How popular is the baby name Amos 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 Amos.
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Tuesday’s post about the Victorian-style Tylney Hall Hotel reminded me of a list of Victorian-era names that I’ve had bookmarked forever.
The list was created by amateur genealogist G. M. Atwater as a resource for writers. It contains names and name combinations that were commonly seen in the U.S. from the 1840s to the 1890s. Below is the full list (with a few minor changes).
| Victorian Era Female Names | Victorian Era Male Names |
|---|---|
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Which female name and male name do you like best?
We’ve all seen the top 1,000 boy names of 2010 by now, but have you had a chance to look at the names beyond the top 1,000?
Here they are, down to the names that were given to 100 babies each last year. The 1,000th most popular boy name was Crew, given to 193 babies, and after Crew comes…
Here’s the equivalent girls’ list for 2010.
Update, Aug. 2023: “Boy names beyond the top 1,000 of 2022” is a more recent version of this list.
Source: SSA
Image: Adapted from Scattered stars in Sagittarius by ESA/Hubble under CC BY 4.0.
A reader named Virginia is expecting a baby in September. For a boy, she’d selected the name Phineas. She liked “that it was unusual without being bizarre,” and that it started with ph. But now she’s not so sure about the name:
All was fine and dandy until I read an article about violence in the Bible. It vaguely mentioned Phineas as a name from the Bible used as a talisman by white supremacists. What!?!
That was a shock to me too. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the Phineas Priesthood is “a violent credo of vengeance that has gained some popularity among white supremacists and other extremists in recent years.” I’d never heard of the Phineas Priesthood before–not even when Julia Roberts named her son Phinnaeus a few years ago.
Virginia doesn’t want to give up her favorite name, but she also “can’t live with such an association,” so she was hoping for some name suggestions. Other names she’s considering include Joel and Samuel (for boys) and Sigrid, Phoebe, Elisabeth, and Anne (for girls). All are family names.
First, a few thoughts:
And now, name suggestions. Here are some unusual-but-not-bizarre boy names that I think Virginia might like:
| Amos Barnabas Baxter Ephraim Ezra | Felix Horatio Humphrey Lazarus Matthias | Maximilian Moses Peregrine Ralph Raphael | Rufus Silas Simeon Ulysses Zephaniah |
And some girl names:
| Clotilde Cybele Daphne Dagny Delphine | Drusilla Esther Fabiola Georgia Josephine | Lucretia Ophelia Penelope Phyllis Ruth | Salome Seraphina Talulla Tryphena Verena |
What other names would you suggest to Virginia? (And, what’s your take on the Phineas dilemma?)
Update: The baby has arrived! Click here to learn the baby’s name.
A reader named Kim is expecting her second son and would like help coming up with a name. Her first son is named Evan Isaac. So far, she and her husband like the names Jonah, Jonas and Miles.
My husband likes Jacob however as it’s been a number one name for many years, I’m not as thrilled about it. (As a child I grew up being Kim T. most of my life due to many Kims in my schools.)
The baby’s last name will start with a K and be “pronounced like the spice cumin.”
It seems to me that Kim and her husband really like 2-syllable names, so that’s what I focused on as I brainstormed. Here’s the result:
| Adam Aidan Andrew Amos Asher David Dylan Felix Graham | Henry James Jasper Jordan Joseph Justin Levi Liam Lucas | Micah Milo Nathan Noah Owen Philip Samuel Simon Wesley |
Kim is also interested in middle name ideas. I have a hard time suggesting middles when a first name isn’t confirmed, but here are a couple of thoughts:
And now back to first names: Do you think any of the above go particularly well with Evan? What other names would you suggest?
Update: That baby has arrived! Scroll down to find out what his name is.
