How popular is the baby name Abby in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out all the blog posts that mention the name Abby.

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Popularity of the Baby Name Abby


Posts that Mention the Name Abby

Popular baby names in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1868

19th-century Providence, Rhode Island
19th-century Providence

Years ago, I discovered three documents with relatively complete lists of births for the city of Providence, Rhode Island, for the years 1866, 1867, and 1868. I’ve already created Providence’s baby name rankings for 1866 and 1867 using the first two documents, and today (finally!) I’ve got the third set of rankings for you.

Let’s start with some stats:

  • 1,762 babies were born in Providence in 1868, by my count. According to the introduction of the document I’m using a source, however, the total number is 1,866. I don’t know how to account for this discrepancy.
  • 1,617 of these babies (791 girls and 826 boys) had names that were known at the time of publication. The other 145 babies got blank spaces. Either their names hadn’t been registered yet, or they hadn’t been named yet, or perhaps these babies died young and never received a name.
  • 284 unique names (143 girl names and 141 boy names) were shared among these 1,617 babies.

And now, on to the names!

Top 5

A quick look at the top 5 girl names and boy names in Providence in 1868:

Top baby girl namesTop baby boy names
1. Mary
2. Catherine
3. Sarah
4. Ellen
5. Margaret
1. John
2. William
3. James
4. Charles
5. George

All Girl Names

  1. Mary, 149 baby girls
  2. Catherine, 39
  3. Sarah, 38
  4. Ellen, 31
  5. Margaret, 28
  6. Elizabeth, 25
  7. Alice, 24
  8. Anna, 20
  9. Ann, 16
  10. Emma, 14
  11. Eliza, 13
  12. Clara & Martha, 11 each (tie)
  13. Hannah & Lucy, 10 each (tie)
  14. Bridget, Grace, Jennie, Julia & Maria, 9 each (5-way tie)
  15. Annie, Florence, Jane, Minnie & Susan, 8 each (5-way tie)
  16. Agnes, Caroline, Cora, Ella & Harriet, 7 each (5-way tie)
  17. Anne, Carrie, Hattie, Ida, Mabel & Nellie, 6 each (6-way tie)
  18. Eva, Joanna, Lydia & Rosanna, 5 each (4-way tie)
  19. Abby, Charlotte, Emily, Jessie, Josephine, Lillian, Lizzie, Louisa, Louise, Marion, Phebe, Rosella & Theresa, 4 each (13-way tie)
  20. Anastasia, Bertha, Edith, Gertrude, Isabella, Nettie, Pearl, Rebecca & Susanna, 3 each (9-way tie)
  21. Ada, Almira, Edna, Fannie, Flora, Frances, Helen, Henrietta, Inez, Laura, Lelia, Lillie, Lottie, Maud, Priscilla & Virginia, 2 each (16-way tie)
  22. Addie, Adelaide, Adelicia, Adeline, Agatha, Allene, Amanda, Amy, Angelica, Antoinette, Arabella, Augusta, Aurelia, B.*, Belle, Bessie, Betsey, Catharine, Celia, Claudia, Della, Eleanor, Eleanora, Estella, Estelle, Esther, Eudavelia, Eulalie, Evelyn, Francenia, Genevieve, Georgia, Honora, Imogene, Jesse, Juliette, Kate, Leonora, Lilla, Lillias, Lorena, Luella, Luetta, Magdalena, Marian, Marietta, Matilda, Mercy, Minerva, Miriam, Myra, Myrtis, Nanoan, Nora, Pauline, Reberta, Rhoda, Roberta, Rosa, Rose, Ruth, Sabrina, Sophia, Stella & Winifred, 1 each (65-way tie)

*What do you think the “B.” might have stood for?

