How popular is the baby name Christoph 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 Christoph.

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Popularity of the baby name Christoph


Posts that mention the name Christoph

Baby names with PH: Phoenix, Ophelia, Joseph

pheasant

Looking for baby names that feature the appealing letter-pair PH?

I’ve collected hundreds of options for you in this post!

Before we get to the names, though, let’s get one big question out of the way…

Why does PH sound like “F”?

In English, PH is a digraph, which means that it’s a pair of letters that make a single sound. (It’s interesting that the word “digraph” contains a digraph, isn’t it?)

Most of the English words that have PH were derived from Greek — specifically, from Greek words that included the Greek letter phi:

Greek letter phi (uppercase)
Phi (uppercase)

In ancient times, the Greek letter phi made an aspirated p-sound. (The unaspirated p-sound, on the other hand, was made by the Greek letter pi.)

When Greek was transliterated into Latin, the letter phi was written as “ph” to denote this aspiration — that is, to signal that the letter “p” was accompanied by a brief puff of air.

So, what happened?

In the first several centuries A.D., the pronunciation of the Greek letter phi changed. It slowly evolved from an aspirated p-sound into an f-sound.

As a result, the letter-pair “ph” underwent a corresponding (though somewhat illogical) pronunciation change. It, too, came to represent an f-sound — and still does to this day.

Now, on to the names!

Names with PH

Below you’ll find a long list of names that contain the letter-pair PH. Many of these names come directly from the U.S. SSA’s baby name data. Others are ancient names that aren’t used much (if at all) in modern times.

  • Aleph
  • Alpha
  • Alphaeus
  • Alpharetta
  • Alphie
  • Alphonsa
  • Alphonse
  • Alphonsine
  • Alphonso
  • Alphonsus
  • Amphion
  • Amphirho
  • Amphithea
  • Aphaea
  • Aphra
    • Seventeenth-century writer Aphra Behn was one of the first English women to earn her living by writing.
  • Aphrodite
  • Apphia
  • Asaph
  • Caliph
  • Cephas, Cephus
  • Christoph, Christophe
  • Christopher, Kristopher
  • Christophine
  • Cleopha
  • Cléophée
  • Cleophas, Cleophus
  • Cypher
  • Daphna
  • Daphne, Daphnie, Daphney, Daphni, Daphnee
  • Delpha
  • Delphi
  • Delphia
  • Delphin
  • Delphina
  • Delphine
  • Delphinus
  • Demophon
  • Dolph
  • Dolphus
  • Dymphna
  • Elaphia
  • Eliphalet, Eliphelet
  • Eliphas, Eliphaz
  • Elpha
  • Ephesius
  • Ephraim
  • Ephram
  • Ephratah
  • Ephrem
  • Epiphanius
  • Epiphany
  • Eugraphia
  • Eugraphius
  • Euphemia
  • Euphemius
  • Euphoria
  • Euphranor
  • Euphrasia
  • Euphrasie
  • Euphrasius
  • Glaphyra
  • Gryphon
  • Hephaestus
  • Hephzibah
  • Humphrey
  • Ildephonse
  • Iphigenia
  • Iphis
  • Japheth, Japhet, Yaphet
  • Jehoshaphat
  • Jephthah ,Jephtha
  • Josaphat
  • Joseph, Ioseph
  • Josepha
  • Josephina
  • Josephine
  • Josephus
  • Memphis
  • Morpheus
  • Murphy, Murphie, Murphee, Murphey
  • Mustapha, Moustapha
  • Naphtali, Nephtali
  • Nephele
  • Nephi
  • Nephthys
  • Nicéphore
  • Onuphrius
  • Ophelia
  • Ophélie
  • Ophir
  • Ophira
  • Ophrah
  • Orpha
  • Orpheus
  • Orphia
  • Pamphilus
  • Persephone, Persephonie, Persephony
  • Phaedra
  • Phaedrus
  • Phaenna
  • Phanuel
  • Pharaildis
  • Pharamond
  • Pharaoh
  • Pharez
  • Pharrell
  • Phelan
  • Phelim
  • Philbert, Philibert
  • Phileas
  • Philemon
  • Philetus
  • Philia
  • Philinda
  • Philina, Philena
  • Philine, Philene
  • Philip, Phillip, Philipp
  • Philippa, Phillipa
  • Philippe
  • Philo
  • Philomel
  • Philomela
  • Philomena
  • Philon
  • Philopateer, Philopater
  • Philotera
  • Phineas, Phinehas
  • Phoebe, Phebe
  • Phoenicia
  • Phoenix
  • Photina
  • Photine
  • Photius
  • Phronsie
  • Phryne
  • Phylicia
  • Phyllida
  • Phyllis, Phillis
  • Porphyrius
  • Prophet
  • Ralph
  • Ralphie
  • Ralphine
  • Randolph
  • Rapha
  • Raphael
  • Raphaela
  • Raphaëlle
  • Rodolph
  • Rolph
  • Rudolph
  • Saphina
  • Saphira, Sapphira, Saphyra
  • Sapphire
  • Sephira
  • Sephiroth
  • Sephora
  • Seraph
  • Seraphia
  • Seraphim
  • Seraphin
  • Seraphina, Saraphina
  • Seraphine
  • Shiphrah
  • Sophia, Sophya
  • Sophie, Sophi, Sophee
  • Sophilia
  • Sophina
  • Sophonie
  • Sophonisba
  • Sophron
  • Sophronia
  • Sophronius
  • Sophus
  • Stephania
  • Stephanie, Stephany, Stephani
  • Sylphrena
  • Sypha
  • Symphony
  • Télesphore
  • Theophanes
  • Theophania
  • Theophila
  • Theophilia
  • Theophilus
  • Triumph
  • Tryphena
  • Tryphon
  • Tryphosa
  • Xenophon
  • Zelpha
  • Zephan
  • Zephaniah
  • Zephyr
  • Zephyra
  • Zephyria
  • Zéphyrine
  • Zephyrus
  • Zilpha
  • Zilphia

