How popular is the baby name Abraham in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Abraham.

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Popularity of the baby name Abraham


Posts that mention the name Abraham

Unusual real name: Aldaberontophoscophornia

Gravestone of Aldaberonto Fearing (1812-1905)
Aldaberonto’s gravestone

In the late 1700s and early 1800s, Abraham and Ruth Bowen of Massachusetts welcomed at least seven children:

  • John (b. 1797)
  • Amanda (b. 1799)
  • Abraham (b. 1803)
  • Jeannett (b. 1805)
  • Nathan (b. 1808)
  • Aldaberontophoscophornia (b. 1812)
  • Zephaniah (b. 1820)

Where did Aldaberontophoscophornia come from?

The source seems to be the “nonsense verse” play Chrononhotonthologos (1734) by English writer Henry Carey. The play featured a bombastic male character by the name of Aldiborontiphoscophornio.

We’ll never know why Abraham and Ruth chose such a cumbersome name for their baby girl. But we do know that Aldaberontophoscophornia rarely (if ever) used the full version of her first name anywhere. In all the records I’ve seen so far — and even on her headstone — it’s shortened to “Aldaberonto,” “Alda Beronto,” “Alda B.,” or simply “Alda.”

Aldaberontophoscophornia went on to marry a man named Andrew C. Fearing and have at least a dozen children. (The names of eleven of them are Amanda, Ellen, Andrew, George, Thatcher, Henry, Marion, William, Charles, Frank, and Emelyn.) It doesn’t look like her name was passed down to any descendants.

What are your thoughts on this name?

Sources:

Image by Caryn of Find A Grave

Baby born during Civil War, named Emancipation Proclamation

Detail of the Emancipation Proclamation (1863)
The Emancipation Proclamation

Did you know a baby girl born in Ohio during the Civil War was named Emancipation Proclamation?

Her father was journalist and publisher William T. Coggeshall (1824-1867), who served as State Librarian of Ohio from 1856 to 1862. During the first year of the Civil War, Coggeshall worked directly for Ohio governor William Dennison as well.

Through Dennison, Coggeshall became friends with President Abraham Lincoln. (In fact, according to his wife Mary, Coggeshall may have even foiled an early Lincoln assassination attempt.)

William and Mary had a total of six children. One of those six, a baby girl, arrived on September 20, 1862.

On the same day his daughter was born, Coggeshall received a telegram from Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase. The telegram revealed that President Lincoln had finished the final draft of his Emancipation Proclamation.

Coggeshall, an ardent Lincoln supporter, wanted to choose a baby name that commemorated the occasion. But he didn’t want to name his daughter before the Union took back Richmond, Virginia — the capital of the Confederacy.

Until then, he would call the baby “Girlie.”

The Emancipation Proclamation was signed and issued on the first day of 1863, but Richmond didn’t fall until April 3, 1865.

On that day, Coggeshall’s two-and-a-half year old daughter was finally named Emancipation Proclamation Coggeshall.

A schoolteacher later nicknamed her “Prockie.” (And family members continued to call her “Girlie.”)

She married a man named Thomas Addison Busbey and they had one child, Ralph. On the 1900 census, she’s listed as “E. Prockie.”

E Prockie Busbey photo

Her husband served as the mayor of South Vienna, Ohio, for several successive terms. She died while he was in office, in 1913. On her grave marker, as on the census, she’s identified as “E. Prockie.”

Sources:

Update, 1/2/2013: Cool news! The U.S. Census Bureau is linking to this post as part of its January 2013 feature on the Emancipation Proclamation, which turned 150 years old on January 1. Here’s a screenshot of the sidebar:

Babies named for Elmer Ellsworth

U.S. Army soldier Elmer E. Ellsworth (1837-1861)
Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth

U.S. Army officer Elmer E. Ellsworth is virtually unknown nowadays, but he was very well known during the 1860s.

Why?

Because he was killed in May of 1861 while trying to confiscate a Confederate flag. This made him the very first Union officer to die in the Civil War.

Here’s how the New York Times concluded Ellsworth’s obituary:

He has been assassinated! His murder was fearfully and speedily revenged. He has lived a brief but an eventful, a public and an honorable life. His memory will be revered, his name respected, and long after the rebellion shall have become a matter of history, his death will be regarded as a martyrdom, and his name will be enrolled upon the list of our country’s patriots.

Ellsworth’s death was the first conspicuous casualty of the War, and it inspired thousands of men to enlist.

It also inspired thousands (yes, literally thousands) of Union-supporting families to name their newborns “Elmer Ellsworth.”

(This is one of those names that makes me wish the SSA data went back further than 1880. I would have loved to see the spike in Elmers in 1861-1862.)

Ellsworth’s more famous namesakes include…

And less-famous namesakes include…

Others got the names out of order (e.g., Ellsworth Elmer Lesher), and those already in Ellsworth families simply got some version of “Elmer E.” (e.g., Elmer Everett Ellsworth).

