How popular is the baby name Castor 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 Castor.

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Popularity of the baby name Castor


Posts that mention the name Castor

Rare baby name: Castara

The book "Castara" (1634) by William Habington
“Castara“

While searching for “star” names recently, I discovered the curious name Castara, which was given to dozens of baby girls in the U.S. during the 1800s.

Some examples…

“Castara” reminded me of both Castor, the name from Greek mythology (and also the name of a star, coincidentally), and Castoria, the name of the old-timey patent medicine.

But I think the most likely explanation for this one is literature.

A volume of poetry called Castara was published anonymously in London in 1634. Later editions of the collection included extra poems and revealed the name of the author: William Habington, who’d invented the name “Castara” as a pseudonym for his wife, Lucy Herbert.

Habington’s poems had titles like…

  • “To Castara, Softly singing to her selfe.”
  • “To Castara, Inquiring why I loved her.”
  • “To Cupid, Upon a dimple in Castara’s cheeke.”
  • “To Castara, Upon a trembling kisse at departure.”
  • “To Castara, Weeping.”
  • “To Castara, Upon an embrace.”

Many of the poems praised Castara’s innocence and purity, so I believe Habington created the pseudonym from the Latin word castus, which means “morally pure,” “chaste.” (Castus is the word from which chaste derives, in fact.)

One researcher noted that, after Habington’s poems were published, the name Castara “rapidly [became] a generic name for a woman one might be in love with” in literature. For instance, in British writer Anna Maria Porter’s novel A Sailor’s Friendship (1805), the hero (who was probably modeled after Admiral Horatio Nelson) had a love interest named Castara.

Habington’s poems could be found in anthologies published in the U.S. during the 19th century. Several are featured in Richard Henry Stoddard’s The Loves and Heroines of the Poets (1861), for example. I also spotted mentions of Castara in various American periodicals (e.g., “…eloquent lines of Habington to his Castara…” in a California newspaper in 1857).

Despite this, the name Castara never caught on like some of the other names coined by writers — names such as Lorna, Pamela, Vanessa, and Wendy.

What are your thoughts on the name Castara?

Sources:

Image: Clipping from Castara

What do you think of the name Caelum?

The constellation Caelum
The constellation Caelum

A reader named Lisa recently wrote to me about the name Caelum:

So my husband and I named our fist son Rigel and we are looking for a second boy’s name that fits in with the space names. I really like Caelum, but we are having a discussion about the pronunciation. Maybe you can help. The English pronunciation is SEE-lum – but I do not like that. The Latin is either pronounced Kay-luhm or Kye-luhm (rhymes with tie or pie). So do you know which it is? Thanks.

There seem to be two issues here. Or, rather, there’s the question Lisa asked, and there’s a separate issue I’d also like to address.

First let’s look at pronunciation. I’m not a Latin expert, but I consulted a few sources (like Michael A. Covington’s short paper “Latin Pronunciation Demystified” [pdf]) and I believe that caelum would be pronounced KYE-loom in Classical Latin and CHAY-loom in Ecclesiastical Latin. According to modern dictionaries it’s SEE-lum in today’s English, though I think English-speakers trying to sound it out would guess KAY-lum before SEE-lum.

More important than the pronunciation, though, is the fact that Lisa and her husband are having a discussion about the pronunciation. That’s not a good sign.

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, they settle on a pronunciation they like and decide to use the name. What then? They’ll still have to explain the name (how to pronounce it, how to spell it, or both) to every person who comes along. After a few years, that burden will be passed down to their son. He’ll have to deal with explaining his name to new acquaintances for the rest of his life.

I think there are better options–names that are space-related, but more intuitive than Caelum. Here are a few ideas: Altair, Castor, Deneb, Draco, Leo, Nash, Orion and Vega. (Actress Danica McKellar named her son Draco a few months ago, incidentally.)

What’s your take on the name Caelum?

Image: Caelum by IAU under CC BY 4.0.