All Boy Names

  1. John, 112 baby boys
  2. William, 68
  3. James, 64
  4. Charles, 52
  5. George, 45
  6. Thomas, 37
  7. Frederick, 25
  8. Henry, 23
  9. Joseph, 22
  10. Edward, 19
  11. Daniel & Patrick, 18 each (tie)
  12. Robert, 17
  13. Frank, 16
  14. Francis, 15
  15. Walter, 13
  16. Michael, 11
  17. Albert, 10
  18. Arthur, 9
  19. Benjamin, Peter & Samuel, 7 each (3-way tie)
  20. Freddie, Harry, Herbert & Stephen, 6 each (4-way tie)
  21. Edwin, Lawrence, Lewis, Martin & Timothy, 5 each (5-way tie)
  22. Bernard, Edmund, Eugene, Louis, Philip & Richard, 4 each (6-way tie)
  23. Alfred, Augustus, Christopher, Eben, Horace, Howard, Hugh, Jeremiah, Matthew & Willard, 3 each (10-way tie)
  24. Abel, Barney, Byron, Dennis, Edgar, Ferdinand, Gilbert, Luke, Max, Nathaniel, Owen, Roger, Solomon & Victor, 2 each (14-way tie)
  25. Alden, Alexis, Allen, Alrick, Amos, Andrew, Ansel, Anson, Archibald, Asa, Ashby, Bartholomew, Calvin, Carlos, Clarence, Clark, Clarke, Clement, Clifford, Collyer, Crolander, Darius, David, Earl, Elisha, Ellis, Eri, Ernest, Erwin, Eusebe, Everett, Felix, Forrest, Foster, Franklin, Fred, Gardner, Jacob, Jason, Jerome, Jireh, Joaneto, Josiah, Jubal, Justin, Lawson, Lodovic, Louis, Lucien, Lyman, Major, Malachi, Manuel, Melbourne, Monroe, Morey, Morris, Myron, Nelson, Nicholas, Olney, Orville, Oscar, Pendleton, Ralph, Reuben, Rolfe, Rowland, Rufus, Simeon, Simon, Steven, Stewart, Theodore, Ulysses*, Volney, Warren, Whiting, Willie & Winchester, 1 each (80-way tie)

*Ulysses was likely named in honor of Ulysses S. Grant, who was elected president in 1868.

Twins

Finally, nineteen sets of twins were born in Providence in 1868. (All of these twin names are accounted for in the rankings above.)

Girl-girl twinsGirl-boy twinsBoy-boy twins
Caroline & Harriet
Lucy & Lydia
Mary & Rosanna
Margaret & Mary
Lizzie & Martha
(blank) & (blank)
Anne & Thomas
Emma & Charles
Florence & William
Hannah & Josiah
Ida & John
Isabella & John
Jennie & Horace
Charles & William
Francis & Robert
George & John
James & John
James & Stephen
(blank) & (blank)

Have any thoughts about these rankings, or about any of the specific names above?

Source: Snow, Edwin M. Alphabetical Lists of the Names of Persons Deceased, Born and Married in the City of Providence. Number three. Providence: Millard & Harker, 1870.

Name quotes #77: Shyra, Jordan, Haroon

double quotation mark

Time for this month’s batch of name-related quotes!

From the 2008 novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (which is narrated by character Katniss Everdeen):

The girl with the arrows, Glimmer I hear someone call her — ugh, the names the people in District 1 give their children are so ridiculous — anyway, Glimmer scales the tree until the branches begin to crack under her feet and then has the good sense to stop.

From Darius Rucker’s Instagram:

“My daughter Dani with the guy she was named after, Dan Marino.”

From an Economist article about baby names in France:

As Catholicism’s hold has eased, American pop culture has stepped in, filling classrooms with Kevins, Jordans and Dylans. Such names, says the study, have become a class marker. They are also popular in regions which support Marine Le Pen, the populist defender of French cultural tradition. Her campaign for the upcoming European elections is headed by a 23-year-old called Jordan.

In a country that bans ethnic or religious census data, names can also serve as a proxy. The number of baby boys named Mohamed has grown sixfold since 1960. The persistence of such names, say some on the nationalist fringe, reflects an integration problem. Ms. Le Pen has argued that naturalised French citizens should adopt a name more adapted to national culture. Hapsatou Sy, a French presenter, understandably quit a TV show after a commentator told her that her name was “an insult to France”, and that her mother should have named her Corinne.

From an article in The Herald (Scottish newspaper) about the changing tastes in baby names:

But now researchers have found that picking a distinctive monicker is becoming harder and harder with greater media access, improved global communications and rising immigration increasing people’s exposure to different names and also ensuring they become common more quickly.

[…]

“The speed with which modern name choices fall in and out of favour reflects their increased exposure and people’s ongoing desire for distinctiveness.”

From a Public Domain Review post about a 19th-century Siamese Prince called George Washington:

Prince George Washington was really Prince Wichaichan, the son of the Second King of Siam [Pinklao, younger brother of Mongkut]. […] Wichaichan’s unusual nickname was the result of his father’s commitment to “modernize” Siam by studying and deliberately emulating Western culture. […] Pinklao wished to communicate that he was a progressive person who was drawn to modern American culture, while never abandoning his fundamental commitment to Siam’s absolute monarchy.

