How did “Yentl” influence baby names in 1984?

The characters Avigdor and Yentl from the movie "Yentl" (1983).
Avigdor and Yentl from “Yentl“

The Jewish names Yentl and Avigdor both debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1984:

Girls named YentlBoys named Avigdor
198611.
1985136
198412*5*
1983..
1982..
*Debut

Why?

Because both were featured in the 1983 musical film Yentl, which starred Barbra Streisand and Mandy Patinkin as students (Yentl and Avigdor) at a Jewish religious school in Poland in the early 1900s. Only males could attend the school, so Yentl had to dress and live as a young man, “Anshel,” in order to receive an education.

The film was based on a 1975 play which was, in turn, based on the short story “Yentl the Yeshiva Boy” (1963) by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

What do these names mean?

Yentl is a diminutive of Yente, which comes from the Yentille, the Yiddish version of the French name Gentille, meaning “noble, aristocratic.”

Avigdor is a Hebrew name derived from the expression avi Gedor, meaning “Gedor’s father.” The name Gedor means “wall.” (Avigdor was one of the by-names of Moses in the Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism.)

And Anshel, the name Yentl used while disguised as a male, is the Yiddish form of Anselm, a Germanic name made up of elements meaning “god” and “helmet, protection.”

What are your thoughts on these names?

Sources: Yentl (film) – Wikipedia, Behind the Name, The Name Avigdor | BH Open Databases,

Popular baby names in Poland, 2021

Flag of Poland
Flag of Poland

According to the government of Poland, the most popular baby names in the country last year were Zuzanna and Antoni.

Here are Poland’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Zuzanna, 6,562 baby girls
  2. Zofia, 6,325
  3. Hanna, 6,065
  4. Julia, 5,954
  5. Maja, 5,585
  6. Laura, 5,569
  7. Oliwia, 4,770
  8. Alicja, 4,767
  9. Lena, 4,599
  10. Pola, 4,483

Boy Names

  1. Antoni, 7,821 baby boys
  2. Jan, 6,975
  3. Aleksander, 6,919
  4. Franciszek, 6,629
  5. Jakub, 6,427
  6. Leon, 5,296
  7. Mikolaj, 5,205 – cognate of Nicholas
  8. Szymon, 4,962
  9. Filip, 4,884
  10. Stanislaw, 4,679

Unfortunately, I had to de-stroke all the L’s with a stroke in this post (like the one in Mikolaj, and the one in Stanislaw) because they don’t render properly on my site.

It’s particularly unfortunate considering that, for this post, I thought it would be fun to find and define all the “-slaw” names on the the boys’ side of the rankings (which go all the way down to names with just two instances of usage).

So just imagine that the L‘s in the 18 “-slaw” elements below have strokes through them. (Also, pronounce them like W‘s — and the W‘s like V‘s — so that “-slaw” sounds like the English word suave.)

  • Stanislaw (ranked 10th): “to become” + “glory”
  • Przemyslaw (83rd): the name Przemysl (“trick, stratagem”) + “glory”
  • Radoslaw (92nd): “happy” + “glory”
  • Wladyslaw (108th): “power” + “glory”
  • Boleslaw: “greater” + “glory”
  • Boguslaw: “god” + “glory”
  • Czeslaw: “honor” + “glory”
  • Miroslaw: “peace” + “glory”
  • Mieczyslaw: “sword” + “glory”
  • Bronislaw: “protection” + “glory”
  • Jaroslaw: “fierce” + “glory”
  • Zdzislaw: “build” + “glory”
  • Leslaw: short for Lechoslaw, the name Lech (the legendary founder of Poland) + “glory”
  • Miloslaw: “gracious” + “glory”
  • Gniewoslaw (2 baby boys): “anger” + “glory”
  • Gromoslaw (2): “thunder” + “glory”
  • Witoslaw (2): “lord, master” + “glory”
  • Zdobyslaw (2): “to obtain,” “to win” + “glory”

Back in 2016, the top names in Poland were also Zuzanna and Antoni.

Sources: Imiona nadawane dzieciom w Polsce – Gov.pl, Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Poland (public domain)

Where did the baby name Rosalita come from in 1943?

The Al Dexter song "Rosalita" (1942).
“Rosalita” sheet music

The baby name Rosalita first popped up in the U.S. baby name data in 1943:

  • 1945: 21 baby girls named Rosalita
  • 1944: 36 baby girls named Rosalita [peak]
  • 1943: 19 baby girls named Rosalita [debut]
  • 1942: unlisted
  • 1941: unlisted

Where did it come from?

A country song called “Rosalita” by Al Dexter and His Troopers. Dexter wrote the song in 1942, but the release was delayed until 1943 due to the wartime musicians’ strike.

Here’s the song:

The lyrics (Rosalita, my little rose of the rancho) suggest that the name means “little rose” in Spanish, and this is somewhat true. Rosalita is a diminutive of the name Rosalía, which is based on the Latin word for “rose,” rosa. The actual word for “little rose” in Spanish, though, is rosita (the diminutive of rosa).

Thinking “Rosalita” would be a big hit, Dexter offhandedly wrote and recorded a song called “Pistol Packin’ Mama” for the reverse side of the record. “Rosalita” did well, but not nearly as well as “Pistol Packin’ Mama,” which ended up becoming Dexter’s best-known song. That said, “Rosalita” did reach #1 on Billboard’s country music chart — at that time called the “Most Played Juke Box Folk Records” chart — in March of 1944.

What do you think of the name Rosalita?

P.S. Al Dexter’s birth name was Clarence Albert Poindexter.

Source: Meet the Artist: Biographical Sketches of Leading Performing Artists with Listings of Their Recordings of BMI-licensed Songs. New York: Broadcast Music, Inc., 1952.

Baby born outside of pub, named after pub (again)

English pub
English pub

In September of 2021, a baby girl was born unexpectedly in the front seat of a car “in early morning traffic on the A2 in Rainham” (a suburb of East London).

Her parents had been trying to reach the hospital in time for the birth, but instead the baby was born while the car was outside a London pub called The Rose Inn.

The couple parked the car, and a local woman named Sue offered them assistance until an ambulance arrived.

The baby was later given the middle name Rose, after the pub.

Source: Horn, Jenni. “Newborn named after Rainham pub The Rose Inn where Sittingbourne mum gave birth.” Kent Online 21 Sept. 2021.

Image: Adapted from The Old Nags Head, Grindsbrook Booth, Edale by Barrie Price under CC BY-SA 4.0.

[Latest update: Oct. 2023]