How popular is the baby name Evangeline 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 Evangeline.

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Popularity of the baby name Evangeline


Posts that mention the name Evangeline

26 Girl names from 1916

In early 1916, Photoplay Magazine came up with a list of potential titles for serial films using the formula established by The Perils of Pauline (1914), The Exploits of Elaine (1914), and The Hazards of Helen (1914).

(Just a few months after the above was published, The Mysteries of Myra came out.)

Which of those 26 names — Abigail, Bertha, Calpurnia, Delilah, Evangeline, Florence, Garnet, Hazel, Imogene, Jezebel, Kitty, Lizzie, Margaret, Nancy, Orillia, Priscilla, Queenie, Roberta, Sibyl, Theodosia, Ursula, Victoria, Winifred, Xanthippe, Yetta or Zira — do you like best?

And, which of those serials would you be most likely to watch? :)

Source: “Not-Yet Serials.” Photoplay Magazine Jan. 1916: 72.

What popularized the baby name Rhiannon in the 1970s?

Fleetwood Mac's (second) eponymous album, "Fleetwood Mac" (1975).
“Fleetwood Mac” album (1975)

“Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night, and wouldn’t you love to” …know a little more about her name?

The Welsh name Rhiannon comes to us via the Mabinogion, a famous collection of medieval Welsh tales that was written during the 1300s (or possibly earlier).

What’s the etymology? Here are two theories:

Rhiannon’s persona is much older than the medieval text, however. She appears to be derived from the pre-Christian goddess hypothesized as Rigantona and also Epona, the horse goddess. Her pedigree within the Mabinogi also implies supernatural status as she is thought to be the daughter of the king of Annwfn, the otherworld; her name may mean maid of Annwfn.

The reconstructed proto-Celtic name Rigantona means “divine goddess.” The definition “maid of Annwfn,” on the other hand, would come from combining the word rhiain, meaning “maid,” with the place name Annwfn.

Before the 1970s, the name Rhiannon was rarely used as a name for newborns. The few babies that got the name tended to have a direct connection to Wales (i.e., either they were born there or their parents were).

The book "The Song of Rhiannon" (1972) by Evangeline Walton.

Then two novels featuring the name came out: Song of Rhiannon (1972) by Evangeline Walton and Triad (1973) by Mary Leader. The first was based directly on the Mabinogion; the second was not.

Both books probably played a part in putting Rhiannon on the map in 1974:

  • 1975: 15 baby girls named Rhiannon
  • 1974: 5 baby girls named Rhiannon [debut]
  • 1973: unlisted
  • 1972: unlisted

The first book might have been the one with the word “song” in the title, but it was the second book that inspired a young Stevie Nicks to write her hit song “Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win).” Here’s how Stevie tells the story:

I got the name from a novel, I think I bought in an airport just before a long flight; it was called Triad, and it was about a girl named Rhiannon and her sister and mother, or something like that. I just thought the name was so pretty that I wanted to write something about a girl named Rhiannon. I wrote it about three months before I joined Fleetwood Mac, in about 1974.

The song was included on Fleetwood Mac’s album Fleetwood Mac, which came out in July of 1975. It was then released a single in February of 1976, and, four months later, peaked at #11 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart.

Fleetwood Mac's single "Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)" (1976).
“Rhiannon” single

The single is what made an impact on U.S. baby names. Hundreds of baby girls were named Rhiannon in 1976, and the name entered the top 1,000 for the first time at an impressive 593rd. A year later, it peaked at 418th.

Here’s how many U.S. baby girls were named Rhiannon (or a variant thereof) during the second half of the 1970s:

19751976197719781979
Rhiannon15272491460422
Reanna.65908786
Rhianna.56*977989
Rhiana.32*382716
Rheanna.24*342330
Reannon.12*10716
Rianna.10*192927
Rhianon.7*13259
Reanne.7..5
Rheannon.6*201615
Rhia.5*5..
Rheanne.5*...
Riann..76*3722
Rianne..25*917
Riannon..11*88
Rhian..9*7.
Reannan..6*..
Reana...86
Rhiannan...7*.
Rheana...7*.
Rhyan...6*7
Reann....6
*Debut

(Riann is currently tied for 42nd-highest girl-name debut of all time; Reannan was a one-hit wonder.)

