How popular is the baby name Emile 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 Emile.

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Popularity of the baby name Emile


Posts that mention the name Emile

Popular and unique baby names in Quebec (Canada), 2013

Flag of Quebec
Flag of Quebec

Quebec’s top baby names of 2013 were announced yesterday.

According to data from the Régie des rentes du Québec (RRQ), the most popular baby names last year were Lea and William.

Here are Quebec’s top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2013:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Lea, 625 baby girls
2. Emma, 500
3. Olivia, 491
4. Florence, 455
5. Alice, 439
6. Zoe, 415
7. Rosalie, 404
8. Juliette, 366
9. Charlie, 343
10. Chloe, 339
11. Charlotte, 332
12. Sofia, 304
13. Jade, 302
14. Mia, 299
15. Eva, 289
16. Camille, 286
17. Victoria, 284
18. Anais, 274
19. Beatrice, 265
20. Laurence, 260 (tie)
21. Maeva, 260 (tie)		1. William, 823 baby boys
2. Nathan, 771
3. Samuel, 704
4. Alexis, 699
5. Olivier, 694
6. Felix, 692
7. Thomas, 692
8. Liam, 683
9. Jacob, 630
10. Gabriel, 602
11. Antoine, 516
12. Logan, 516
13. Raphael, 498
14. Noah, 463
15. Xavier, 441
16. Benjamin, 420
17. Emile, 413
18. Charles, 397
19. Adam, 389
20. Leo, 386

Charlie is new to the girls’ top 10. In 2012, it ranked 12th.

On the boys’ side, Jayden is on the rise as well — from 38th in 2012 to 35th in 2013. (In the U.S., Jayden has been falling for a few years now.)

Finally, here are some baby names that were used only once or twice in Quebec last year:

Rare Girl NamesRare Boy Names
Alaska (1), Alutchainah Winfrey (1), Cheleby-Prettey (1), Divine Jeremiah (1), Etye Tzirl (1), Fanny-Jade (1), Galaxyanne (1), Golding Merly (1), Iokennorehseriio (1), K La (1), Kellixia (1), Khaleesi (2), Khlde (1), Kinda Love (1), Kukuess (1), Libertad-Quillay (1), Luna Love (1), Luxshiny (1), Mamba Gabrielle (1), Marie-Neige (2), Milky (1), Nelricka (1), O-Feely (1), Nermine (2), Peggy Evie Maggie (2), Reness-May (1), Rougui (2), Rulx-Jeffrey (1), Schrolding Sarry (1), Shine Present (1), Skysea (1), Walter-Lynn (1), Zoolee (1)Aggaajuk (1), Best Blessing (1), Beckham (2), Charm Henri (1), Chumly (1), Clarenceford (1), D-Reck (1), Dick-Yan (1), Djeepy (1), Edwidge Lovensky (1), Ettuk (2), Fhitzjericho (1), Fox Henri (1), Frignol (1), Gayden (1), Hunter Chace (1), Indrix (1), Lafleche (2), Lucassie (2), Meyroi Deliver Midy (1), Micipsa (1), Nhel Rein (1), Noonard (1), Nyko (2), Queben (1), Rhodeelny (1), Sampo (1), Shragy (2), Syphax (2), Vwila (1), Warrior (1), Wedgy (1), Woody Tommy (1), Za-Ak (1)

Sources: Most popular baby names for 2013, Lea and William top baby names of 2013, List of Baby Names – Retraite Québec

Image: Adapted from Flag of Quebec (public domain)

What would you name these two Frenchmen?

"Boulevard du Temple" (1838) by Louis Daguerre

The image above, of the Boulevard du Temple in Paris, was captured in early 1838 by Louis Daguerre, inventor of the daguerreotype.

It may be the earliest surviving photograph of a person. Two people, actually. Both are in the lower left.

Here’s a close-up:

Detail of "Boulevard du Temple" (1838) by Louis Daguerre

The standing man is getting his shoe shined, and the other man (partially obscured) is doing the shoe-shining.

Of all the people on the sidewalk that day, these were the only two to stay still long enough (about 10 minutes) to be captured in the image.

Now for the fun part!

What would you name these two Frenchmen?

Let’s pretend you’re writing a book set in Paris in the 1830s, and these are two of your characters. What names would you give them?

