How popular is the baby name Eugenie 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 Eugenie.
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In late 1913, while the eugenics movement was picking up steam, various newspapers ran the story of England’s “first eugenic baby.”
The baby’s name? Eugenette Bolce.
Eugenette’s parents, both American, hadn’t been specially selected for one another (as you might expect, given the term “eugenic”).
Instead, while pregnant, Mrs. Bolce had made it a point to attend concerts and plays, and to have conversations with famous authors. She hoped this would positively influence the baby. (One modern writer called Mrs. Bolce “enterprisingly Lamarckian.”)
Born in March, 6-month-old Eugenette already had a sense of humor and was “absolutely fearless,” according to her parents. They claimed these favorable attributes were “due to their deliberate plan of eugenic training.”
Writers of the day mocked the idea of a eugenic baby. LIFE published a parody piece featuring a smug “first eugenic baby” who ended up getting punched in the jaw by a decidedly non-eugenic baby. One writer even mocked Eugenette’s name: “Eugenette Bolce — that is the name, and it is the name of a baby and not a skin-ointment.”
If you can divorce the idea of eugenics from the name for a second…what do you think of “Eugenette”? Do you like it more or less than Eugenie and Eugenia?
Sources:
“Armchair Reflections.” Flight: First Aero Weekly in the World 11 Oct. 1913: 1123.
“Eugenette: First Eugenic Baby Brought Up on Humor.” Feilding Star 14 Oct. 1913: 4.
Kevles, Daniel J. In the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.
Last month we looked at the top Providence names of 1867, so today let’s check out the rankings from the year before — 1866.
First, some stats:
1,633 babies were babies were born in Providence in 1866, by my count. (The number given by the author of the document is 1,632.)
1,457 of these babies (707 girls and 750 boys) had names that were registered with the government at the time of publication. The other 176 babies got blank spaces.
234 unique names (123 girl names and 108 boy names) were shared among these 1,457 babies.
And here’s some extra information I forgot to mention in the last post: In 1860, the city of Providence was home to 29.0% of Rhode Island’s population. In 1870, it was home to 31.7% of the population. So each of these 3 sets of rankings (1866, 1867, 1868) ought to account for roughly 30% of the residents of the state.
Now, on to the names…
Top 5
The top 5 girl names and boy names of 1866 were, unsurprisingly, very similar to the top names of 1867.
Top baby girl names
Top baby boy names
1. Mary 2. Catherine 3. Ellen 4. Margaret 5. Sarah
1. John 2. William 3. James 4. George 5. Thomas
The girls’ top 5 is identical, while the boys’ top 5 includes Thomas instead of George.
All Girl Names
As expected, Mary was the front-runner by a huge margin. And, while there were dozens of Catherines, and a single Catharine, there weren’t any Katherines.
Mary, 149 baby girls
Catherine, 43
Ellen, 40
Margaret, 37
Sarah, 36
Elizabeth, 32
Alice, 18
Annie, 15
Anna & Eliza, 14 each (2-way tie)
Clara, 13
Ann, 11
Carrie, Emma, Jane & Susan, 10 each (4-way tie)
Grace & Ida, 9 each (2-way tie)
Esther, Martha & Minnie, 7 each (3-way tie)
Anne & Julia, 6 each (2-way tie)
Agnes, Charlotte, Cora, Harriet, Jennie, Joanna, Maria & Rosanna, 5 each (8-way tie)
(I didn’t combine any variant spellings, but I did lump the abbreviated names Chas., Benj., and Fred’k in with Charles, Benjamin and Frederick.)
*Does Augustavus = Augustus + Gustav?
Twins
I counted 19 pairs of twins born in Providence in 1866. I didn’t notice any triplets this year. (All of these names have already been accounted for above.)
Girl-girl twins
Girl-boy twins
Boy-boy twins
Agnes & Anna Eldora & Ellen Eliza & Mary Elizabeth & Julia Frances & Mary Josephine & Mary Mary & Sarah Theresa & (blank)
Alice & Frederick Alice & John Annie & Stephen Catherine & (blank) Sarah & Samuel
Edgar & Oscar Edward & James Francis & James James & John John & Thomas (blank) & (blank)
I’ll try to finish/post the final set of rankings before the end of the year.
A while ago I found a book called “A Collection of Original Acrostics on Ladies’ Christian Names” that was published in Toronto in 1888.