(The post also noted that Anna Leonowens, in her memoir The English Governess at the Siamese Court — the inspiration behind The King and I, which made a star out of Yul Brynner — claimed the prince’s nickname was given to him by an American missionary.)

From a Swarajyamag.com article about Sanskrit names being given incorrect definitions online (found via Abby):

These websites not only misguide with wrong meanings but also feature “Sanskrit names” that are not from Sanskrit at all.

‘Haroon’ is one such name. Websites, including the popular Prokerala.com that ranks among the top 8,000 in the world, tells us it means ‘hope’ in Sanskrit. However, ‘Haroon’ is an Arabic name. Hugely popular among Muslims, it was also the name of one of the Khalifas (Caliphs).

[…]

Similarly, these websites also erroneously trace modern names such as Kian, Rehan and Miran to Sanskrit.

From the book Becoming Something: The Story of Canada Lee (2004) by Mona Z. Smith:

Canada Lee was born in New York City on March 3, 1907, and christened with the mellifluous if somewhat daunting name of Leonard Lionel Cornelius Canegata.

[…]

The first time the leather-lunged [fight announcer Joe] Humphries got ready to introduce Lee, he looked down at his notes and saw a peculiar name: “Canegata, Lee.” Flummoxed by those alien syllables, Humphries tossed away the card with a snort and introduced the young fighter as “Canada Lee.”

Everybody liked the transmogrification, including Lee, and it stuck.

From a Summit Daily article about the history of the town of Dillon, Colorado:

Dillon…was not named after a prospector named Tom Dillon who got lost in the woods, as has been a common oral tradition. Rather, the town was named after Sidney Dillon, a powerful railroad executive who became president of the Union Pacific railroad four months before the town was established. The entire point of naming the town Dillon was to somehow appeal to Sidney Dillon’s vanity and persuade him to build a railroad through the town.

But as it turned out, the railroad didn’t wind up going through Dillon or winding along the Snake River. Instead, it went through Tenmile Canyon and the town of Frisco — also named to flatter a railroad company, the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Co., in a bid to get them to build their next line through town.

From a Livemint.com post about the new generation of female names in Bollywood:

Kaira, Shyra, Akira, Kia, Tia, Sia. Shanaya. These are Bollywood’s cool new names, broadly classified into the “ya” or “ra” nomenclature. The Poojas, Nishas, Anjalis and Nehas of the 1990s are déclassé. These new names carry an unmistakable aspiration to be global.They are unrooted to place, community or any kind of identity except class. They are almost never longer than three syllables and easy to pronounce. They float on coolness and lightness. An ex-colleague memorably christened them “First-World Yoga Names—FWYN”.

Numerology & baby names: Number 3

Baby names with a numerological value of 3

Here are hundreds of baby names that have a numerological value of “3.”

I’ve sub-categorized them by overall totals, because I think that some of the intermediate numbers could have special significance to people as well.

Within each group, I’ve listed up to ten of the most popular “3” names per gender (according to the current U.S. rankings).

Beneath all the names are some ways you could interpret the numerological value of “3,” including descriptions from two different numerological systems.

3 via 12

The following baby names add up to 12, which reduces to three (1+2=3).

  • “12” girl names: Aja, Fae, Abi, Bee, Abha, Bia
  • “12” boy names: Cace, Gad, Jb

3 via 21

The following baby names add up to 21, which reduces to three (2+1=3).

  • “21” girl names: Kai, Asa, Gala, Jaeda, Jaia, Aara, Clea, Kia, Abiha, Abiah
  • “21” boy names: Kai, Kade, Asa, Alec, Ben, Beck, Cael, Cale, Hal, Ladd

3 via 30

The following baby names add up to 30, which reduces to three (3+0=3).

  • “30” girl names: Ella, Anna, Alice, Jane, Bianca, Abby, Noa, Bria, Celia, Liah
  • “30” boy names: Joe, Jean, Taha, Noa, Ken, Eesa, Rafe, Zac, Bodi, Tai

3 via 39

The following baby names add up to 39, which reduces to three (3+9=12; 1+2=3).

  • “39” girl names: Camila, Sara, Ayla, Mya, Amy, Gemma, Leila, Allie, Angel, Kira
  • “39” boy names: Angel, Declan, Sean, Kash, Drake, Jakob, Jon, Keagan, Lev, Edric

3 via 48

The following baby names add up to 48, which reduces to three (4+8=12; 1+2=3).

