How popular is the baby name Bryan 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 Bryan.
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Last month, Canadian singer Bryan Adams and his girlfriend welcomed their second baby girl, Lula RosyLea. Lula’s middle name is a reference to her time of birth, as per this tweet by Adams:
Lula Rosylea arrived @ teatime this wk. a cup of ‘rosie lee’ = ‘cup of tea’ in cockney. Lula comes from Gene Vincent’s song Be-Bop-A-Lula
This is the first baby I know of to be named via Cockney rhyming slang.
What’s Cockney rhyming slang? It involves word substitution based on rhyme. Typically, a word in a sentence is replaced with a rhyming phrase, and then the rhyming part of the phrase is dropped. This makes the resulting sentence hard for those not in-the-know to understand.
Here’s an example: “Use your loaf.” It’s really “use your head,” but the phrase loaf of bread was used instead of head, and then loaf of bread was shortened to just loaf. Hence, “use your loaf.” Get it?
Speaking of bread, if you’ve ever heard people use the slang word bread to mean money, that’s CRS too. Money rhymes with the old expression bread and honey, which shortens to bread.
So that’s how Bryan Adams turned tea into Rosie Lee, which is a common CRS rhyme for tea. (And now, if you’re ever in London and someone asks you if you want a cup of Rosie, you’ll know what they’re talking about!) “Rosie Lee” refers to American burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee (1911-1970).
I thought this was a rather cool way to come up with a baby name, so I’ve collected a few dozen other well-known CRS rhymes that involve names. On the left you’ll find the original word, in the middle is the name/phrase substitution, and on the right is the shortened version.
back – rhymes with Cilla Black – shortens to Cilla
ball – rhymes with Albert Hall – shortens to Albert
belly – rhymes with Darby Kelly – shortens to Darby
brake – rhymes with Veronica Lake – shortens to Veronica
cake – rhymes with Sexton Blake – shortens to Sexton
coat – rhymes with Billy goat – shortens to Billy
curry – rhymes with Ruby Murray – shortens to Ruby (if these parents had had a girl instead of a boy, Ruby would have been a great option)
door – rhymes with Rory O’Moore – shortens to Rory
fairy – rhymes with Julian Clairy – shortens to Julian
fish – rhymes with Lillian Gish – shortens to Lillian
gin – rhymes with Anne Boleyn – shortens to Ann
gin – rhymes with Vera Lynn – shortens to Vera
ice – rhymes with Vincent Price – shortens to Vincent
kettle – rhymes with Hansel and Gretel – shortens to Hansel
lisp – rhymes with Quentin Crisp – shortens to Quentin
mess – rhymes with Elliot Ness – shortens to Elliot
neck – rhymes with Gregory Peck – shortens to Gregory
old man (father) – rhymes with Peter Pan – shortens to Peter
rail – rhymes with Toby Ale – shortens to Toby
Stella (brand of beer) – rhymes with Yuri Geller – shortens to Yuri
Stella – rhymes with Nelson Mandela – shortens to Nelson
table – rhymes with Betty Grable – shortens to Betty
tea – rhymes with Bruce Lee – shortens to Bruce
tea – rhymes with Kiki Dee – shortens to Kiki
tea – rhymes with Rosie Lee – shortens to Rosie
telly – rhymes with Liza Minnelli – shortens to Liza (e.g., “What’s on the Liza?”)
trouble – rhymes with Barney Rubble – shortens to Barney
undies – rhymes with Eddie Grundies – shortens to Eddie
wedding – rhymes with Otis Redding – shortens to Otis
I think Darby (for “belly”) might be an especially tempting one baby namers, no? :)
Bryan’s first baby girl, Mirabella Bunny, was born last Easter.
Update, Dec. 2016: A reader named Sam recently told me about the Complete Dictionary of Cockney Rhyming Slang, which contains a bunch more names — like Errol Flynn for “chin,” and Euan Blair for “Leicester Square.” Enjoy!
Canadian rocker Bryan Adams recently welcomed his first child, a baby girl named Mirabella Bunny.
According to Adams, Bunny alludes to the baby’s birth date:
I’m really proud to announce on 22 April, Mirabella Bunny was born. She arrived like all good Easter bunnies on Easter Friday.
Call me crazy, but I like this one.
Mirabella is lovely. And it works well with a 2-syllable b-name. The rhythm/consonance of “Mirabella Bunny” immediately reminded me of “Isadora Duncan,” which has always been a favorite name-pairing of mine.
While I’m not a big fan of “Bunny,” I do appreciate that it has special significance in this case. And I’m happy it’s not the first name, but well-hidden in the middle. (Are you listening, Jamie Oliver?)
Wondering which baby names are illegal in Portugal? (Sure you are!) The Portuguese government maintains an 80-page list of baby names — a mix of the permitted and the forbidden. Here are some of the names (and weirdly specific name combinations) Portuguese parents are not allowed to give their babies:
To see all the names for yourself, download the Lista de Nomes from the Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado.
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