Where did the baby name Loey come from in 1970?

The character Loey from the TV movie "Ritual of Evil" (1970)
Loey from “Ritual of Evil”

It’s almost Halloween! So let’s look at the curious girl name Loey, which debuted in the U.S. baby name data at the start of the ’70s:

  • 1972: unlisted
  • 1971: unlisted
  • 1970: 11 baby girls named Loey [debut]
  • 1969: unlisted
  • 1968: unlisted

What put it there?

A character from the TV horror movie Ritual of Evil, which premiered in February of 1970. It was a sequel to the 1969 TV movie Fear No Evil, and so it featured the same main character: psychiatrist David Sorrell.

In Ritual of Evil, Dr. Sorrell investigated the death of one of his patients, a young heiress. Turns out she was killed by a Satanic cult, and her little sister Loey (played by Belinda Montgomery) was now in danger as well.

In the film, the name “Loey” was pronounced to rhyme with Chloe and Zoe.

What are your thoughts on the name Loey?

P.S. Other horror-filled names we’ve discussed before include Tippi, Pleshette, Marnie, Annabelle, Aristede, Jamison, Josette, Angelique, Samara, Daveigh, Rhoda, and Thedy.

Sources: Ritual of Evil (1970) – Movies and Mania, SSA

Popular baby names in England and Wales (UK), 2020

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the most popular baby names in England and Wales last year — for the fifth year in a row — were Olivia and Oliver.

Here are the top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2020:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 3,640 baby girls
  2. Amelia, 3,319
  3. Isla, 2,749
  4. Ava, 2,679
  5. Mia, 2,303
  6. Ivy, 2,166
  7. Lily, 2,150
  8. Isabella, 2,052
  9. Rosie, 2,035
  10. Sophia, 2,028

Boy Names

  1. Oliver, 4,225 baby boys
  2. George, 4,100
  3. Arthur, 4,052
  4. Noah, 4,042
  5. Muhammad, 3,710
  6. Leo, 3,314
  7. Oscar, 3,268
  8. Harry, 3,209
  9. Archie, 2,944
  10. Jack, 2,900

In the girls’ top 10, Ivy and Rosie replaced Grace and Freya.

In the boys’ top 10, Archie replaced Charlie. (No doubt Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to name their first child Archie in 2019 gave the name a boost, but Archie was on the rise in England and Wales long before it became a royal baby name.)

The fastest-rising names within the top 100 were…

  • Arabella, Mabel, Lyra, and Maeve (for girls)
  • Roman, Milo, Otis, and Myles (for boys)

(The popular British TV series Sex Education features main characters named Otis and Maeve.)

Here are the top 10 lists for England and Wales separately:

England, Top 10Wales, Top 10
Girl NamesOlivia, Amelia, Isla, Ava, Mia, Ivy, Lily, Isabella, Sophia, RosieOlivia, Amelia, Isla, Rosie, Ava, Lily, Mia, Ella, Willow, Freya
Boy NamesOliver, George, Arthur, Noah, Muhammad, Leo, Oscar, Harry, Archie, HenryNoah, Oliver, Leo, Theo, Finley, Arthur, George, Archie, Oscar, Charlie

Finally, here are some of the rare baby names from the other end of the rankings. Each one was given to just 3 babies in England and Wales last year.

Rare Girl NamesRare Boy Names
Aelfwynn, Aerith, Berfin, Boheme, Croia, Dorsa, Dwija, Elitsa, Fianna, Gwennie, Hecate, Hetvi, Isla-Bleu, Jamia, Junainah, Kimran, Liarna, Liliwen, Mehwish, Navara, Noorul, Otterly, Palma, Quratulain, Rimsha, Saltanat, Tafida, Tanzeela, Unaizah, Vesa, Wajan, ZimmalAlazar, Brychan, Cavanni, Corran, Dhvij, Ensar, Floki, Grantas, Gruff, Hendry, Huxon, Itanas, Jaivik, Kitson, Lindon, Mursalin, Nandor, Nyron, Oviyan, Phaedon, Qaim, Reggie-Blu, Riven, Romarni, Sejun, Tecwyn, Tomek, Udham, Vishwak, Wolfram, Xheison, Yuvi, Zennor

Liliwen comes from lili wen, one of the Welsh words for snowdrop (a small, white flower that blooms during the winter). The hyphenated variant Lili-wen was also given to three baby girls last year, bringing the grand total to six.

Also given to six baby girls last year? The name Eirlys, from eirlys, another Welsh word for snowdrop. :)

P.S. Want to see the 2019 rankings?

Sources: Baby names in England and Wales: 2020 (ONS), All data related to Baby names in England and Wales: 2020 (ONS), Snowdrops at Penrhyn Castle

Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)

Where did the baby name Mako come from in 1977?

Actor Mako in the musical "Pacific Overtures" (1976).
Mako in “Pacific Overtures“

The curious name Mako first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1977:

  • 1979: unlisted
  • 1978: unlisted
  • 1977: 5 baby boys named Mako [debut]
  • 1976: unlisted
  • 1975: unlisted

Why?

The influence seems to be Japanese-American actor Makoto Iwamatsu (1933-2006), who was usually credited mononymously as “Mako.”

He’d been appearing in films and on TV since the late ’50s, but in the mid-’70s he starred in the Broadway musical Pacific Overtures (1976) by Stephen Sondheim. His portrayal of several characters in the play earned him a Tony nomination for ‘Best Actor in a Musical.’

In one 1976 newspaper interview, he described the origin of his stage name:

I picked up the single name of Mako when I was in basic training [U.S. Army] in South Carolina. The sergeant could never pronounce my name correctly at mail call. On principle, I never answered.

Next he tried calling me Shorty. When that didn’t work, he finally shouted: ‘Hey, you damn Yankee.’ That was the first time I really felt like an American. That broke the ice. We compromised, and I agreed to answer to Mako.

In Mako’s case, the first name Makoto is written with a kanji character that means “sincerity” in Japanese.

What are your thoughts on the name Mako?

Sources:

  • Lewis, Emory. “Asians can act, too: Mako.” Record [Hackensack, NJ] 4 Apr. 1976: 58.
  • Mako – Wikipedia

Baby name story: Fiona

baby hippo

In July of 2021, Kerbe Shephard unexpectedly went into labor while visiting the Cincinnati Zoo with her husband David and son Bryce.

Later that day, the family welcomed a baby girl — born four weeks premature.

On a previous trip to the Cincinnati Zoo, Bryce had insisted that his future baby sister be named Fiona after the zoo’s famous Fiona the Hippo. (The hippo had been born six weeks premature in 2017 and required round-the-clock care in order to survive.)

At the time, Kerbe and her husband weren’t keen on Bryce’s suggestion.

My husband and I laughed, “Ok, buddy! That sounds great…we’ll add it to the list!” — knowing that we had other plans for names and we certainly wouldn’t name our daughter after a hippo.

After meeting their baby girl, though, they reconsidered.

The baby’s arrival had coincided with a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo, and she (like the hippo) was a preemie who would need special care, as she was born with both Down Syndrome and a congenital heart defect — “complications that we knew she would overcome,” said Kerbe.

So they decided to name her Fiona after all.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Baby Hippo by Tim Sackton under CC BY-SA 2.0.

[Latest update: Feb. 2025]