How popular is the baby name Attila 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 Attila.

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Popularity of the baby name Attila


Posts that mention the name Attila

Popular baby names in Hungary, 2021

Flag of Hungary
Flag of Hungary

Landlocked Hungary, located in Central Europe, shares a border with seven other countries (including Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria).

Last year, Hungary welcomed over 93,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Hanna and Levente (pronounced leh-vehn-teh).

Here are Hungary’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Hanna, 1,355 baby girls
  2. Zoé, 1,138
  3. Anna, 1,133
  4. Léna, 1,019
  5. Luca, 940
  6. Emma, 783
  7. Boglárka, 682 – means “buttercup” in Hungarian.
  8. Lili, 646
  9. Lilien, 601
  10. Lara, 594
  11. Zsófia, 588
  12. Laura, 577
  13. Mira, 553
  14. Sára, 523
  15. Olívia, 518
  16. Nóra, 506
  17. Lilla, 505
  18. Maja, 501
  19. Gréta, 496
  20. Izabella, 484
  21. Flóra, 476
  22. Jázmin, 475
  23. Alíz, 462
  24. Fanni, 430
  25. Adél, 426
  26. Janka, 425
  27. Dorka, 409 – a diminutive of Dorottya (Dorothea).
  28. Szofia, 406
  29. Zselyke, 396
  30. Liza, 393
  31. Csenge, 373
  32. Bella, 363
  33. Panna, 362 – a diminutive of Anna.
  34. Liliána, 361
  35. Kamilla, 352
  36. Linett, 351
  37. Dóra, 340
  38. Natasa, 333
  39. Viktória, 328
  40. Bianka, 321
  41. Szófia, 311
  42. Rebeka, 309
  43. Réka, 305
  44. Blanka, 304
  45. Szofi, 297
  46. Petra, 296
  47. Dorina, 295
  48. Nara, 286
  49. Emília, 285
  50. Noémi, 280

Boy Names

  1. Levente, 1,332 baby boys
  2. Máté, 1,314
  3. Dominik, 1,289
  4. Bence, 1,276
  5. Olivér, 1,199
  6. Noel, 1,122
  7. Marcell, 1,083
  8. Dániel, 1,057
  9. Zalán, 1,026 – popularized (and perhaps invented?) by Hungarian poet Mihály Vörösmarty, who published the epic poem “Zalán Futása” (transl. “The Flight of Zalan”) in 1825.
  10. Ádám, 1,024
  11. Milán, 954
  12. Botond, 934
  13. Benett, 880
  14. Dávid, 870
  15. Zsombor, 813
  16. Áron, 808
  17. Balázs, 681
  18. Benedek, 639
  19. Márk, 620
  20. Nimród, 607
  21. Péter, 590
  22. László, 583
  23. Tamás, 580
  24. Gergo, 530
  25. Zente, 517 – based on the Hungarian word szent, meaning “holy.”
  26. Bálint, 508 – a form of Valentine.
  27. Barnabás, 508
  28. Kristóf, 507
  29. Zétény, 484
  30. András, 453
  31. Kornél, 446
  32. Nolen, 444
  33. Márton, 433
  34. István, 426
  35. Hunor, 420 – a name from Hungarian mythology. Legendary brothers Hunor and Magor were the ancestors of the Huns and the Hungarians (also known as the Magyars), respectively.
  36. Attila, 402
  37. Ákos, 399
  38. Zoltán, 393
  39. Martin, 391
  40. Alex, 388
  41. Vince, 370
  42. Gábor, 365
  43. János, 358 (tie)
  44. Patrik, 358 (tie)
  45. Ábel, 357
  46. Bendegúz, 337
  47. Erik, 328
  48. Zsolt, 323
  49. Krisztián, 315
  50. József, 283

Notably, the girls’ top 50 included three different versions of the name Sophia: Zsófia, Szofia, and Szófia. If the spellings had been combined, the Sophia-group would have ranked 2nd overall.

The girls’ top 100 included Zorka (70th), Fruzsina (72nd), Kinga (86th), and Kincso (96th).

The boys’ top 100 included Csaba (55th), Kende (75th), Imre (76th), and Gellért (92nd).

Finally, here are Hungary’s rankings for 2017 through 2020, in case you’d like to compare.

Sources: Statistics – Hungary’s Deputy State Secretariat for the Administration of the Ministry of the Interior, Number of live births in Hungary from 2010 to 2021 – Statista, Hungary – Wikipedia, Magyar Keresztnevek Tara, Wiktionary

Image: Adapted from Flag of Hungary (public domain)

Popular baby names in Hungary, 2016

Flag of Hungary
Flag of Hungary

According to data from the Hungary’s Ministry of the Interior (Belügyminisztérium), the most popular baby names in Hungary in 2016 were Hanna and Bence.

Here are Hungary’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2016:

Girl Names
1. Hanna, 1,669 baby girls
2. Anna, 1,206
3. Jázmin, 866
4. Zsófia, 856
5. Zoé, 833
6. Lili, 764
7. Boglárka, 762 – Boglárka is Hungarian for “buttercup.”
8. Luca, 760
9. Emma, 742
10. Léna, 697

Boy Names
1. Bence, 1,800 baby boys – Bence is a form of Vincent.
2. Máté, 1,321
3. Levente, 1,280 – Levente might be based on the Hungarian verb lesz, meaning “will be.”
4. Dominik, 1,173
5. Marcell, 1,146
6. Dávid, 1,123
7. Ádám, 1,117
8. Noel, 1,071
9. Dániel, 1,054
10. Milán, 1,037

In the girls’ top 10, Léna replaced Nóra.

