Baby born to Auburn fan, named Aubrie

Recent high school graduate Aubrie Lisenby of Alabama was named “Aubrie” with Aubie the Tiger, the Auburn University mascot, in mind. (Her father is an Auburn alum).

Over the last few years, Aubrie worked to become one of the best high school softball players in the country. This fall, she’ll start college at Auburn University and join the Auburn Tigers softball team — making her Aubrie, the Tiger. :)

I would call this a case of nominative determinism, but I think it’s likely that Aubrie would have opted to play for Auburn regardless of her name.

P.S. According to the SSA’s state-by-state data, the baby name Auburn is particularly popular in Alabama.

Sources: Aubrie Lisenby Is National Champion with a Thunderbolt, Loaded 2021 softball signing class boasts championship experience

Where did the baby name Dameyune come from in 1998?

College football player Dameyune Craig
Dameyune Craig

The unusual baby name Dameyune was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data in 1998:

  • 2000: unlisted
  • 1999: unlisted
  • 1998: 10 baby boys named Dameyune
    • 8 born in Alabama
  • 1997: unlisted
  • 1996: unlisted

Where did it come from, and why was the usage primarily in Alabama?

The inspiration was college football player Dameyune (pronounced “Damian”) Craig, who played at Auburn University in Alabama from 1993 to 1997.

His senior year, as the starting quarterback, he led the team to its first-ever SEC Western Division title. (The team narrowly lost the 1997 SEC Championship Game to the Tennessee Volunteers, led by Peyton Manning.)

Dameyune went on to play in the NFL for several years. Since then, he has worked as a coach.

What do you think of the spelling “Dameyune”?

Sources: Dameyune Craig – Wikipedia, SSA

Popular baby names in Armenia, 2020

Flag of Armenia
Flag of Armenia

According to the Statistical Committee of Armenia, the most popular baby names in the country last year were (again) Nare and Davit.

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

Girl Names

  1. Nare, 745 baby girls
  2. Maria, 613
  3. Angelina, 592
  4. Arpi, 503
  5. Mane, 437
  6. Yeva, 402
  7. Anna, 368
  8. Mari, 356
  9. Mariam, 354
  10. Ani, 345

Boy Names

  1. Davit, 1,346 baby boys
  2. Narek, 902
  3. Hayk, 610
  4. Mark, 579
  5. Monte, 570
  6. Tigran, 539
  7. Areg, 513
  8. Miqayel, 450
  9. Alex, 377 (tie)
  10. Alen, 377 (tie)

In the girls’ top 10, Anna and Ani replaced Anahit and Ellen, and Angelina continued to rise.

(Anahit is the Armenian form of Anahita, which means “pure” — literally, “not” + “unclean” — in Avestan. Anahita was a Persian goddess associated with water, and, thereby, with fertility, healing and wisdom.)

In the boys’ top 10, Monte and Areg replaced Artur and Gor.

Sources: Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia (2020 pdf), Anahita – Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Armenia (public domain)

Where did the baby name Nedenia come from in 1960?

Actress Dina Merrill on the cover of LIFE magazine (Jan. 1960)
Dina Merrill

In 1960, the name Nedenia showed up in the U.S. baby name data for the first and only time:

  • 1962: unlisted
  • 1961: unlisted
  • 1960: 9 baby girls named Nedenia [debut]
  • 1959: unlisted
  • 1958: unlisted

Where did it come from?

Actress and socialite Dina Merrill, whose real name was Nedenia Hutton.

Often compared to Grace Kelly. Merrill was most famous in the late ’50s and early ’60s. In 1960 specifically, she could be seen in the movies The Sundowners and BUtterfield 8. (When Merrill appeared on the game show What’s My Line? in August of 1960, one of the panelists remarked: “I must say that Miss Merrill has had more publicity than I think any actress in America in the course of the last year.”)

I think a more precise explanation, though, is “She Has Too Much Money” — an article with an eye-catching title that ran in Parade (the nationally distributed Sunday newspaper magazine) in March of 1959. It primarily focused on Dina’s wealth, but divulged Dina’s full legal name at the time, Nedenia Hutton Rumbough, in the second paragraph.

Nedenia Hutton was born in 1923 to Post Cereals heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and stockbroker Edward Francis Hutton. Her birth name was an elaboration of her father’s nickname, Ned. (Her stage surname, Merrill, was borrowed from another well-known stockbroker: Charles E. Merrill.)

Do you like the name Nedenia?

P.S. Through her father’s family, Nedenia was related to Barbara Hutton, mother of Lance Reventlow.

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the cover of Life magazine (11 Jan. 1960)