Here’s a long list of traditional French male names, to get you started:

Abel
Absolon
Achille
Adam
Adolphe
Adrien
Aimé
Alain
Alban
Albert
Alexandre
Alfred
Alphonse
Amaury
Amroise
Amédée
Anatole
André
Anselme
Antoine
Antonin
Apollinaire
Ariel
Aristide
Armand
Arnaud
Arsène
Arthur
Aubert
Aubin
Auguste
Augustin
Aurèle
Aurélien
Baptiste
Barnabé
Barthélémy
Basile
Bastien
Benjamin
Benoit
Bernard
Bertrand
Blaise
Boniface
Bruno
Calixte
Camille
Céleste
Célestin
Césaire
César
Charles
Christian
Christophe		Clair
Claude
Clément
Clovis
Constant
Constantin
Corentin
Corin
Corneille
Cosme
Cyril
Damien
Daniel
David
Denis
Déodat
Désiré
Didier
Dieudonné
Dimitri
Diodore
Dominique
Donat
Donatien
Edgar
Edgard
Edmé
Edmond
Édouard
Élie
Eloi
Émeric
Émile
Émilien
Emmanuel
Enzo
Éric
Ermenegilde
Ernest
Ethan
Étienne
Eugène
Eustache
Évariste
Évrard
Fabien
Fabrice
Félicien
Félix
Ferdinand
Fernand
Fiacre
Firmin
Florence
Florent		Florentin
Florian
Francis
François
Frédéric
Gabriel
Gaël
Gaëtan
Gaspard
Gaston
Gaubert
Geoffroy
Georges
Gérard
Géraud
Germain
Gervais
Ghislain
Gilbert
Gilles
Gratien
Grégoire
Guatier
Guillaume
Gustave
Guy
Hector
Henri
Herbert
Hercule
Hervé
Hilaire
Hippolyte
Honoré
Horace
Hubert
Hugues
Humbert
Hyacinthe
Ignace
Irénée
Isidore
Jacques
Jason
Jean
Jérémie
Jérôme
Joachim
Jocelyn
Joël
Jonathan
Joseph
Josse
Josué
Jourdain		Jules
Julien
Juste
Justin
Laurent
Laurentin
Lazare
Léandre
Léo
Léon
Léonard
Léonce
Léonide
Léopold
Lionel
Loïc
Lothaire
Louis
Loup
Luc
Lucas
Lucien
Lucrèce
Ludovic
Maël
Marc
Marcel
Marcellin
Marin
Marius
Martin
Mathieu
Mathis
Matthias
Maurice
Maxence
Maxime
Maximilien
Michaël
Michel
Modeste
Narcisse
Nathan
Nathanaël
Nazaire
Nicéphore
Nicodème
Nicolas
Noé
Noël
Norbert
Odilon
Olivier
Onésime
Pascal		Patrice
Paul
Philippe
Pierre
Placide
Pons
Prosper
Quentin
Rainier
Raoul
Raphaël
Raymond
Régis
Rémy
René
Reynaud
Richard
Robert
Roch
Rodolphe
Rodrigue
Roger
Roland
Romain
Rosaire
Ruben
Salomon
Samuel
Sébastien
Séraphin
Serge
Sévère
Séverin
Simon
Sylvain
Sylvestre
Télesphore
Théodore
Théophile
Thibault
Thierry
Thomas
Timothée
Toussaint
Urbain
Valentin
Valère
Valéry
Vespasien
Victor
Vincent
Vivien
Xavier
Yves
Zacharie

For some real-life inspiration, here are lists of famous 19th century and 20th century French people, courtesy of Wikipedia. Notice that many of the Frenchman have double-barreled, triple-barreled, even quadruple-barreled given names. (Daguerre himself was named Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre.)

Source: The First Photograph of a Human

Popular and unique baby names in Quebec (Canada), 2012

Flag of Quebec
Flag of Quebec

The most popular baby names in Quebec were announced a little while ago.

According to the Régie des rentes du Québec, the province’s top names last year were Emma and William.

