Popular baby names in Luxembourg, 2021

Flag of Luxembourg
Flag of Luxembourg

According to the National Statistical Institute of Luxembourg (STATEC), the most popular baby names in the country last year were Emma and Louis.

Here are Luxembourg’s top 5 girl names and top 5 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Emma, 59 baby girls
  2. Mia, 48
  3. Sofia, 41
  4. Eva, 34
  5. Chloé, 31

Boy Names

  1. Louis, 60 baby boys
  2. Noah, 54
  3. Liam, 51
  4. Leo, 45
  5. Gabriel, 44

Back in 2015, the top names were Emma and Matteo.

Source: Here are the ten most popular baby names of 2021

Image: Adapted from Flag of Luxembourg (public domain)

What popularized the baby name Deion in the 1990s?

Football player Deion Sanders
Deion Sanders

According to the U.S. baby name data, usage of the name Deion started to rise in the late 1980s:

  • 1991: 61 baby boys named Deion
  • 1990: 60 baby boys named Deion
  • 1989: 70 baby boys named Deion
  • 1988: 16 baby boys named Deion
  • 1987: 8 baby boys named Deion

The name entered the top 1,000 in 1992 and reached peak usage in 1995/1996:

  • 1998: 186 baby boys named Deion [rank: 811th]
  • 1997: 303 baby boys named Deion [rank: 590th]
  • 1996: 566 baby boys named Deion [rank: 411th]
  • 1995: 558 baby boys named Deion [rank: 411th]
  • 1994: 318 baby boys named Deion [rank: 580th]
  • 1993: 241 baby boys named Deion [rank: 663rd]

What accounts for this increase?

The influence of Deion Sanders, who is best known as a professional football player, though he was also a professional baseball player. He was in the NFL for 14 seasons and the MLB for 9 seasons. (Notably, “Sanders is the only man to have played in a Super Bowl and a World Series.”)

He was selected fifth overall by the Atlanta Falcons in the 1989 NFL draft. That year, and throughout the time he played for Atlanta (1989-1993), usage of the baby name Deion was relatively high in the state Georgia:

  • 1993: 25 of 241 babies named Deion born in Georgia (10%)
  • 1992: 39 of 190 babies named Deion born in Georgia (21%)
  • 1991: 10 of 61 babies named Deion born in Georgia (16%)
  • 1990: 7 of 60 babies named Deion born in Georgia (12%)
  • 1989: 13 of 70 babies named Deion born in Georgia (19%)

The name’s peak usage in the mid-1990s corresponds to the two consecutive years that Deion Sanders was a Super Bowl champion — first with the San Francisco 49ers, second with the Dallas Cowboys.

Over the course of his football career, Sanders was also selected for the Pro Bowl eight times — all during the 1990s — and voted Defensive Player of the Year in 1994.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Deion?

Sources: Deion Sanders – Wikipedia, Where Sanders goes, teams win – ESPN Classic

Popular and unique baby names in Quebec (Canada), 2021

Flag of Quebec
Flag of Quebec

According to Retraite Québec, the most popular baby names in the Canadian province of Quebec last year were Emma and Noah.

Here are Quebec’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Emma, 521 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 519
  3. Alice, 508
  4. Florence, 498
  5. Charlie, 488
  6. Livia, 473
  7. Charlotte, 465
  8. Lea, 462
  9. Romy, 357
  10. Zoe, 344
  11. Clara, 335
  12. Juliette, 331
  13. Rosalie, 327
  14. Beatrice, 326
  15. Rose, 322
  16. Chloe, 314
  17. Eva, 312 (tie)
  18. Sofia, 312 (tie)
  19. Mia, 290
  20. Mila, 283
  21. Victoria, 253
  22. Jade, 249
  23. Julia, 245
  24. Leonie, 230
  25. Maeva, 221 (tie)
  26. Raphaelle, 221 (tie)
  27. Jeanne, 200
  28. Camille, 194
  29. Amelia, 193
  30. Flavie, 187
  31. Ophelie, 179
  32. Elizabeth, 177
  33. Elena, 176
  34. Adele, 164 (tie)
  35. Eleonore, 164 (tie)
  36. Sophia, 157
  37. Jasmine, 145
  38. Laurence, 144 (tie)
  39. Lexie, 144 (tie)
  40. Alicia, 143
  41. Lily, 139
  42. Oceane, 137
  43. Ellie, 136
  44. Sarah, 129
  45. Anna, 125 (3-way tie)
  46. Flora, 125 (3-way tie)
  47. Simone, 125 (3-way tie)
  48. Noelie, 124 (tie)
  49. Sophie, 124 (tie)
  50. Maelie, 123

