Where did the baby name Dansby come from in 2016?

Baseball player Dansby Swanson
Dansby Swanson

The surname Dansby debuted as a baby name in the U.S. data in the mid-2010s:

  • 2020: 17 baby boys and 5 baby girls named Dansby
    • 5 in Georgia
  • 2019: 27 baby boys named Dansby
    • 7 in Alabama, 7 in Tennessee
  • 2018: 8 baby boys named Dansby
  • 2017: 9 baby boys named Dansby
  • 2016: 10 baby boys named Dansby [debut]
  • 2015: unlisted
  • 2014: unlisted

Where did it come from?

Professional baseball player Dansby Swanson, who was the first overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft in 2015. He has played for the Atlanta Braves ever since.

He was born in Kennesaw, Georgia, and his full name at birth was James Dansby Swanson. (His middle name is his mother’s maiden name.)

“Dansby” could be a variant of the English surname Danby, which was originally a place name that (like Denby) meant “settlement of the Danes.”

What do you think of Dansby as a first name?

Sources:

Popular baby names on the Isle of Man, 2021

Flag of the Isle of Man
Flag of the Isle of Man

According to the Civil Registry of the Isle of Man, the most popular baby names on the island last year were Elsie and Arthur.

Here are the Isle of Man’s top 5+ girl names and top 5+ boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Elsie, 7 baby girls
  2. Evie/Evee, 6
  3. Alice, 5 (6-way tie)
  4. Ella, 5 (6-way tie)
  5. Grace/Gracie, 5 (6-way tie)
  6. Millie, 5 (6-way tie)
  7. Olivia, 5 (6-way tie)
  8. Poppy, 5 (6-way tie)

Boy Names

  1. Arthur, 10 baby boys
  2. Theo/Theodore, 8
  3. Charlie/Charles, 6
  4. Arlo, 5 (3-way tie)
  5. Freddie, 5 (3-way tie)
  6. Oliver, 5 (3-way tie)

In 2020, the top names were Ella and Leo/Oliver (tie).

Source: Most popular baby names in 2021 revealed as Arthur and Elsie

Image: Adapted from Flag of the Isle of Man (public domain)

Where did the baby name Denby come from in 1921?

Politician Edwin Denby (1870-1929)
Edwin Denby

The name Denby first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1921:

  • 1923: unlisted
  • 1922: 7 baby boys named Denby
  • 1921: 8 baby boys named Denby [debut]
  • 1920: unlisted
  • 1919: unlisted

Where did it come from?

Politician Edwin Denby, who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1921 to 1924.

But merely being in office wasn’t what put him (and his name) in the spotlight in 1921.

That year, the U.S. Mail was beset by a series of violent robberies — at least three dozen of them, “resulting in a theft of over $6.3 million.” In early November, the Postmaster General requested support from the Marines. Edwin Denby complied by ordering 53 officers and 2,200 enlisted men to guard the nation’s mail trucks and mail trains. The rousing letter he wrote to these Marines was widely quoted in the newspapers. Here’s an excerpt:

You must be brave, as you always are. You must be constantly alert. You must, when on guard duty, keep your weapons in hand and, if attacked, shoot, and shoot to kill. There is no compromise in this battle with bandits. […] I am proud of you and I believe in you with all my heart.

With Marines on duty, all mail robberies ceased. They kept watch over the mail for roughly four months before being withdrawn in March of 1922.

The English surname Denby can be traced back to any of various place names, all of which were derived from the Old Norse Danabyr, meaning “settlement of the Danes.”

What are your thoughts on the name Denby?

Sources:

Baby born in France, named Canard (“duck”)

duck

In 2021, the most popular baby names in the French commune of Périgueux were Anna/Iris (tied) and Jules.

The name Canard, on the other hand — the French word for “duck” — was only given to one of the 1,513 babies born in Périgueux last year. That baby was Dyklan Canard, born in August of 2021.

What’s the story behind Dyklan’s unusual middle name?

The baby’s grandfather, tattoo artist Jean-Christophe Bret-Canard, said that his own mother, Georgette, had been a war orphan during WWII. Originally born into a family travellers, she was abandoned in 1943 in front of a church in the town of Châtellerault. She was cared for in an orphanage until, several months later, she was was adopted by a man named Georges Canard, “a French soldier who later worked on the railways and was engaged in the resistance.”

Jean-Christophe has always seen his mother’s surname as a source of pride. He sports a number of duck tattoos — his tattoo parlor is even called Duck — and he gave all four of his sons the middle name Canard.

And one of those sons, Mike, continued the tradition last year by passing the name down to his own son, Dyklan Canard.

(I discovered this story via Appellation Mountain — thank you Abby!)

Sources: French baby named ‘Canard’ is heir to tragic but proud family history, Une famille de Dordogne explique pourquoi elle a appelé son fils “Canard”, Périgord: pourquoi cette famille a choisi de donner “Canard” comme deuxième prénom à son enfant, En Périgord, “Canard” peut aussi être un prénom

Image: Adapted from Anas platyrhynchos male JdP 2013-05-02 by Marie-Lan Nguyen under CC BY 2.5.