Here are the top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2012:

Girl Names

  1. Emma (505 baby girls)
  2. Lea (474)
  3. Olivia (458)
  4. Florence (439)
  5. Alice (386)
  6. Zoe (385)
  7. Rosalie (377)
  8. Juliette (358)
  9. Camille (348)
  10. Mia (344)
  11. Laurence (335)
  12. Charlie (317)
  13. Jade (293)
  14. Alicia (292)
  15. Anais (292)
  16. Victoria (288)
  17. Maelie (287)
  18. Beatrice (285)
  19. Eva (282)
  20. Chloe (278)

Boy Names

  1. William (855 baby boys)
  2. Nathan (839)
  3. Olivier (798)
  4. Alexis (746)
  5. Samuel (737)
  6. Gabriel (731)
  7. Thomas (707)
  8. Jacob (706)
  9. Felix (702)
  10. Raphael (590)
  11. Antoine (560)
  12. Liam (522)
  13. Noah (462)
  14. Benjamin (446)
  15. Xavier (444)
  16. Emile (440)
  17. Mathis (417)
  18. Adam (412)
  19. Justin (405)
  20. Zachary (389)

Check out Charlie in 12th place for girls. For boys, it’s all the way down in 145th place.

Charlie is being used more and more often as a girl name in the U.S. as well.

The next-most-popular Charl- names for each gender were Charlotte in 24th place and Charles in 21st place. (Though, if you count the hundreds of baby boys with a Charles combination-name, e.g., Charles-Antoine, the total for Charles jumps to over 750, putting the name in 4th place.)

And what about the less-common names?

First, some stats:

  • Of the 9,074 girl names bestowed last year…
    • 6,686 (74%) of them were given to 1 baby girl, and
    • 8058 (89%) of them were given to 1, 2, 3 or 4 baby girls.
  • Of the 7,921 boy names bestowed last year…
    • 6,107 (77%) were given to 1 baby boy, and
    • 7121 (90%) were given to 1, 2, 3 or 4 baby boys.

Here are some of Quebec’s unique names (used only once):

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Ayagutaq
Becky Tillikasak
Cocolo
Desneiges
Euphelie
Fleurange
Garrissa
Ietohrhuostha
Justinique
Katsitsenhawitha
Lyora Lyssandre
Maisie Inuusiq
Nephthalia Elani
Orlguine
Paglianie Stacy
Qullik
Qupanuaq
Roldyanna
Stephanie Daystar
Tally-Ann Uapikuniss
Vinuki Sethlini
Wazberly
Windflower
Yvedianah
Zaely Hyacinthia		Aws
Brudginel-Bryan
Christian Braveheart
Davinnsly
Enbo
Fougnigue
Ghemsley Nollens
Hichembentaiba
Ittulaaq
Judley
Klyf
Lafleche William
Manhattan-Zola
Nyrlberson
Olmo Centeotl
Perseus Koperqualuk
Quindlley
Raniehtenha Wi
Shaquille-Shanqi
Tiesto
Uqittuk
Victor-Sam Ikuagasak
Wa’kenhrawakon
Yanga
Zack Browndly

Among the girl names given to two babies last year, I spotted both Chaya Mushka and Katniss.

P.S. Want to compare the top Quebec baby names of 2012 with those of 2009, or 2006?

Source: List of Baby Names – Retraite Québec, Emma usurps Lea for top spot on Quebec’s baby name list

Image: Adapted from Flag of Quebec (public domain)

Unique baby name: Alfred Zola Labori Dreyfus

French officer Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935)
Alfred Dreyfus

Here’s an interesting baby name I discovered not long ago: Alfred Zola Labori Dreyfus Hultgren. He was born on January 25, 1900, in Sweden.

Where do his four given names come from?

Alfred Dreyfus, Emile Zola, and Fernand Labori — all involved in the Dreyfus Affair.

[T]he Dreyfus Affair tore France apart, pitting Dreyfusards—committed to restoring freedom and honor to an innocent man convicted of a crime committed by another—against nationalists, anti-Semites, and militarists who preferred having an innocent man rot to exposing the crimes committed by ministers of war and the army’s top brass in order to secure Dreyfus’s conviction.

Alfred Dreyfus, a French army captain of Jewish descent, was unjustly convicted of treason in late 1894. He spent nearly five years at a penal colony on Devil’s Island before getting another trial in 1899. He wasn’t exonerated until 1906.

French writer Emile Zola accused the French government of antisemitism (among other things) in regards to Dreyfus’s case. He was found guilty of libel in February, 1898, so he fled to England to avoid imprisonment. Zola didn’t return to France until June, 1899.

Fernand Labori, a French attorney, represented Dreyfus at the second trial. He survived an assassination attempt (he was shot in the back) during this time.

Sources: Why the Dreyfus Affair Matters (book description), FamilySearch
Image: Alfred Dreyfus