How popular is the baby name Dixhuit 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 Dixhuit.
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Brazilian pharmacist Jerônimo Rosado (b. 1861) had three children with his first wife, Maria. After Maria died, he married Maria’s sister, Isaura, and they welcomed 18 more children.
Notably, nearly all of the 21 Rosado children were given number-names. Each number-name corresponded to that particular child’s position in the birth order. Here’s the full list:
Jerônimo (b. 1890)
Laurentino (b. 1891)
Tércio (b. 1892) – tércio is a Portuguese form of tertius, meaning “third” in Latin
Isaura Quarto (b. 1894) – quarto means “fourth” in Portuguese
Laurentino Quinto (b. 1896) – quinto means “fifth” in Portuguese
Isaura Sexta (b. 1897) – sexta means “sixth” in Portuguese
Jerônima Sétima (b. 1898) – sétima means “seventh” in Portuguese
Maria Oitava (b. 1899) – oitava means “eighth” in Portuguese
Isauro Nono (b. 1901) – nono means “ninth” in Portuguese
Vicência Décima (b. 1902) – décima means “tenth” in Portuguese
Laurentina Onzième (b. 1903) – onzième means “eleventh” in French
Laurentino Duodécimo (b. 1905) – duodécimo means “twelfth” in Portuguese
Isaura Trezième (b. 1906) – trezième means “thirteenth” in French
Isaura Quatorzième (b. 1907) – quatorzième means “fourteenth” in French
Jerônimo Quinzième (b. 1908) – quinzième means “fifteenth” in French
Isaura Seize (b. 1910) – seize means “sixteen” in French
Jerônimo Dix-Sept (b. 1911) – dix-sept means “seventeen” in French
Jerônimo Dix-Huit (b. 1912) – dix-huit means “eighteen” in French
Jerônimo Dix-Neuf (b. 1913) – dix-neuf means “nineteen” in French
Jerônimo Vingt (b. 1918) – vingt means “twenty” in French
Jerônimo Vingt-Un (b. 1920) – vingt-un means “twenty-one” in French
Notice how the number-names shifted from Portuguese to French, and from ordinal to cardinal.
Several members of the family had successful careers in politics. For instance, patriarch Jerônimo served as the mayor of the city of Mossoró from 1917 to 1919. Dix-Sept held the same office from 1948 to 1950. Vingt held it from 1953 to 1958. And Dix-Huit served as the mayor of Mossoró three times: 1973-1977, 1983-1988, and 1993-1996. (The city’s airport is named after Dix-Sept; its theater is named after Dix-Huit.)
In yesterday’s post I mentioned that, up until the 1960s, the citizens of France were forced to obey a restrictive baby name law that was enacted in 1803.
Why did that law exist?
In order to curb the very non-traditional baby naming practices that had evolved during the years of the French Revolution.
It all started in September of 1792, one day before the French National Convention abolished the monarchy. On that day, a decree was issued. The decree allowed the citizens of France to change their forenames quite easily — all they had to do was “make a simple formal declaration before the registrar of their local municipality.”
Many people took advantage of this decree and chose new names with a revolutionary flavor (i.e., names that referred to nature, to the new republican calendar,* to republican virtues, to republican heroes, or to antiquity).
And, of course, they started giving their children revolutionary names as well.
Examples of these names include…
Name
Translation/Significance
Abeille
“Bee” / refers to the date Germinal 15 (Apr. 4)
Abricot
“Apricot” / refers to the date Thermidor 13 (Jul. 31)
“Poplar” / refers to the date Pluviôse 9 (Jan. 28)
Philippe Thomas Ve de bon coeur pour la République
Philippe Thomas “Go with a good heart for the Republic”
Phytogynéantrope
according to one source, it’s “Greek for a woman giving birth only to warrior sons”
Pomme
“Apple” / refers to the date Brumaire 1 (Oct. 22)
Porte-arme
“Weapon-holder”
Racine de la Liberté
“Root of Freedom”
Raifort
“Horseradish” / refers to the date Frimaire 12 (Dec. 2)
Raison
“Reason”
Régénérée Vigueur
“Regenerated Strength”
Rhubarbe
“Rhubarb” / refers to the date Floréal 11 (Apr. 30)
Robespierre
refers to politician Maximilien Robespierre
Sans Crainte
“Without Fear”
Scipion l’Africain
refers to ancient Roman general Scipio Africanus
Seigle
“Rye” / refers to the date Messidor 1 (Jun. 19)
Simon Liberté ou la Mort
Simon “Freedom or Death”
Spartacus
refers to ancient Roman gladiator and military leader Spartacus
Sureau
“Elderberry” / refers to the date Prairial 17 (Jun. 5)
Thermidor
based on thermon, Greek for “summer heat” / one of the summertime months of the republican calendar
Travail
“Work”
Tubéreuse
“Tuberose” / refers to the date Fructidor 6 (Aug. 23)
Unitée Impérissable
“Imperishable Unity”
Vengeur Constant
“Constant Avenger”
Victoire Fédérative
“Federal Victory”
Though it’s impossible to estimate just how many revolution-era babies got revolutionary names, the number seems to be well into the thousands, judging by statements like these:
“[I]n the winter and spring of 1794 at least 60 per cent of children received revolutionary names in Marseilles, Montpellier, Nevers, and Rouen.”
“[I]n Poitiers…only 62 of 593 babies born in the year II [1793-94] were named after saints in the ancien régime manner. Instead, they were given names reflecting the contrasting sources of political inspiration.”
About a decade later, however, all this creative naming came to an end.
Under Napoleon Bonaparte, the French government enacted a law that restricted French given names to “names used in various calendars” (that is, the names of Catholic saints) and “names of persons known from ancient history.” In essence, the law was meant to “put an end to citizens bearing absurd names that signified inanimate objects, forms of vegetation, membership of the animal kingdom and abstract concepts.”
….And this was the law that gave the Manrot-le Goarnic family so much difficulty when they tried to give their children Breton names a century and a half later.
*The French republican calendar, in use from 1793 to 1806, was a secular take on the Catholic Church’s calendar of saints. The months “were named after natural elements, while each day was named for a seed, tree, flower, fruit, animal, or tool.”
Willis, Sam. The Glorious First of June: Fleet Battle in the Reign of Terror. New York: Quercus, 2011.
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