Baby name story: Dania

Dania Beach
Dania Beach

In the fall of 1976, Los Angeles couple Kenneth and Kathryn Champlin visited south Florida.

The following spring, they welcomed a baby girl.

“Remember that little city we drove through?” Champlin asked his wife. She did. And they are now parents of Dania Ann Champlin.

The director of Dania’s Chamber of Commerce responded: “This is an honor…I know they wouldn’t have named her Fort Lauderdale.”

So how did the city of Dania (pronounced DAYN-yah) get its name?

Initially, the settlement was known as Modello, because it was platted in the late 1800s by a civil engineer working for the Model Land Company (of which “Modello” is a contraction). But early settlers — primarily Danish immigrants recruited from northern states (Illinois and Wisconsin) — chose to change the name to Dania when the town was incorporated in November of 1904.

The city has since lengthened its name to Dania Beach, but many still refer to it simply as “Dania.”

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Dania Beach Pier Aerial by formulanone under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Where did the baby name Ginobili come from in 2005?

Basketball player Manu Ginóbili
Manu Ginóbili

The eye-catching name Ginobili has appeared just once in the U.S. baby name data:

  • 2007: unlisted
  • 2006: unlisted
  • 2005: 7 baby boys named Ginobili [debut]
    • 6 born in Texas specifically
  • 2004: unlisted
  • 2003: unlisted

Where did it come from?

Professional basketball player Emanuel “Manu” Ginóbili (pronounced MAH-noo jih-NOH-blee), who was born in Argentina and played in the NBA for sixteen seasons — all with the San Antonio Spurs (2002-2018).

In fact, the year after the name Ginobili made its single appearance in the data, the name Manu saw peak usage.

Here’s how one reporter, writing in mid-2005, described Manu Ginóbili:

He is a 6-foot-6, 205-pound can of Red Bull — instant energy, all the time. That’s what makes the Spurs guard so effective, what fixates your eyes on him pinballing around the court, what places Ginobili in the company of the most stylish players in the NBA.

It seems that the 2004-05 season was a particularly good one for Manu: he played in his first All-Star game in February of 2005, and the Spurs went on to win the NBA championship four months later. (Over the course of his career, he was an All-Star twice and an NBA champion four times.)

What are your thoughts on Ginóbili as a first name? How about Manu?

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine (29 Jun. 2005)

Where did the baby name Kerensa come from in 1965?

The Legend of the Seventh Virgin, a historical romance novel set in Cornwall, came out in 1964. It was written by “Victoria Holt,” one of the pen names of prolific English author Eleanor Hibbert.

The next year, not only did the book appear on the New York Times bestseller list, but two character names appeared in the U.S. baby name data.

The one that saw the most usage was Kerensa, from the name of the main character, Kerensa Carlee.

  • 1967: 15 baby girls named Kerensa
  • 1966: 12 baby girls named Kerensa
  • 1965: 8 baby girls named Kerensa [debut]
  • 1964: unlisted
  • 1963: unlisted

Then there’s Mellyora, inspired by the character Mellyora Martin It appeared in the data for the first and only time in 1965:

  • 1967: unlisted
  • 1966: unlisted
  • 1965: 5 baby girls named Mellyora [debut]
  • 1964: unlisted
  • 1963: unlisted

Kerensa (pronounced keh-REHN-zah) comes from the Cornish word kerensa, which means “love” or “charity.”

Mellyora may be based on the Latin word meliora, meaning “better.”

Which “Seventh Virgin” name do you prefer, Kerensa or Mellyora?

P.S. The author’s other pen names? Anna Percival, Elbur Ford, Eleanor Burford, Ellalice Tate, Jean Plaidy, Kathleen Kellow, and Philippa Carr.

Sources: Kerensa – Cornish Dictionary, Eleanor Hibbert – Wikipedia

Popular baby names in Finland, 2020

Flag of Finland
Flag of Finland

According to the Finnish Digital Agency, the most popular baby names in the country last year were Aino and Leo.

Here are Finland’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2020:

Girl Names

  1. Aino, 276 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 252
  3. Sofia, 244
  4. Pihla, 239
  5. Aada, 237
  6. Eevi, 227
  7. Isla, 226
  8. Lilja, 220
  9. Helmi, 216
  10. Ellen and Ella, 206 each (tie)

Boy Names

  1. Leo, 356 baby boys
  2. Eino, 335
  3. Oliver, 326
  4. Elias, 323
  5. Onni, 308
  6. Väinö, 281
  7. Noel, 264
  8. Eeli, 228
  9. Toivo, 224
  10. Leevi, 207

In the girls’ top 10, Pihla and Isla replaced Emilia. (The name Pihla is based on the Finnish word pihlaja, meaning “rowan tree.”)

In the boys’ top 10, Toivo replaced Hugo.

Among Finland’s Swedish-speakers (about 5% of the population) the top baby names were Ellen and Emil.

In 2019, the top two names in Finland were also Aino and Leo.

Sources: Suosituimmat Etunimet (“Most Popular First Names”), Pihla – Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Finland (public domain)