The massive number of Elmer Ellsworths born in the early 1860s was even referenced in this anecdote by newspaperman Fred C. Kelly eighty years later:

[A] friend of mine, named Osborn, doesn’t profess to be gifted in second sight, but he once mystified a stranger by telling him that he — the stranger — was born in April, May, or June, 1861; moreover, that he was born in a Union state, and that his father was an enthusiastic Northern sympathizer during the Civil War. He knew all this just by noting that the man’s first two initials were “E.E.” The whole thing was a matter of simple deduction. The man appeared to be the age of one born during the Civil War. Osborn happened to know that one of the great Northern heroes of the Civil War was one Elmer Ellsworth, the first man killed on the Union side. Thousands of babies born during the two or three months following Ellsworth’s death were named “Elmer Ellsworth.” Knowing these facts, the “E.E.” in the man’s name meant much.

Do you have anyone in your family tree named Elmer Ellsworth?

P.S. Did you know that today, April 12th, is the anniversary of the start of the Civil War? It’s also is the anniversary of the first manned space flight. These events occurred exactly 100 years apart, weirdly.

Sources:

Baby names inspired by car names

Mazda Miata
Mazda Miata

Love cars? Here are some car-related names that have been used as baby names, according to the U.S. baby name data.

  • Allante, from Cadillac Allante.
  • Aston, from Aston Martin. Inspired by Aston Hill in England.
  • Audi, German manufacturer. The name is a Latin translation of Horch, surname of founder August Horch.
  • Avanti, from Studebaker Avanti. The word avanti means “forward” in Italian.
  • Bentley, British manufacturer. Named after founder W. O. Bentley.
  • Camry, from Toyota Camry. The name is based on kanmuri, which means “crown” in Japanese. (Here’s a baby Camryn, born inside a Camry.)
  • Capri, from Lincoln Capri.
  • Caprice, from Chevrolet Caprice. Named after a New York City restaurant.
  • Catera, from Cadillac Catera.
  • Celica, from Toyota Celica. The name is based on caelica, which means “celestial” in Latin.
  • Chevelle, from Chevrolet Chevelle.
  • Chevy, nickname for Chevrolet.
  • Cooper, from MINI Cooper. Named after auto racer John Cooper.
  • Cressida, from Toyota Cressida.
  • DeLorean, from DMC DeLorean.
  • Diamante, from Mitsubishi Diamante.
  • Dino, from Fiat Dino or Ferrari Dino. Both named after V6 engine designer Alfredo “Dino” Ferrari.
  • Dodge, a division of Chrysler. (I know of two babies named after Dodge pickup trucks specifically.)
  • Elantra, from Hyundai Elantra.
  • Elise, from Lotus Elise. Named after Elisa Artioli, granddaughter of Italian entrepreneur Romano Artioli.
  • Elva, British manufacturer. The name is based on elle va, which means “she goes” in French.
  • Florian, from Isuzu Florian. Named after the fictional horse in Florian, the Emperor’s Stallion by Felix Salten.
  • Ford, American manufacturer. Named after founder Henry Ford. (I know of two babies named after Fords.)
  • Hudson, American manufacturer.
  • Jazz, from Honda Jazz.
  • Jeep, a division of Chrysler.
  • Jetta, from Volkswagen Jetta. The name is based on the phrase “jet stream.”
  • Jimmy, from GMC Jimmy.
  • Kia, South Korean manufacturer. (Here’s a baby Kia, born inside a Kia.)
  • Lexus, a division of Toyota. The name has no specific meaning, according to the company.
  • Lincoln, a division of Ford. Named after former U.S. president Abraham Lincoln.
  • Martin, from Aston Martin. Named after founder Lionel Martin.
  • Mercedes, from Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG. Named after Mercedes Jellinek, daughter of Austrian entrepreneur Emil Jellinek.
  • Miata, from Mazda Miata. Possibly means “reward” in Old High German.
  • Millenia, from Mazda Millenia.
  • Mondeo, from Ford Mondeo. The name is based on mundus, which means “world” in Latin.
  • Morgan, British manufacturer.
  • Nash, American manufacturer. Named after founder Charles W. Nash. (I know of one baby named after a Nash.)
  • Porsche, German manufacturer. Named after founder Ferdinand Porsche.
  • Reatta, from Buick Reatta.
  • Renault, French manufacturer.
  • Royce, from Rolls-Royce. Named after founder Henry Royce.
  • Scion, a Toyota marque.
  • Shelby, from Shelby American. Named for founder Carroll Hall Shelby.
  • Torino, from Ford Torino.
  • Toyota, Japanese manufacturer. Named for founder Kiichiro Toyoda.
  • Wrangler, from Jeep Wrangler.
  • …and VW, short for Volkswagen. :)

Blog readers have also told me about babies named Riviera (after the Buick Riviera) and Axel (because of its similarity to the word axle).

Know any babies that were named for automobiles?

Update, 2016 – Here’s a baby whose middle name, Megan, was inspired by a Renault Megane.