Boy Names

  1. Noah, 717 baby boys
  2. William, 709
  3. Thomas, 645
  4. Leo, 622
  5. Liam, 618
  6. Jacob, 529
  7. Nathan, 519
  8. Arthur, 508
  9. Edouard, 499
  10. Felix, 484
  11. Logan, 476
  12. Emile, 465 (tie)
  13. Louis, 465 (tie)
  14. Charles, 408
  15. Raphael, 396
  16. James, 366
  17. Arnaud, 362 (tie)
  18. Theo, 362 (tie)
  19. Victor, 360
  20. Adam, 337
  21. Elliot, 332
  22. Alexis, 329
  23. Henri, 308
  24. Jules, 306
  25. Benjamin, 301
  26. Samuel, 290
  27. Gabriel, 289
  28. Milan, 282 (tie)
  29. Olivier, 282 (tie)
  30. Laurent, 280
  31. Theodore, 277
  32. Nolan, 274
  33. Jackson, 271
  34. Jayden, 266
  35. Lucas, 256
  36. Antoine, 245
  37. Zack, 239
  38. Eloi, 230 (tie)
  39. Ethan, 230 (tie)
  40. Matheo, 212
  41. Axel, 204
  42. Jake, 203
  43. Eli, 198
  44. Mathis, 191
  45. Hubert, 190
  46. Xavier, 177
  47. Zachary, 176
  48. Leonard, 171
  49. Loic, 170
  50. Mayson, 166

In the girls’ top 10, Zoe replaced Clara.

In the boys’ top 10, Felix replaced Logan.

And here are some of the baby names that were bestowed just once in Quebec last year:

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Auxane, Beaulieu, Celtina, Dulcinee, Ephelina, Freticia, Gamaelle, Hestia, Isalie, Jophina, Kautjaq, Lasiala, Milaloup, Nausicaa, Oncy, Protea, Qulliq, Riziki, Sensitiva, Timmiak, Uzia, Violaine, Waapikun, Xeia, Yzea, ZoonaAmenzo, Blinken, Clydirk, Dawensky, Eliodore, Fritzner, Ghiss, Hulkson, Ikuagasak, Jackary, Kaulder, Lafleche, Mclovin, Nickford, Otsoa, Piponik, Qianli, Raynloc, Stratos, Trupt, Ulys, Vinicius, Wendrick, Xakhan, Yamsongo, Zoric

Some possible explanations/associations for a few of the above:

  • Beaulieu means “beautiful place” in French.
  • Kaulder was a character in the movie The Last Witch Hunter (2015).
  • McLovin was a name used on a fake ID in the movie Superbad (2007).
  • Milaloup looks like a combination of the name Mila and the French word loup, meaning “wolf.”
  • Nausicaa was a character in Homer’s Odyssey.
  • Qulliq refers to a seal-oil/whale blubber lamp used by the Inuit.
  • Timmiak refers to a duck or a goose in Inuktitut.

In 2020, the top names in Quebec were Olivia and Liam.

Sources: List of Baby Names – Retraite Québec, Noah and Emma most popular baby names in Quebec in 2021

Image: Adapted from Flag of Quebec (public domain)

Where did the baby name Sacario come from in 2002?

Rapper Sacario in the music video for "If I Could Go!" (2002)
Sacario

The name Sacario appeared in the U.S. baby name data for three years straight, then dropped back below the 5-baby threshold:

  • 2005: unlisted
  • 2004: 6 baby boys named Sacario
  • 2003: 14 baby boys named Sacario [peak]
  • 2002: 12 baby boys named Sacario [debut]
  • 2001: unlisted

What put it there?

A rapper named Sacario, who was featured (along with Lil’ Mo) in one of 2002’s catchiest songs: “If I Could Go!” by Angie Martinez.

“If I Could Go!” [vid] was released in May of 2002. In September, it peaked on several different Billboard charts — most notably the Hot 100 chart (at #15), but also the Hot Rap Songs chart (#11) and the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart (#26).

Sacario, whose real name is Jamar Austin, co-wrote the track. His featured part is fairly extensive, and he even name-checked himself in one line:

Sacario, the name awaits the whole issue

His rap name may be based on the Spanish word sicario, meaning “hitman.”

What are your thoughts on the name Sacario?

P.S. Angie Martinez had a second career as a rapper in the late ’90s and early 2000s, but she’s better known as a longtime NYC radio personality. She was recently inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame, in fact.

Sources: Angie Martinez – Billboard, If I Could Go! – Wikipedia, Angie Martinez – If I Could Go | Genius Lyrics, SSA

Image: Screenshot of the music video for “If I Could Go!”