Which of the PH names above to do you like most? Let me know in the comments!

Sources: Phee-phi-pho-phum – The Grammarphobia Blog, SSA

Image: Adapted from Fasan3 by Ragnhild & Neil Crawford under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Babies named for Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher

Prussian military leader Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (1742-1819)
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher

At the age of 71, retired Prussian military leader Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher returned to active service after war broke out (again) between Prussia and France in early 1813.

Later the same year, he was one of the victors in the Battle of Leipzig (the “largest military engagement in 19th-century Europe”), and, in mid-1815, he became an important contributor to the Allied defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.

Many dozens of babies were named for Blücher in the early 1800s. Most of them were born in Germany and England, but others were born in the U.S. and elsewhere. Here’s a sampling…

  • Frederick Von Blucher Scrutton, b. 1814 in England
  • John Christoph Blucher Ehringhaus, b. 1814 in the U.S. (North Carolina)
  • William Blucher Dolton, b. 1814 in England
  • Christian Gebhard Lebrecht Karup, b. 1814 in Denmark
  • Blucher Wellington Macan, b. 1815 in England
  • Gebhard Leberecht Friedrich Wilhelm Klammrott, b. 1815 in Germany
  • Wellington Blucher Peirce, b. 1815 in the U.S. (Vermont)
  • Friedrich Gebhard Leberecht Conrad, b. circa 1815 in Germany
  • Henry Wellington Blucher Haggis, b 1816 in England
  • Blücher Wellington Bülow Leopold Herrmann, b. circa 1816 in Germany
    • His third given name no doubt refers to Bülow. :)
  • Franz Blücher Wellington Victor Fischer, b. 1816 in Prussia
  • Gebhard Lebrecht Weltzein, b. 1816 in Germany
  • Blucher Ingham, b. circa 1817 in England
  • Paul Gebhard Lebrecht Riebow, b. 1818 in Germany
  • Nelson Wellington Blucher Jefferys, b. 1819 in England
  • Wellington Blucher Fisher, b. 1819 in the U.S. (West Virginia)
  • Picton Blucher Liddle, b. circa 1820 in England
    • His first name refers to Gen. Thomas Picton, who was killed at Waterloo.
  • Marshall Blucher Dumford, b. circa 1821 in the U.S. (Ohio)
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Gebhard Leberecht Büttner, b. 1822 in Germany

A handful of German baby girls got feminized versions of the name, such as Blücherdine, Blücherine, Blüchertine, and Blücherhilde (hilde means “battle, war”).

Blücher’s middle name, Leberecht, was a relatively recent Protestant coinage made up of the German words lebe, “live,” and recht, “right.”

Sources:

Popular baby names in Liechtenstein, 2020

Flag of Liechtenstein
Flag of Liechtenstein

The tiny country of Liechtenstein — located in the Alps, between Austria and Switzerland — welcomed 188 baby girls and 165 baby boys in 2020. According to Liechtenstein’s Office for Statistics (Amt für Statistik), the most popular baby names in the German-speaking microstate were Sofia and Maximilian/Oscar (tie).

Here are Liechtenstein’s top girl names and top boy names of 2020:

Girl Names

  1. Sofia/Sophia, 7 baby girls
  2. Laura, 5
  3. Hanna/Hannah, 4
  4. Amélie/Amelie, Anna, Annika, Emma, Julia, Lina, Mia, Nina, Noemi, Nora, Sophie, and Valentina, 3 each [12-way tie]
  5. Alya, Amelia, Elena, Elisa/Eliza, Ella, Emilia, Estelle, Klara, Lara, Leonie, Letizia, Luisa, Malia/Maliyah, Mara, Melissa, Mina, Naomi, Noelia, and Paula, 2 each [19-way tie]

Boy Names

  1. Maximilian and Oscar/Oskar, 4 baby boys each [tie]
  2. Laurin, Leo, Lian/Lyan, Luis/Louis, Noah/Noa, and Theo, 3 each [6-way tie]
  3. Gustav, Henri, Ivan/Iwan, Lenny, Leon, Leopold, Matteo, Max, Muhamed/Muhammed, Nico, Nino, Noel, and Thiago/Tiago, 2 each [13-way tie]

(Lian, one of the 2nd-place boy names, is a German short form of Julian or Kilian.)