Usage cooled off after that, but rose again in the late ’90s and early 2000s, probably thanks to Fleetwood Mac’s successful 1997 tour The Dance and resulting live album, which features an extended version of “Rhiannon.”

The song was voted one of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” by Rolling Stone in 2004, but by then the name Rhiannon was falling out of fashion. In 2008, it dropped out of the top 1,000. In 2013, only 106 baby girls got the name.

Sources:

  • Bishop, Stephen. Songs in the Rough. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1996.
  • MacKillop, James. Myths and Legends of the Celts. London: Penguin UK, 2005.
  • Rees, Dafydd and Luke Crampton. Rock Movers & Shakers. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1991.

Update, Feb. 2015: Here’s a quote from Stevie about how “Rhiannon” was nearly “Branwen”:

I’d read another novel about two sisters, Branwen and Rhiannon. I wrote the song about Rhiannon, and bought an Afghan hound and named her Branwen. So it could have been the other way around, you know.

Branwen was another central character in The Triad, and the baby name Branwen debuted in the data in 1975.

Source: Brown, Mick. “Stevie Nicks: a survivor’s story.” Telegraph 8 Sep. 2007.

Celebrity baby name: Kahekili

Another celebrity has gone with a Hawaiian baby name. Helen Hunt has a daughter named Makena Lei, Lisa Bonet has a son named Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha, and now Evangeline Lilly has a son named Kahekili.

This is old news, actually. Lilly’s baby (with boyfriend Norman Kali) was born in mid-2011, and the name was revealed later that year. Kahekili means “the thunder” in Hawaiian: ka is “the” and hekili is “thunder.”

But apparently Lilly has only recently come out with the full story behind Kahekili’s name:

My son was born outside in Hawaii in the middle of a thunder and lightning storm that was so insane that we had an island-wide power outage… We were woken out of our sleep by the thunder, it was so intense, and in Hawaii they call that mana, which is like your essence or your spirit… so we had to name him after his mana.

She’d previously mentioned that the baby was born “outside in a thunderstorm.” Also, that the name wasn’t chosen right away: “My baby did not have a name for a month. It took me a month to name my child.”

A handful of other baby boys have been named Kahekili lately. In fact, over past few years, the name has popped up on the national list three times and on the Hawaii list twice:

  • 2012: 6 baby boys named Kahekili nationally
  • 2011: unlisted
  • 2010: 6 baby boys named Kahekili nationally, 5 in Hawaii
  • 2009: 5 baby boys named Kahekili nationally [debut], all 5 in Hawaii [debut]
  • 2008: unlisted

I wonder how many of these babies were born during thunderstorms.

What do you think of the name Kahekili?

Sources: Evangeline Lilly – Wikipedia, The Things They Say – Hollywood.com, Evangeline Lilly was in labor for 30 hours (h/t elbowin, for making me look up Tauriel)

Where did the baby name Louvima come from?

The daughters of Edward VII: Louise (b. 1867), Maud (b. 1869), and Victoria (b. 1868)
Louise, Maud, and Victoria

Lord Francis Knollys was a close friend of the British royal family. So close that he served as as Private Secretary to the Sovereign under both Edward VII (from 1901 to 1910) and George V (from 1910 to 1913).

It’s not too surprising, then, that both of Knollys’ children were named in honor of the royals. His daughter was named Alexandra Louvima Elizabeth (b. 1888) and his son was named Edward George William (b. 1895).

Alexandra, Elizabeth, Edward, George, William — these are all names we know.

But “Louvima”? Where did that come from?

