How popular is the baby name Enya 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 Enya.

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Popularity of the baby name Enya


Posts that mention the name Enya

What gave the baby name Lauryn a boost in the late 1990s?

Lauryn Hill (Time magazine, Feb. 1999)
Lauryn Hill

According to the U.S. baby name data, the usage of Lauryn began rising during the second half of the 1990s, then saw a pronounced spike in 1999:

  • 2001: 1,083 baby girls named Lauryn [rank: 289th]
  • 2000: 1,408 baby girls named Lauryn [rank: 224th]
  • 1999: 1,883 baby girls named Lauryn [rank: 167th] (peak usage)
  • 1998: 628 baby girls named Lauryn [rank: 421st]
  • 1997: 498 baby girls named Lauryn [rank: 498th]
  • 1996: 338 baby girls named Lauryn [rank: 659th]
  • 1995: 241 baby girls named Lauryn [rank: 818th]

What was influencing the name during those years?

New Jersey-born rapper and singer Lauryn Hill.

During the 1990s, Lauryn was a member of the hip-hop group the Fugees along with Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel. The trio’s second (and final) album, The Score, was released in early 1996 and soon became one of the best-selling hip-hop albums of all time.

The Fugees' album "The Score" (1996)
Fugees album

Of the album’s four singles, only “Fu-Gee-La” was released commercially in the U.S., and therefore eligible to appear on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart. It peaked at #29 in March of 1996.

But the other three singles — “Killing Me Softly” (a cover of the 1973 Roberta Flack hit), “Ready or Not” (which featured an Enya sample), and “No Woman, No Cry” (a cover of the Bob Marley classic) — were no less popular, judging by how frequently they were played on the radio.

In early 1997, the Fugees won a pair of Grammy Awards — one for The Score, the other for “Killing Me Softly.”

Later the same year, however, the group broke up.

Lauryn Hill's album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" (1998)
Lauryn Hill album

Lauryn went on to release her first solo album, The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill, in August of 1998. It eventually surpassed The Score in terms of sales, becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time.

The album’s most successful single, “Doo Wop (That Thing),” ranked #1 on the Hot 100 for two weeks in November.

Here’s the music video:

The other two singles, “Ex-Factor” and “Everything Is Everything,” entered the Hot 100 in 1999. The first peaked at #21 in April, and the second at #35 in July.

And two more tracks — “To Zion” (featuring guitarist Carlos Santana) and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” (a cover of the 1967 Frankie Valli hit) — also saw significant radio play.

In early 1999, Lauryn Hill won five Grammy Awards: two for The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill, two for “Doo Wop (That Thing),” and one for herself (as Best New Artist). She became the first female artist to win five or more Grammy Awards in a single night, and Miseducation became the first hip-hop album to win Album Of The Year.

Around the same time, she became the first hip-hop artist to be featured on the cover of Time magazine.

What are your thoughts on the name Lauryn? How about Lauren? (What’s your preferred spelling of the name?)

Sources:

Top image: Clipping from the cover of Time magazine (8 Feb. 1999)

Where did the baby name Enya come from in 1989?

Enya's album "Watermark" (1988).
Enya album

The name Enya first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1989:

  • 1991: 6 baby girls named Enya
  • 1990: unlisted
  • 1989: 5 baby girls named Enya [debut]
  • 1988: unlisted
  • 1987: unlisted

It was inspired by Irish vocalist Enya, whose second album, Watermark (1988), became an unexpected international hit thanks to its memorable lead single, “Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)” [vid]. The song ended up being nominated for two Grammy awards: Best New Age Performance and Best Music Video.

(New Age music began coming out in the 1960s, but the genre didn’t go mainstream until the 1980s. The first “New Age” Grammy was awarded in early 1987.)

Enya was born Eithne Ni Bhraonain in an Irish Gaelic-speaking area of County Donegal in 1961. The Irish name Eithne is thought to be based on an Old Irish word meaning “kernel, grain.” The singer began to go by “Enya,” an Anglicized spelling of her first name, in the early ’80s.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Enya?

Sources:

P.S. Yanni is another New Age baby name…

How do you pronounce Gotye?

Gotye in the music video for "Somebody That I Used To Know" (2011)
Gotye

Belgian-Australian musician Gotye (pronounced go-tee-yay) has been making headlines lately thanks to the single “Somebody That I Used To Know,” which became a Billboard #1 hit just a few days ago.

So…what’s up with that name?

The name Gotye is an anglicized form of the French name Gaultier (also spelled Gauthier and Gautier).

Gotye was born Wouter De Backer in Belgium. He started going by Walter, the English version of Wouter, when his family moved to Australia. And his mother’s pet name for him, Gaultier, is yet another version the name.

He decided to use Gaultier as his stage name, but instead of using a French spelling, he chose to render it Gotye. (This is similar to the way Irish singers/sisters Enya and Moya Brennan anglicized their names from Eithne and Máire.)

Source: Gotye – Wikipedia
Image: Screenshot of Gotye from the music video for “Somebody That I Used To Know”

Baby name story: Orinoco

Enya in the "Orinoco Flow" (1988) music video
Enya in the “Orinoco Flow” music video

One of this year’s Olympic competitors is a New Zealand swimmer of Samoan heritage named Orinoco Faamausili-Banse-Prince (b. 1990).

How did he get that eye-catching name?

His first name comes courtesy of a song his father rather liked, Enya’s Orinoco Flow.

Faamausili is a chiefly title bestowed on the family a couple of generations back and Banse (pronounced ban-say) is inherited from his German grandfather.

It ends with an appropriate flourish, Prince the only safe ground for tongue-tied commentators who mangle his moniker.

The title of Enya‘s 1988 song “Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)” references both London’s Orinoco Studios, where the song was recorded, and the Orinoco River of South America (primarily Venezuela). The river name is derived from Guarauno words meaning “a place to paddle” (i.e., a place that is navigable).

Unsurprisingly, Orinoco Faamausili-Banse-Prince prefers to be called “Ori.”

The other three New Zealand men he’ll be swimming with in the 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay have the much more common first names Mark, Cameron, and William.

Sources: Orinoco name no pain for young NZ swimmer, Making waves in Beijing, Orinoco Flow – Wikipedia, Orinoco River – Britannica, Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men’s 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay