 50
Alice, 49 (3-way tie)
Daisy, 49 (3-way tie)
Mollie, 49 (3-way tie)
Heidi, 48
Saoirse, 45 (tie)
Sienna, 45 (tie)
Boy names
Jack, 193 baby boys
Noah, 191
James, 173
Charlie, 155
Oliver, 131
Theo, 119
Leo, 117
Cillian, 116
Finn, 115
Harry, 114
Oisin, 109 (tie)
Thomas, 109 (tie)
Daniel, 103
Tommy, 101
Freddie, 97
Jacob, 92
Jude, 86
Arthur, 84
Daithi, 83
Darragh, 78 (3-way tie)
Ethan, 78 (3-way tie)
Ronan, 78 (3-way tie)
Jonah, 77
Alfie, 76 (tie)
Archie, 76 (tie)
Caleb, 75
Shea, 73
Conor, 71
Alexander, 69
Patrick, 68
George, 66 (3-way tie)
Isaac, 66 (3-way tie)
Mason, 66 (3-way tie)
Matthew, 65 (tie)
Reuben, 65 (tie)
Conan, 64 (3-way tie)
Fionn, 64 (3-way tie)
Luke, 64 (3-way tie)
Ollie, 63
Jake, 61 (tie)
Joseph, 61 (tie)
Logan, 60 (3-way tie)
Odhran, 60 (3-way tie)
Oscar, 60 (3-way tie)
Liam, 58 (3-way tie)
Lucas, 58 (3-way tie)
Max, 58 (3-way tie)
John, 57
Rory, 56
Joshua, 55 (tie)
Theodore, 55 (tie)
In the girls’ top 10, Aoife and Anna replaced Amelia, Lucy and Freya. (Two replace three because there was a tie for 10th place the previous year.)
In the boys’ top 10, Leo replaced Thomas.
And on the other side of the spectrum…here are some of the names that were given to just 3 babies each in Northern Ireland last year:
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