Turns out it’s an acronym. Edward VII (who was still “Albert Edward, Prince of Wales” back in 1888) and his wife Alexandra had six children: Albert Victor, George (later George V), Louise, Victoria, Maud, and Alexander John. “Louvima” was created from the first letters of the names of Edward’s three daughters:

Louvima = Louise + Victoria + Maud

The papers picked up on the interesting birth name right away. Here’s an article that appeared in a New Zealand newspaper in July of 1888:

Few people have noticed the second name bestowed on Sir Francis Knollys’ little daughter, who was baptised on May 5. Sir Francis, as every one knows, is the energetic and popular private secretary of the Prince of Wales, and in a torrent of grateful loyalty he has called his firstborn “Louvima,” a marvellous amalgam of the Christian names of the three young Princesses of Wales, “Louisa [sic], Victoria, Maud.” Since the expectant Mrs. Kenwigs invented the name of Morleena we have had nothing quite so good as this.

(Morleena Kenwig is a character in the Charles Dickens novel Nicholas Nickleby.)

Here’s a second-hand account printed in Notes & Queries that same month:

Louvima, a new Christian Name — It is stated in the newspapers — but it may not be correct; for, as Theodore Hook said to the credulous old lady, “Those rascally newspapers will say anything” — that Sir Francis Knollys, private secretary to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, has named his first-born Louvima, which is an ingenious amalgam of the names of the three daughters of the Prince — Louise, Victoria, and Maud.

After the news of Louvima Knollys got out, the rare name Louvima was given to baby girls in England (and other English-speaking regions) considerably more often. This lasted until the late 1910s.

Here are some of the Louvimas I found:

  • Hilda Louvima Pritchard, born in 1888 in England
  • Evangeline Louvima Brumbley, born in 1888 in England
  • Louvima Perline Ann Cunningham, born in 1889 in Arkansas
  • Lilian Louvima Daisy Blake, born in 1889 in South Africa
  • Louvima Primrose Massey-Hicks, born in 1890 in South Africa
  • Nina Louvima Shann, born in 1892 in New Zealand
  • Louvima Evelina Youell, born in 1893 in England
  • Louvima Griswold, born in 1894 in Idaho
  • Annie Louvima Brooksband, born in 1895 in England
  • Rita Louvima Faulkner, born in 1898 in Canada
  • Louvima Marie Crosson, born in 1901 in Florida
  • Louvima Naylor, born in 1902 in Iowa
  • Laura Louvima McKenzie, born in 1902 in Michigan
  • Florence Louvima Major, born in 1908 in Canada

I also discovered more than a few horses and boats named Louvima during this period.

One of those horses, in fact, belonged to the royal family itself. Which makes me wonder: who came up with the name originally? Was it Francis Knollys’ invention, or did he get the idea from someone in the royal family? Maybe one of the sisters? (The Romanov sisters — Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia — referred to themselves by the acronym “OTMA.”)

Louvima Knollys grew up very close to the royal family. In this 1897 photo, for instance, she’s posing with Queen Alexandra. The Queen is dressed as Marguerite de Valois, wife of Henry IV of France, and Louvima is dressed as a pageboy.

Louvima married twice, and had a son with her first husband (who died during WWI). Through her son she had four grandchildren and at least six great-grandchildren. As far as I can tell, Louvima’s unique name has not (yet) been passed down to any of her descendants.

Sources:

  • Bede, Cuthbert. “Louvima, a New Christian Name.” Notes & Queries 7 Jul. 1888: 6.
  • Dutt, William Alfred. The King’s Homeland. London: Adam and Charles Black, 1904.
  • Francis Knollys, 1st Viscount Knollys – The Peerage
  • “Ladies’ Gossip.” Otago Witness 6 Jul. 1888: 33.
  • Legge, Edward. King George and the Royal Family. London: Grant Richards Ltd., 1918.
  • “Society Wedding.” Straits Times 20 Dec. 1911: 7.

Image: The three daughters of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra (1883) by Sydney Prior Hall

[Does Louvima remind anyone else of Luzviminda?]