  • “48” girl names: Luna, Nora, Claire, Isabel, Teagan, Adriana, Daphne, Aviana, Sarai, Celine
  • “48” boy names: James, Ethan, Levi, Jonah, Graham, Theo, Malakai, Leland, Kamden, Jasiah

3 via 57

The following baby names add up to 57, which reduces to three (5+7=12; 1+2=3).

  • “57” girl names: Aaliyah, Rose, Mary, Adalyn, Hayden, Amiyah, Mariana, Willa, Kailani, Myra
  • “57” boy names: Owen, George, Hayden, Ellis, Major, Uriah, Colby, Chris, Layne, Franco

3 via 66

The following baby names add up to 66, which reduces to three (6+6=12; 1+2=3).

  • “66” girl names: Harper, Addison, Ruby, Emery, Ximena, Annabelle, Sloane, Brooke, Delaney, Jessica
  • “66” boy names: Charles, Xander, Beckett, Tobias, Manuel, Zayn, Romeo, Dalton, Royce, Esteban

3 via 75

The following baby names add up to 75, which reduces to three (7+5=12; 1+2=3).

  • “75” girl names: Madison, Quinn, Esther, Adelynn, Raelyn, Tatum, Annalise, Bethany, Kinslee, Simone
  • “75” boy names: Zayden, Marcus, Martin, Jeffrey, Quinn, Kendrick, Gunnar, Zachariah, Rowen, Luciano

3 via 84

The following baby names add up to 84, which reduces to three (8+4=12; 1+2=3).

  • “84” girl names: Ryleigh, Londyn, Jocelyn, Makenzie, Collins, Lennox, Zaniyah, Madalynn, Lillianna, Violeta
  • “84” boy names: Alexander, Austin, Leonardo, Nathaniel, Emmanuel, Barrett, Jaxton, Marshall, Lennox, Lawson

3 via 93

The following baby names add up to 93, which reduces to three (9+3=12; 1+2=3).

  • “93” girl names: Juniper, Elliott, Ashlynn, Sunny, Yamileth, Evalynn, Majesty, Cristina, Rhiannon, Brighton
  • “93” boy names: Bryson, Justin, Elliott, Cristian, Atticus, Tyson, Roberto, Arturo, Greysen, Brighton

3 via 102

The following baby names add up to 102, which reduces to three (1+0+2=12; 1+2=3).

  • “102” girl names: Charlotte, Juliette, Jazlynn, Whitley, Kaylynn, Kinzley, Katelynn, Gwyneth, Christiana, Gwenyth
  • “102” boy names: Harrison, Kingsley, Langston, Brixton, Humberto, Syrus, Huxton, Iverson, Yehoshua, Abdulaziz

3 via 111

The following baby names add up to 111, which reduces to three (1+1+1=3).

  • “111” girl names: Amethyst, Braylynn, Kynsley, Brystol, Bronwyn, Taylynn, Mattison, Rozalyn, Sarenity, Promyse
  • “111” boy names: Raymundo, Xzavion, Treston, Christos, Torsten, Panagiotis, Schuyler, Olajuwon, Tayshawn, Corinthian

3 via 120

The following baby names add up to 120, which reduces to three (1+2+0=3).

  • “120” girl names: Skylynn, Yaretzy, Lexington, Greylynn, Yuritza, Portlyn, Southern, Brittlyn, Ellowynn, Mattalynn
  • “120” boy names: Maximiliano, Ulysses, Lexington, Thompson, Leviticus, Arjunreddy, Philopater, Quintyn, Prentiss, Marquette

3 via 129

The following baby names add up to 129, which reduces to three (1+2+9=12; 1+2=3).

  • “129” girl names: Kourtney, Christalyn, Tzipporah, Oluwatomi, Riverrose, Stellamaris, Jazzalynn
  • “129” boy names: Augustus, Silvestre, Brookston, Constantin, Tobechukwu, Panayiotis, Toluwalase, Demetrious, Quinston, Kourtney

3 via 138

The following baby names add up to 138, which reduces to three (1+3+8=12; 1+2=3).

  • “138” girl names: Konstantina, Marylouise, Mojolaoluwa, Oluwaferanmi
  • “138” boy names: Thelonious, Toussaint, Marcoantonio, Zephyrus, Oluwaferanmi

3 via 147

The following baby names add up to 147, which reduces to three (1+4+7=12; 1+2=3).

  • “147” girl names: Autumnrose, Tirenioluwa
  • “147” boy names: Khristopher, Aristotelis

3 via 156

The boy name Ifeanyichukwu adds up to 156, which reduces to three (1+5+6=12; 1+2=3).

