How popular is the baby name Darc 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 Darc.

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Popularity of the baby name Darc


Posts that mention the name Darc

Popular and unique baby names in Iowa, 2021

Flag of Iowa
Flag of Iowa

The Midwestern state of Iowa welcomes roughly 40,000 babies per year.

Last year, the most popular baby names in the state were Charlotte and Oliver, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Here are Iowa’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Charlotte, 174 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 148
  3. Amelia, 141
  4. Ava, 125
  5. Emma, 121
  6. Evelyn, 111
  7. Nora, 110
  8. Sophia, 108
  9. Willow, 101
  10. Eleanor & Harper, 99 (tie)

Boy Names

  1. Oliver, 207 baby boys
  2. Liam, 176
  3. Henry, 169
  4. Noah, 136
  5. Asher, 131
  6. Theodore, 129
  7. Hudson, 125
  8. Owen, 123
  9. Brooks, 122
  10. Jack, 120

The SSA’s rankings for Iowa are very similar, though, so…why bother posting Iowa’s own rankings?

Because the state also releases the rest of its baby name data (yay!), so we have a chance to see the names at the other end of the spectrum.

Over 3,600 girl names and over 2,800 boy names were bestowed just once in Iowa last year. Here’s a selection of Iowa’s unique baby names of 2021:

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Amazingrace, Biftu, Celine D’Arc, DaRell, Endellion, Fiolla, Geranium, Hagia-Sophia, Heulwen, Isniin, Johovana, KipperMay, Libba, Mauslynn, Nardos, Onnova, Phyu, Qualoni, Rexha, Six, Tempo, Ulani, Villandry, Wintwar, Xhivani, Yolna, ZelleAdventurous, Biden Rafael, Conker, Divoc, Eastwood, Felty, Grimnir, Healer, Heritier, Isidoro, Judicael, Kenaniah, Lil Junior, McClane, Nightly, Oswalt, Pilot, Qua, Rensselaer, Senanu, Tchite, Utah, Veon, Winiga, XanLee, Yuepheng, Zelldean

Some thoughts on a few of the above…

  • Divoc is “Covid” spelled backwards.
  • Endellion is a Cornish place name. (Former UK PM David Cameron used this name a few years back.)
  • Hagia Sophia, which means “holy wisdom” in ancient Greek, refers to the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.
  • Heritier (héritier) means “heir” in French.
  • Isniin means “Monday” in Somali.
  • McClane is the surname of the main character (John McClane) in the Die Hard movies.
  • Villandry is a commune in central France.
  • Wintwar (Wint War) is a Burmese name. (A number of refugees from Myanmar live in Iowa.)
  • Zelle is a digital payments network (launched in 2017).

In 2020, the top two names in Iowa were Olivia and Oliver.

Sources: Top Baby Names – Iowa Public Health Tracking Portal, Iowa – Wikipedia, List of U.S. states and territories by population – Wikipedia, Wiktionary

Image: Adapted from Flag of Iowa (public domain)

Where did the baby name Jeannedarc come from in 1920?

Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc)
Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc)

Joan of Arc (1412-1431) — known as Jeanne d’Arc (pronounced zhan dark, roughly) in her homeland of France — was a peasant, a mystic, and a warrior during the Hundred Years’ War between France and England.

Well, she wasn’t a “warrior” exactly. She never actually fought in battle. She was more of an “inspirational mascot, brandishing her banner in place of a weapon.”

In any case, she ended up being captured by the enemy, convicted of heresy and witchcraft (among other things), excommunicated from the church, and burned at the stake — all before the age of 20.

But a few decades later the verdict was overturned, the excommunication was invalidated, and she was declared a martyr.

And during the centuries that followed, her reputation grew — especially among the French.

Despite all this, the well-known St. Joan didn’t officially become a Roman Catholic saint until the early 20th century. She was canonized in May of 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.

The same year, the full French form of her name, Jeannedarc, appeared in the U.S. baby name data for the first time. It popped up a total of five times during the 1920s (but it hasn’t been back since).

  • 1922: unlisted
  • 1921: 6 baby girls named Jeannedarc
  • 1920: 5 baby girls named Jeannedarc [debut]
  • 1919: unlisted
  • 1918: unlisted

(The SSA strips out spaces, apostrophes, and mid-name capital letters; this explains why “Jeanne d’Arc” is rendered “Jeannedarc” in the data.)

that’s not all, though Records show that more than a few of the babies simply named Jeanne and Joan in the 1920s had as middle names “d’Arc” and “of Arc.” Two examples:

  • Jeanne D’Arc Florabel Menard, daughter of David and Georgiana Menard, born in Vermont in 1924.
  • Joan of Arc Mary Agnes Chabot, daughter of Thomas and Zelia Chabot, born in Vermont in 1923.

A disproportionate number of these 1920s babies named Jeanne d’Arc and Joan of Arc were born in the Northeastern U.S. to families of French (Canadian) extraction.

Interestingly, St. Joan herself only used the medieval spelling of her name, “Jehanne,” and never included the surname “d’Arc,” which was a form of her father’s surname. In fact, if she’d been forced to use a surname, she likely would have chosen her mother’s, Romée, as per hometown tradition. The surname Romée denoted someone who had made a pilgrimage (though not necessarily to Rome).

Sources:

Image: Les vies des femmes célèbres