I won’t post any of the poems, which are all pretty cheesy, but author George J. Howson does include an intriguing selection of names. He notes that he wrote acrostics for “all the most popular feminine christian names of the day, and many more that, while not in common use, are known to exist in actual life.”
Here’s the list:
Abigail Ada Adelaide Adelle Adeline Addie Aggie Agnes Alberta Alecia Aletha Alfretta Alice Allie Alma Almeda Almira Alta Althea Alvira Alzina Amanda Amelia Amy Ann Anna Annabell Annas Annette Angelia Angeline Annie Athaliah Athelia Augusta Aura Avis Barbara Beatrice Bell Bella Berdie Bertha Bertie Bessie Beulah Blanche Bridget Calista Carrie Carlotta Cassie Catherine Cecilia Cela Celia Celicia Celis Charlotte Chloe Christie Christine Clara Clarissa Cleanthe Clementina Constance Cora
Cordelia Corinne Cornelia Cynthia Cyrena Debbie Delia Della Diana Diantha Dinah Dollie Dora Dorcas Dorinda Dorothy Edith Edna Effie Ella Eleanor Eleanora Electa Ellen Elfie Eliza Elma Elsie Emma Emmeline Emily Ena Erma Estelle Esther Ethel Ethelind Ettie Eugenie Eula Eunice Euphemia Euretta Eva Evalina Eveline Evelyn Fannie Felicia Flora Florence Floss Frances Frank Gay Georgie Georgina Geraldine Gertie Gracie Hagar Hannah Harriet Hattie Helen Helena Henrietta Hulda
Ida Irene Isabel Isabella Isadora Jane Janet Janie Jeannette Jemima Jennet Jennie Jessie Jerusha Joanna Josephine Josie Julia Kate Kathleen Katie Keziah Lany Laura Leah Leila Lena Lera Lettie Levina Levinia Libbie Lida Lilian Lillie Lizzie Lola Lora Lorretta Lottie Lou Louisa Louise Lucinda Lucretia Lucy Luella Lula Lulu Lydia Mabel Madelaine Maggie Malvina Mamie Marcella Margaret Maria Marilla Marion Mary Marsena Martha Mattie Maud Maudie May Melinda
Mellissa Mercy Mertie Mildred Millie Mina Minerva Minnie Mintha Miranda Mollie Muriel Myra Myrtle Nancy Naomi Nellie Nettie Nina Nora Ollie Olive Olivia Ormanda Ophelia Pauline Pearl Phoebe Phyllis Priscilla Prudence Rachel Rebecca Rhoda Robena Rosa Rosabel Rosalie Rosalind Rosamond Rose Ruby Ruth Sabina Sadie Sally Samantha Sarah Selina Sophia Sophronia Stella Susanna Susie Sybil Teresa Theodocia Theresa Tillie Una Verna Victoria Vida Viola Violet Wilhelmina Winifred Zuba
Have any favorites?
Hulda/Huldah is one I like. It’s one of those names that I always see on old New England gravestones but never come across in real life. Wonder when that one will become stylish again.
BTW, has anyone ever seen a good name acrostic? Like, one that’s actually well-written and/or thought-provoking? Because I don’t think I ever have.
The royal family has given me a lot to blog about in the last few years — Pippa in 2011, Jubilee in 2012, George in 2013…
So will the royal-inspired baby name of 2014 be Cressida?
The gossip sites are telling me that Prince Harry and his girlfriend, socialite Cressida Bonas, may marry next year. Apparently Harry met Cressie (as friends call her) via cousin Eugenie.
Where does the name Cressida come from?
We know it from Shakespeare’s play Troilus and Cressida (1602). Cressida is a medieval form of the Greek name Chryseis, which Shakespeare would have known from Homers’ Iliad. In the Iliad, Chryseis (as her name indicates) was the daughter of Chryses, whose name was derived from the ancient Greek word chrysos, meaning “gold” or “golden.”
How are Cressida and Cressie doing on the charts right now?
The baby name Cressida has appeared on the SSA’s list a handful of times, mostly in the 1970s and 1980s, but no more than 8 Cressidas have ever been born in a single year. It was last listed in 1990.
The baby name Cressie has had better luck, though it was more popular during the 1910s and 1920s than it is today. It was last listed in 1987.
If Harry and Cressie marry next year, do you think the royal wedding will popularize the name Cressida in the U.S.?
(And if they don’t, do you think there’s a chance the name could become trendy anyway thanks to the third Hunger Games film, due out in late 2014?)
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