3 via 165

The unisex name Oluwatamilore adds up to 165, which reduces to three (1+6+5=12; 1+2=3).

What Does “3” Mean?

First, we’ll look at the significance assigned to “3” by two different numerological sources. Second, and more importantly, ask yourself if “3” or any of the intermediate numbers above have any special significance to you.

Numerological Attributes

“3” (the triad) according to the Pythagoreans:

  • “The triad has a special beauty and fairness beyond all numbers”
  • “Anything in Nature which has process has three boundaries (beginning, peak and end – that is, its limits and its middle), and two intervals (that is, increase and decrease), with the consequence that the nature of the dyad and ‘either’ manifests in the triad by means of its limits.”
  • “They call it ‘friendship’ and ‘peace,’ and further ‘harmony’ and ‘unanimity’: for these are all cohesive and unificatory of opposites and dissimilars. Hence they also call it ‘marriage.'”
  • “The triad is called ‘prudence’ and ‘wisdom’ – that is, when people act correctly as regards the present, look ahead to the future, and gain experience from what has already happened in the past: so wisdom surveys the three parts of time, and consequently knowledge falls under the triad.”
  • “We use the triad also for the manifestation of plurality, and say ‘thrice ten thousand’ when we mean ‘many times many,’ and ‘thrice blessed.'”

“3” according to Edgar Cayce:

  • “Three is the strength of one with the weakness of two” (reading 261-15).
  • ‘Three – again a combination of one and two; this making for strength, making for – in division – that ability of two against one, or one against two. In this strength is seen, as in the Godhead, and is as a greater strength in the whole of combinations” (reading 5751-1).
Personal/Cultural Significance

Does “3” — or do any of the other numbers above (e.g., 21, 57, 66, 111) — have any special significance to you?

Think about your own preferences and personal experiences: lucky numbers, birth dates, music, sports, and so on. Maybe you’re fascinated by the history of old Route 66, for example.

Also think about associations you may have picked up from your culture, your religion, or society in general.

If you have any interesting insights about the number 3, or any of the other numbers above, please leave a comment!

Source: Theologumena Arithmeticae, attributed to Iamblichus (c.250-c.330).

111 Minimalist baby names

succulents

Are you a baby name minimalist?

If so, here’s a long list of baby names that fall somewhere between short/simple and modern/stylish.

All 111 of these names have made gains recently — Hank and Linus included!

For details on usage, click through to see the popularity graphs.

  1. Ace
  2. Amal
  3. Amna
  4. Amos
  5. Ander
  6. Ansel
  7. Ari
  8. Arlo
  9. Asa
  10. Asher
  11. Aspen
  12. Atlas
  13. Avi
  14. Aziz
  15. Azra
  16. Beck
  17. Clio
  18. Colt
  19. Cora
  20. Dash
  21. Dax
  22. Dean
  23. Demi
  24. Eden
  25. Elon
  26. Ember
  27. Ender
  28. Enzo
  29. Esme
  30. Ever
  31. Ezra
  32. Felix
  33. Ford
  34. Fox
  35. Gaia
  36. Halo
  37. Hank
  38. Haven
  39. Hawk
  40. Honor
  41. Huck
  42. Hugo
  43. Idris
  44. Io
  45. Juno
  46. Kai
  47. King
  48. Koa
  49. Lane
  50. Lark
  51. Leo
  52. Lev
  53. Levi
  54. Linus
  55. Liv
  56. Loki
  57. Lola
  58. Lotus
  59. Luca
  60. Luna
  61. Lux
  62. Mia
  63. Milo
  64. Mina
  65. Mira
  66. Nala
  67. Nara
  68. Nash
  69. Neo
  70. Nico
  71. Nola
  72. Noor
  73. Nora
  74. Nova
  75. Ori
  76. Orla
  77. Orli
  78. Pax
  79. Reem
  80. Remy
  81. Rex
  82. Rio
  83. Riva
  84. Ronan
  85. Rory
  86. Rush
  87. Sage
  88. Sia
  89. Silas
  90. Sky
  91. Sol
  92. Soren
  93. Taj
  94. Tesla
  95. Thea
  96. Theo
  97. Thor
  98. Titan
  99. Titus
  100. Valor
  101. Vida
  102. West
  103. Zane
  104. Zelda
  105. Zen
  106. Zia
  107. Zion
  108. Ziv
  109. Ziva
  110. Zola
  111. Zora

What are your thoughts on minimalist-style baby names? Will you be using one? (Have you used one already?)