How popular is the baby name Billy 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 Billy.
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The rare name Desnee was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data in the early 1950s:
1953: unlisted
1952: unlisted
1951: 7 baby girls named Desnee [debut]
1950: unlisted
1949: unlisted
What was the influence?
A 15-month-old London girl named Desnee Sampson, who was featured in a pair of photos that ran in various U.S. newspapers in late 1950 and early 1951.
In the first photo, she was sitting on the floor, watching her cat Billy drink milk from a saucer. In the second, she was bent over the saucer herself and trying to lap up milk in the same way (with Billy looking on).
Desnee Sampson and Billy (part 2)
I don’t know the origin of the name. In fact, my initial guess was that “Desnee” was a typo for Desiree. (I could imagine the middle letters being transposed and then mistaken for an “n.”)
As it turns out, Desnee Sampson’s birth (1949) and marriage (1970) records both confirm that her real name was indeed “Desnee.” Besides, the name Desiree didn’t become trendy until a few years later, thanks to the 1954 Marlon Brando movie Désirée (which I mentioned in the Deserie post).
What do you think of the name Desnee? Would you pronounce the second syllable like that of Desiree (ay-sound) or Deedee (ee-sound)?
Sources:
“Feeding Time.” Washington Star Pictorial Magazine [Washington, D.C.] 23 Sept. 1951: 25.
SSA
Image: Clippings from the Washington Star Pictorial Magazine (23 Sept. 1951)
If you’re on the hunt for baby names with a numerological value of 6, you’re in luck! Because today’s post features hundreds of 6-names.
Before we get to the names, though — how do we know that they’re “sixes” in numerology?
Turning names into numbers
Here’s how to calculate the numerological value of a name.
First, for each letter, come up with a number to represent that letter’s position in the alphabet. (Letter A would be number 1, letter B would be number 2, and so forth.) Then, add all the numbers together. If the sum has two or more digits, add the digits together recursively until the result is a single digit. That single digit is the name’s numerological value.
For instance, the letters in the name Weston correspond to the numbers 23, 5, 19, 20, 15, and 14. The sum of these numbers is 96. The digits of 96 added together equal 15, and the digits of 15 added together equal 6 — the numerological value of Weston.
Baby names with a value of 6
Below you’ll find the most popular 6-names per gender, according to the latest U.S. baby name data. I’ve further sub-categorized them by total sums — just in case any of those larger numbers are significant to anyone.
6
The letters in the following baby names add up to 6.
Girl name (6)
Boy names (6)
Ada
Abba, Baba
6 via 15
The letters in the following baby names add up to 15, which reduces to six (1+5=6).
Girl names (6 via 15)
Boy names (6 via 15)
Aida, Alaa, Adia, An, Ama
Jad, Aadi, Gabe, An, Ej
6 via 24
The letters in the following baby names add up to 24, which reduces to six (2+4=6).
There’s no definitive answer, unfortunately, because various numerological systems exist, and each one has its own interpretation of the number six. That said, if we look at a couple of modern numerology/astrology websites, we see 6 being described as “harmonious,” “loving,” “stable,” “compassionate,” and “responsible.”
We can also look at associations, which are a bit more concrete. Here are some things that are associated with the number 6:
Snowflake (six-fold symmetry)
Beehive (six-sided cells)
Guitar (6 strings)
Football (6 points for a touchdown)
Ice hockey (6 players per side, including the goalie)
Cube (six faces)
Six degrees of separation (the idea that all people are six or fewer social connections away from one other)
What does the number 6 mean to you? What are your strongest associations with the number?
P.S. To see names with other numerological values, check out the posts for the numbers one, two, three, four, five, seven, eight, and nine.
Just remember that the SSA data doesn’t become very accurate until the mid-to-late 20th century, so many of the numbers below don’t reflect reality all that well.
Same format as usual: Girl names on the left, boy names on the right. Numbers represent single-year decreases in usage. From 1880 to 1881, for instance, usage of the girl name Mary dropped by 146 babies and usage of the boy name William dropped by 1,008 babies.
I’ve already written about some of the names above (click the links to see the posts) and will write about others in the future. In the meanwhile, feel free to beat me to it! Comment below with the backstory on the fall of Shirley in the late ’30s, Linda in the early ’50s, etc.
We recently looked at the top baby names in Houston, so today let’s check out some of the unusual baby names that were bestowed in Harris County (where Houston is located) from 1926 to 1934.
For onomastic context: The top five girl names in Texas in 1930 were Mary, Betty, Dorothy, Maria, and Billie; the top five boy names were James, Billy, Robert, John, and Charles.
And now, here are some of the unusual-but-real baby names that were being used in Harris County in the late ’20s and early ’30s…
*In other records, she’s listed as “Juneteena.” As per Ellyn’s comment, the name may actually be “Juneteenth,” in honor of the holiday that celebrates the end of slavery.
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