Where did the baby name Civona come from in 1977?

Advertisement for Civona sweaters (Nov. 1977)
Newspaper ad for Civona sweaters

The unique name Civona was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data during the late 1970s:

  • 1979: unlisted
  • 1978: unlisted
  • 1977: 5 baby girls named Civona [debut]
  • 1976: unlisted
  • 1975: unlisted

Where did it come from?

A type of acrylic fabric called Civona, which was being advertised heavily around that time. The ads often compared the feel of Civona to that of merino wool. Civona’s tagline was: “the touch-me look.”

Like Antron and Qiana, Civona was invented by DuPont. It was put on the market in 1975.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Civona?

Image: Clipping from the San Bernardino Sun (13 Nov. 1977)

Popular baby names in the Balearic Islands (Spain), 2019

Flag of the Balearic Islands
Flag of the Balearic Islands

According to IBESTAT, the most popular baby names on the Balearic Islands two years ago were Julia and Marc.

(The Balearic Islands are part of Spain. We’ve already seen Spain’s rankings for 2019 and 2020, but I thought this deserved its own post because there’s an island-by-island breakdown.)

Here are the Balearic Islands’ top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2019:

Girl names

  1. Julia, 93 baby girls
  2. Emma, 89
  3. Martina, 77
  4. Sofia, 75
  5. Paula, 72
  6. Lucia, 69
  7. Maria, 60
  8. Laia, 52
  9. Lara, 50
  10. Carla, 48

Boy names

  1. Marc, 136 baby boys
  2. Hugo, 70
  3. Lucas, 65
  4. Leo, 60
  5. Pau, 58
  6. Alejandro, 54
  7. Mateo, 48
  8. Marti, 47
  9. Daniel, 45
  10. Joan, 44

Girl names within the top 100 include…

  • Aina – Catalan form of Anna
  • Ainara – a form of Enara, Basque for “swallow” (the bird)
  • Ainhoa – from the name of the town of Ainhoa in France
  • Aitana – from the name of the Aitana mountain range in Spain
  • Margalida – related to Margaret
  • Triana – from the name of the neighborhood of Triana in Seville

Boy names within the top 100 include…

  • Izan – a modern Spanish form of Ethan
  • Adria – Catalan form of Adrian
  • Jordi – Catalan form of George
  • Iker – Basque for “visitation”
  • Biel – Catalan short form of Gabriel
  • Unai – Basque for “cowherd”

Finally, here are the most popular baby names by island:

IslandTop girl nameTop boy name
Mallorca (say mai-OR-kah)
(79% of population)		Emma/Julia (tie)Marc
Menorca
(9% of population)		ClaudiaLucas
Eivissa (a.k.a. Ibiza)
(11% of population)		Mia/Sofia (tie)Mateo
Formentera
(1% of population)		Mar/Martina (tie)Leo

The last time I posted about the Balearic Islands, in 2013, the top two names were Maria and Marc.

Sources: Nombres más frecuentes – Ibestat, Balearic Islands – Wikipedia, Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of the Balearic Islands (public domain)

What gave the baby name Kelce a boost in the 2010s?

Football player Travis Kelce
Travis Kelce

The baby name Kelce has been picking up steam lately — particularly in Pennsylvania and Missouri:

  • 2020: 21 baby girls named Kelce
    • 8 born in Missouri
  • 2019: 10 baby girls named Kelce
  • 2018: 21 baby girls named Kelce
    • 6 born in Missouri, 5 born in Pennsylvania
  • 2017: 10 baby girls named Kelce
  • 2016: 5 baby girls named Kelce
  • 2015: unlisted
  • 2014: unlisted

Not only that, but it started popping up in the boys’ data just a couple of years ago:

  • 2020: 9 baby boys named Kelce
  • 2019: 10 baby boys named Kelce [debut]
  • 2018: unlisted
  • 2017: unlisted

Why all this recent interest?

Because of NFL brothers Jason and Travis Kelce (KEL-see).

Older brother Jason Kelce has played football for the Philadelphia Eagles since 2011. He won Super Bowl LII with the team in early 2018.

Younger Travis Kelce has played football for the Kansas City Chiefs since 2013. He won Super Bowl LIV with the team in early 2020. In fact, he caught one of the game’s touchdown passes.

Though the brothers have always pronounced their surname KEL-see, the surname is actually supposed to be pronounced kelse (rhymes with “else”). Here’s how Jason explained the pronunciation discrepancy:

[W]e have a really small family, we don’t have any first cousins. Somehow we got so disconnected [from the Kelce side the family] and my dad at some point, when he was working at the steel mill in Cleveland, Ohio, got tired of correcting everyone who was calling him ‘Kel-see.’

[…]

So my dad, out of pure laziness, completely changed his last name. For some reason he decided to change it and that’s what we’ve gone by our whole lives.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Kelce? (Do you like this spelling, or would you prefer something less ambiguous, like “Kelsey”?)

Update, 1/31/2023: Last weekend, the Philadelphia Eagles won the NFC Championship and the Kansas City Chiefs won the AFC Championship — so, not only are Jason and Travis are both going back to the Super Bowl, but “Donna Kelce will officially become the first mother to have two sons play against each other in the Super Bowl” (according to a tweet by the Pro Football Hall of Fame). I don’t know what year Donna was born, but I wonder if it wasn’t 1959, the year the name Donna saw peak usage thanks to a song…

Sources: Travis Kelce – Wikipedia, Jason Kelce – Wikipedia, How do Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce pronounce their last name? Jason reveals the true answer

Image: Adapted from Travis Kelce 2017 training camp (public domain)

Baby name stories: Rielle & Riel

Métis leader Louis Riel (1844-1885)
Louis Riel

In October of 2008, a baby girl born in Ontario to parents Kimberly and Stephen MacDougall was named Rielle after female fighter pilot Riel Erickson, who’d been featured in the TV documentary Jetstream that year.

“It was just the way it rolled off her tongue, and having seen this woman and what she was doing and how she was competing against top pilots — the name came across in such a positive manner that it instilled a really good vibe.

“So when my wife threw it out there, we really didn’t even have to think about it.”

They thought the name was beautiful, feminine and distinctive, no easy feat, felt Kimberly, who is a teacher and wanted something unique.

The parents, both French-speakers, also appreciated the fact that reversing the syllables in Rielle produced elle rit, French for “she laughs.”

In an interview from around that time, Capt. Riel Erickson — whose call sign is “Guns” — was asked about the story behind her name:

I was named after Louis Riel. My mother learned of his story from the local native community when she was growing up. She believed strongly in his story so decided that she would name her child after him. I grew up knowing his story and love the fact that I’m named after him. I love having such meaning in my name. It’s so much a part of my identity, knowing that story. I guess that’s why I feel so overwhelmed by someone naming their child after me. My namesake has certainly influenced me.

Louis Riel was a Canadian politician of Métis descent.

What do you think of the baby name Riel/Rielle? Which spelling to you prefer?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from LouisRiel1878 (public domain)