Where did the baby name Tristana come from in 1971?

The title character from the Spanish film "Tristana" (1970)
Tristana from “Tristana“

The name Tristana has popped up in the U.S. baby name data a total of four times. The first three appearances were in the early 1970s:

  • 1974: unlisted
  • 1973: 5 baby girls named Tristana
  • 1972: 7 baby girls named Tristana
  • 1971: 8 baby girls named Tristana [debut]
  • 1970: unlisted
  • 1969: unlisted

What put Tristana on the map?

The 1970 Spanish-language film Tristana, directed by Luis Buñuel. It was set in the early 1900s, and the title character — whose name was based on the phrase “triste Ana” (“sad Ana”) — was played by French actress Catherine Deneuve.

Here’s a summary of the film:

After the death of her mother, Tristana goes to live with her guardian Don Lope, who seduces her. She runs away from Lope with a young artist named Horacio. Unable to commit to Horacio and in need of health care due to her growing cancer, Tristana returns to Don Lope.

The film was released in the U.S. in September of 1970. It ended up receiving an Oscar nomination for “Best Foreign Language Film.”

It was based on the 1892 novel Tristana by Spanish novelist Benito Pérez Galdós.

P.S. Tristana reminds me of Tristaca, another name that debuted in the ’70s…

Sources: Tristana (1970) – IMDb, The 43rd Academy Awards, Tristana (1970) – Rotten Tomatoes, SSA

Image: Screenshot of Tristana

Popular baby names in Jersey (Channel Islands), 2020

Flag of Jersey
Flag of Jersey

According to Jersey’s Superintendent Registrar, the most popular baby names of 2020 on the island of Jersey (located in the English Channel) were Isabella and Lucas.

Below are Jersey’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names for each of the last five years:

Girl Names

20162017201820192020
1OliviaOliviaSiennaOliviaIsabella
2EmilyMiaAvaAvaWillow
3AvaPoppyAmeliaAmeliaEmily
4MiaEmilyMiaEllaEva
5SophieGraceSophiaEmiliaIsla
6MatildaEvieLunaIslaSophie
7AbigailIsabellaLillyLilyAlice
8MayaMillieCharlotteMiaSophia
9DaisyAmeliaFreyaIsabellaAva
10IvyRubyEmilyCharlotteHallie

Boy Names

20162017201820192020
1HarryCharlieLeoOliverLucas
2OliverHenryOliverJackGeorge
3NoahLucasJacobLucasWilliam
4JackOliverWilliamMasonHenry
5LeoNoahNoahOscarAlfie
6EthanEdwardJoshuaArchieOscar
7DylanSebastianCharlieGeorgeArchie
8TheoJacobHenryAlfieOliver
9JoshuaIsaacLoganArthurNoah
10JamesArchieJackBenjaminLiam

A total of 863 babies (419 females and 444 males) were born on the island in 2020.

Sources: 2020 Superintendent Registrar Annual Statement [PDF], Isabella And Lucas Lead Baby Names List, REVEALED: Jersey’s most popular baby names in 2020

Image: Adapted from Flag of Jersey (public domain)

How did “I Love Lucy” influence baby names in the 1950s?

Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, and their two children on the cover of LIFE magazine (Apr. 1953)
The Arnaz family

The sitcom I Love Lucy (1951-1957) was TV’s first mega-hit. It won five Emmys and was the most-watched TV show in the nation for four out of its six seasons.

The central characters were Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, played by real-life couple Lucille Ball (born in New York in 1911) and Desiderio “Desi” Arnaz (born in Cuba in 1917).

Ricky worked as a singer and bandleader at the Tropicana nightclub, while Lucy was a housewife on a quest for show business fame who “concocted hilarious (and ultimately doomed) schemes to finagle her way out of the kitchen and into the limelight.”

Though the original show ended in 1957, a modified version called The Ford Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show kept the characters on the air for several more years.

So did I Love Lucy affect U.S. baby names? Yes, though not as much as one might expect, given its popularity.

Lucy & Lucille

The old-fashioned names Lucy and Lucille spent most of the 20th century declining in usage.

But Lucy saw an increase in 1952, and both names saw increases in 1953. (The most fashionable L-name at that time was #1 Linda.)

Ricky & Ricardo

Both Ricky and Ricardo — which had been rising in usage since the 1940s — saw accelerated rises during the 1950s.

One event that drew attention to Ricky specifically was the birth of Lucy and Ricky’s baby, “Little Ricky,” on an especially popular episode of I Love Lucy that aired in January of 1953 (the day before the inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower). In fact, the Cesarean birth of Lucille and Desi’s real-life baby Desiderio “Desi” Arnaz, Jr., was scheduled to coincide with the birth of Little Ricky.

Speaking of Desi…

Desi & Arnaz

The 1950s is the first decade we see Desi (pronounced DEH-zee) appearing regularly the U.S. baby name data — thanks to both father and son (though Junior’s birth in 1953 is no doubt behind the name’s increase in usage that particular year).

Several months after baby Desi was born, the very first issue of TV Guide magazine came out — and guess who was on the cover?

Desi Arnaz, Jr., on the cover of the first issue of "TV Guide" magazine
Desi Arnaz, Jr.

The surname Arnaz (pronounced ahr-NEZ) debuted in the data in 1958, and spelling variant Arnez first popped up in 1960.

Now it’s your turn: Do you love the name Lucy? Or do you prefer Lucille?

P.S. Another influence on the name Ricky during this period was Ricky Nelson, the son of another TV couple: Ozzie and Harriet Nelson.

Sources:

Images:

  • Clipping from the cover of Life magazine (6 Apr. 1953)
  • Clipping from the cover of TV Guide magazine (3 Apr. 1953)

Baby name story: Garance

Madder (Garance in French)
Madder (Garance in French)

American journalist/editor Garance Franke-Ruta was born in the summer of 1972 in southeastern France, then “raised by artistic parents in Mexico and New Mexico.”

Here’s how Garance (pronounced gah-RAHNSS) explained the origin of her unusual first name (links added by me):

The river Durance runs through the Vaucluse, and I was named Garance in honor of that sound and the main character in Marcel Carne’s Les Enfants du Paradis, one of the classics of French cinema. The character, played by Arletty, uses Garance as a stage name, though her real name in the movie is Claire Reine.

The French word garance refers to several things: the madder plant, the dye made from the root of the madder plant, and the deep purple-red color of that dye.

What are your thoughts on the name Garance?

Sources:

P.S. Garance was also the name of one of the days (Brumaire 23/November 13) of the French republican calendar, which was used during the French Revolution.