In the boys’ top 10, Noel replaced Áron.

(Interestingly, the two “replaced” names — if we ignore diacritical marks — are anagrams of one another. They’re palindromic, in fact.)

And how is the name Attila faring in Hungary these days? Here’s the data for the last few years:

  • 2016: Attila ranked 27th (569 baby boys)
  • 2015: Attila ranked 25th (568 baby boys)
  • 2014: Attila ranked 26th (560 baby boys)
  • 2013: Attila ranked 26th (552 baby boys)

Source: Statistics – Hungary’s Deputy State Secretariat for the Administration of the Ministry of the Interior (via Maybe It Is Daijiro)

Image: Adapted from Flag of Hungary (public domain)

Where did the baby name Attila come from in 1958?

Poster for 1958 release of the movie "Attila" (1954)

In Hungary, Attila was a top-20 baby name until just recently. In the U.S., on the other hand, Attila has never been very popular. It only started appearing in the data in the late 1950s:

  • 1960: 14 baby boys named Attila
  • 1959: 14 baby boys named Attila
  • 1958: 10 baby boys named Attila [debut]
  • 1957: unlisted
  • 1956: unlisted

Why? Because of the 1954 movie Attila the Hun, which starred Anthony Quinn as Attila, the aggressive 5th-century ruler of the Huns.

I know what you’re thinking: How did a movie from 1954 cause a 1958 debut?

Well, the movie was an Italian production, so it was first released in Italy. The next year it came out in Portugal, West Germany, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, and France. In 1956, it was released in Spain, Sweden, and Japan. In 1957, it came out in Norway and Finland. Finally, in the middle of 1958, the movie reached the United States.

Attila the Hun may be a world-famous historical figure, but unfortunately no one knows what his name means. One theory is that Attila was derived from the Gothic word atta, meaning “father.” Another is that is has Turkic roots and means “the oceanic, universal [ruler].”

But here are some things we do know: Attila’s name morphed into “Etzel” in the medieval German epic poem Nibelungenlied. A variant of Etzel, Edsel, was the first name of Henry Ford’s childhood best friend Edsel Ruddiman. Later, it also became the name of his only son, Edsel Ford (1893-1943). And Edsel Ford’s first name ended up on the famously unsuccessful line of cars launched by Ford in the late ’50s — around the same time Attila popped up on the baby name charts, ironically.

Which name do you like better, Attila or Edsel?

Sources: Attila – IMDb, Attila – Wikipedia
Image: Poster for Attila (U.S. release, 1958)

Kilcher family names: Atz, Farenorth, Jewel, Q’orianka

Atz Kilcher in the reality TV series "Alaska: The Last Frontier" (2011-2022)
Atz Kilcher in “Alaska: The Last Frontier

I don’t watch a lot of television, but I’m visiting my father right now and he’s got his TV on all the time, so I haven’t been able to help it lately. :)

The other day I was walking past the TV and heard “Alaska” — a place I’ve long wanted to visit. So I stopped to see what was on. Soon I was hearing names like Atz, Atz Lee, and Otto.

Who were these people? Where did they get such interesting names?

Turns out it was a reality show called Alaska: The Last Frontier, and the cast members were part of the locally famous Kilcher family.

Atz and Otto are the sons of homesteaders Yule Farenorth Kilcher (b. 1913) and Ruth Kilcher (b. 1920). Yule and Ruth left Switzerland for Alaska in the early 1940s. Yule went on to serve in the Alaska State Senate during the 1960s.

Yule wasn’t born “Yule Farenorth.” He was originally Julius Jakob (pronounced YOO-lee-us YAH-kob) but he changed his first and middle names after immigrating.

Yule and Ruth had a total of eight children — two boys and six girls. Here are the names:

  1. Mairiis
  2. Wurtila Dora (Wurzy)
  3. Linda Fay
  4. Attila Kuno (Atz)
  5. Sunrise Diana Irene
  6. Edwin Otto
  7. Stella Vera Septina (Bonnie)
  8. Catkin Melody

Many of the above also gave their own children distinctive names, such as Cornelius, Davin, Ecaterina, Gawan, Olga and Saskia.

One of Atz’s children is pop singer Jewel Kilcher, a.k.a. Jewel. Her popularity in the mid-1990s helped push the baby name Jewel back into the U.S. top 1,000 in 1997:

  • 1999: 453 baby girls named Jewel [ranked 557th]
  • 1998: 490 baby girls named Jewel [ranked 516th]
  • 1997: 330 baby girls named Jewel [ranked 665th]
  • 1996: 168 baby girls named Jewel [ranked 1,098th]
  • 1995: 154 baby girls named Jewel [ranked 1,141st]

And, moving forward another generation, one of Wurzy’s grandchildren is actress Q’orianka Kilcher, whose appearance in the movie The New World (2005) made Qorianka a one-hit wonder on the baby name charts in 2006.

(Q’orianka told the press that her name means “golden eagle” in Quechua, and it does seem to be based on the Quechua words for “gold,” quri, and “eagle,” anca, but I’m not sure whether it’s a legit Quechua name or a modern invention.)

So do any of you guys watch Alaska: The Last Frontier regularly? Have I missed any other good Kilcher names?

Image: Screenshot of Alaska: The Last Frontier