Liechtenstein also released the single-use baby names of 2020, which is very cool. All the names not accounted for above are in the table below:

Unique girl names (98)Unique boy names (113)
Adea, Adriana, Ahlam, Aitana, Alejna, Alenia, Alina, Ally, Alya-Su, Amina, Amy, Anastasia, Anely, Annalena, Anna-Rosa, Anouk, Aria, Ariana, Aslihan, Aurora, Bissan, Carolina, Cecilia, Chiara, Clea, Cora, Darija, Elenia, Elina, Elizabeta, Elizan, Elna, Eltea, Emanuela, Esîlya, Fabia, Farah, Fatima, Fjella, Georgie-Gisele, Gioia, Giulia, Helena, Ida, Ilenia, Iris, Irma, Ivy, Jamie, Joleen, Joya, Juna, Kaia, Katharina, Keysi, Ksenija, Lena, Leonor, Lilian, Liyana, Loredana, Lorena, Luana, Luena, Maeva, Malak, Maria, Maria-Luisa, Marie, Melina, Merle, Mia-Sophie, Miira, Mila, Mira, Naila, Natalia, Nayeli, Nelia, Nika, Riva, Rivanna, Romy, Ronja, Salima, Samira, Sandrina, Senada, Soley, Tajra, Teresa, Tina, Valérie, Viviana, Xoawa, Yara, Yesim, ZeynepAaron, Adrián, Aidan, Ajan, Alessandro, Alonso, Alp, Anas, Aril, Armon, Arthur, Aurel, Aurelio, Benedikt, Benjamin, Benno, Bruno, Christian, Christoph, Clark, Curdin, Cyano, Damiano, Danilo, Dante, Davide, Dominik, Eduardo, Elija, Elvis, Emanuel, Emil, Emilian, Emilio, Enes, Erian, Erion, Fabian, Federico, Finn, Gabriele, Giuliano, Hamza, Hazar, Hendrick, Jamie, Jan, Jari, Jeremias, Jérôme, Johannes, Jonah, Jonas, Jorel, Julian, Kentse, Kiano, Konstantin, Lauri, Leart, Levin, Liam, Liandro, Linus, Lio, Lionel, Lorent, Luan, Macgyver, Mahir, Majiid, Marco, Marius, Martim, Massimo, Mats, Maurice, Michael, Michele, Mike, Mikyas, Milan, Nael, Nando, Nawin, Neo, Nick, Nicolas, Niklas, Oliver, Omer, Paul, Philomeno, Pierangelo, Raffi, Ragnar, Redford, Rico, Ruben, Samuel, Sebastian, Tenzin, Tino, Tobias, Umut, Valentino, Valerio, Victor, Vito, Yakup, Yanis, Yuusuf, Zeno

Finally, since this is the first time I’m posting rankings for Liechtenstein, let’s throw in the country’s top baby names for the two previous years:

  • In 2019: Emma (9) and a four-way tie between Fabio, Leon, Matteo and Paul (4 each).
  • In 2018: Valentina (7) and a three-way tie between Ben, Leon, and Samuel (4 each).

Sources: Vornamenstatistik – Amt für Statistik (AS), Liechtenstein – Wikipedia, Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Liechtenstein (public domain)

The 20 children of Johann Sebastian Bach

German composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).
Johann Sebastian Bach

German composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) had a total of 20 children.

He had seven with his first wife, Maria Barbara Bach (who was his 2nd cousin). Four of these children survived to adulthood.

  1. Catharina Dorothea (1708-1774)
  2. Wilhelm Friedemann (1710-1784)
  3. Maria Sophia [twin] (1713)
  4. Johann Christoph [twin] (1713)
  5. Carl Philipp Emanuel (1714-1788)
  6. Johann Gottfried Bernhard (1715-1739)
  7. Leopold Augustus (1718-1719)

The other 13 he had with his second wife, Anna Magdalena Wilcke. Six survived to adulthood.

  1. Christiana Sophia Henrietta (1723-1726)
  2. Gottfried Heinrich (1724-1763)
  3. Christian Gottlieb (1725-1728)
  4. Elisabeth Juliana Friderica (1726-1781)
  5. Ernestus Andreas (1727)
  6. Regina Johanna (1728-1733)
  7. Christiana Benedicta Louisa (1730)
  8. Christiana Dorothea (1731-1732)
  9. Johann Christoph Friedrich (1732-1795)
  10. Johann August Abraham (1733)
  11. Johann Christian (1735-1782)
  12. Johanna Carolina (1737-1781)
  13. Regina Susanna (1742-1800)

Do you like any of these names? If so, which ones?

Sources:

  • David, Hans T., Arthur Mendel and Christoph Wolff. The New Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998.
  • Schulenberg, David. Bach. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020.