Baby name story: Griezmann Mbappé

French soccer player Antoine Griezmann
Antoine Griezmann

The first baby born in the Chilean city of Copiapó in 2022 was a boy named Griezmann Mbappé in honor of French soccer players Antoine Griezmann (pronounced an-twahn gree-ez-man) and Kylian Mbappé (pronounced kee-lee-ahn em-bah-pay).

The baby was born at Copiapó Regional Hospital at around 9 pm on New Year’s Day.

Here’s how his mother, Teodora Pacaje, explained the name to local reporters:

We love football. I chose the first name and his dad gave him the name Mbappé.

Ironically, the parents of the initial baby named Griezmann Mbappé — born in south-central France in November of 2018 — were forced by a judge to rename him in nearly 2019. (They chose “Dany Noé.”)

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Antoine Griezmann – CdR – RM v ATL by DSanchez17 under CC BY 2.0.

Pop culture baby name game, 2021

Happy birthday, Elvis!

Tomorrow would have been Elvis Presley’s 86th birthday. (Happy birthday, Elvis!)

You guys know what that means…time for the annual Pop Culture Baby Name Game!

Think back to the pop culture of 2021 — movies, music, TV shows, online shows, social media, video games, sports, news, cultural events, politics, products, brands, etc.

Which of these things had an influence on U.S. baby names, do you think?

More specifically, which baby names will see higher usage (or appear for the very first time) in the 2021 U.S. baby name data thanks to 2021 pop culture?

Here are some initial ideas…

Plus…

  • Names from the movie Eternals (like Sersi, Ikaris, Makkari)
  • Names from the movie Dune (like Chani, Atreides, Leto)
  • Turkish names from any of the Turkish dramas being aired in Spanish on Univision/Telemundo
  • Names from any new sci-fi/fantasy series (like Shadow and Bone, The Nevers, The Wheel of Time)

Some of the names mentioned in the 2020 game might be see increases in 2021 as well.

What other names should we add to the list? Let me know by leaving a comment!

I’ll post the game results after the SSA releases the 2021 baby name data (in May of 2022).

What turned Epiphany into a baby name in 1987?

The character Epiphany Proudfoot (played by Lisa Bonet) in the movie "Angel Heart" (1987)
Epiphany Proudfoot from “Angel Heart“

The name Epiphany debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1987, and saw peak usage the next year:

  • 1990: 37 baby girls named Epiphany
  • 1989: 33 baby girls named Epiphany
  • 1988: 55 baby girls named Epiphany [peak]
  • 1987: 15 baby girls named Epiphany [debut]
  • 1986: unlisted
  • 1985: unlisted

Where did the come from?

The 1987 neo-noir/horror movie Angel Heart. The main character was a detective (played by Mickey Rourke), but one of the other key characters was a Louisiana teenager — and voodoo priestess — named Epiphany Proudfoot (played by Lisa Bonet).

When the detective and Epiphany first met (vid), about midway through the movie, he made several comments about her name:

  • “Your momma left you with a very beautiful name, Epiphany.”
  • “You’re a very pretty girl, Epiphany. Your name suits you.”

The variant spellings Apiphany, Apiffany, and Piffany all debuted in the data in 1988. (But these names, particularly Piffany, may have been influenced by the rise of Tiffany that year as well.)

One variant that didn’t make the data was the one given to professional basketball player Epiphanny Prince, born in 1988.

Epiphany Proudfoot — both in temperament and in name — was vastly different from Denise Huxtable, the character Lisa played on The Cosby Show.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Epiphany?

Sources:

Popular baby names in Kyrgyzstan, 2021

Flag of Kyrgyzstan
Flag of Kyrgyzstan

According to the Ministry of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic, the most popular baby names in the country last year (as of December 20th) were Saliha and Muhammad.

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

Girl Names

  1. Saliha, 3,107 baby girls
  2. Ryana, 2,864
  3. Amina, 2,604
  4. Fatima, 2,436
  5. Aylin, 2,383
  6. Aliya, 2,040
  7. Safiya, 1,968
  8. Aruzat, 1,928
  9. Khadija, 1,894
  10. Alfiya, 1,731

Boy Names

  1. Muhammad, 4,537 baby boys
  2. Omar, 4,132
  3. Ali, 2,632
  4. Amir, 2,164
  5. Bilal, 2,129
  6. Alikhan, 2,112
  7. Alinour, 2,063
  8. Nour-Islam, 1,910
  9. Emir, 1,681
  10. Othman, 1,481

And here’s what the transcribed Kyrgyz names above look like in Cyrillic script:

Sources: Muhammad; Most Popular Baby Name in 2021 in Kyrgyzstan, Top 10 names of children for 2021 – gov.kg

Image: Adapted from Flag of Kyrgyzstan (public domain)