How popular is the baby name Flavia 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 Flavia.

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Popularity of the baby name Flavia


Posts that mention the name Flavia

Baby name needed: Girl name for Diogo and Cruz’s sister

A reader named Debra would like some help naming baby número três:

We are just not finding THE name. I’m American, husband is Portuguese and we live in the states. We have two boys; Diogo and Cruz. I am due any day with #3 a GIRL. We definitely want a Portuguese name.

Our criteria…the name needs to be relatively easy for Americans to pronounce. Don’t want a name in the top 100 in the states. I prefer names that aren’t automatically shortened to nn – Debra to Debbie, Kimberly to Kim. I don’t usually care for names that end with the “e” sound, ex. Zoe. The name should be beautiful and sophisticated, more than cute.

I really like Sofia and Isabel, but they are just too popular in the U.S. right now. Other names we like are Beatriz (too hard to properly pronounce in US?), and Mara.

Please help us. I’d love to have a name before she is born! I’m 38 weeks today!

I think Mara would be a great choice, based on the criteria. Here are some other names that might also work:

  • Ana
  • Aurora
  • Carla
  • Clara
  • Flávia
  • Gloria
  • Lídia
  • Luísa
  • Magda
  • Marina
  • Marta
  • Monica
  • Paula
  • Rosa
  • Sílvia (a good alternative to Sofia?)
  • Teresa

Do you like any of the above for the baby sister of Diogo and Cruz? What other (preferably Portuguese) names would you suggest to Debra?

Baby name needed: Girl name for twin sister

A reader named Ayelet is expecting twins. She and her husband won’t be finding out the babies’ genders ahead of time, so they’d like to be prepared with two boy names and two girl names.

So far they’ve got August and Dominic for the boy names and Celia for one of the girl names. Once they select a second girl name they’ll be all set.

They’d like something that isn’t common (i.e. outside of the top 500). They’re considering Aliyah, Angelie, Aurelia, Eva, Isla, Juliet and Valentina, but Aliena is the current favorite:

The name we love is Aliena. She is a character in Ken Follett’s novel “The Pillars of the Earth,” which is set in twelfth-century England. But we can’t get past the “alien” in the name. I have an Alienor in my family tree, so I thought about going the Eleanor route, but I don’t like that spelling; I think I’m in love with that “Ali” sequence.

The baby’s surname will start and end with the letter n, like Nelson.

First, about Aliena. It’s a pretty name, but I’d also be worried about that “alien” association. I don’t know if I’d risk it as a first name, but it might work well as a middle.

The only alternative I can come up with is Eliana, which is an (unrelated) anagram of Aliena. But it’s ranked 193rd and climbing, so it might be a bit too popular.

Here are some other possibilities. None of these are currently in the top 500, and the ones with asterisks have a-l-i sequences.

Adina
Antonia
Amity
Adele/Adeline
Anneliese
Beatrice
Catalina*
Callista
Coralie*
Corinna
Davina
Estella
Elsa
Eloise
Esme
Flavia
Ginevra
Gwendolyn
Helena
Irina
Isadora
Judith/Judy
Leona
Lavinia
Marina
Martina
Mara
Olive
Oriana
Odette
Paulina
Regina
Rosalie*
Rosaline*
Theresa
Vera
Viola
Verity
Venetia
Zinnia

Finally, there’s the option of simply feminizing one of the boy names. August could become Augusta or Augustina; Dominic could become Dominique or Dominica.

Which of the above girl names do you like best with August, Dominic and/or Celia? What other girl names would you suggest to Ayelet?

Baby name needed: Middle name for Lucinda

A reader named Andria would like a middle name for Lucinda. The baby’s last name will be a T-name similar to Kendall.

I tried to come up with suggestions that (like Lucinda) are old-fashioned and/or Latin-based. Also, because Lucinda and the surname share several consonants, I aimed for names that add some new sounds to the mix. Here’s the result:

Beatrix
Belle
Catharine
Cathleen
Claire
Corinne
Eleanor
Elodie
Flavia
Flora
Frances
Georgia
Grace
Hannah
Helen
Honor
Isabel
Isla
Jean
Judith
Julia
Junia
Marian
May
Miriam
Nicole
Pauline
Pearl
Phoebe
Rose
Ruth
Simone
Sophie
Susan
Vera
Viola

My preliminary list included a bunch of long names. I cut most of them…but the ones below I liked too much not to mention:

  • Cordelia
  • Elizabeth
  • Eugenia
  • Josephine
  • Priscilla
  • Sophronia
  • Valentina

Which of the above do you like best with Lucinda? What other names would you suggest?

60 Unique female saint names: Belina, Genoveva, Maura, Savina

Theresa, Joan, Monica, Clare…if you’re thinking about female saint names, these are probably some of the first names that come to mind.

But what if you’re looking for a name that’s a little less ordinary?

Well, things get tricky. Many other female saint names range from unstylish (e.g. Agnes, Gertrude) to basically unusable (e.g. Sexburga, Eustochium).

But some lady-saints do have cool, unusual names. To prove it, I’ve gone through the entire Roman Martyrology (and a few other sources) and collected sixty names that I think might appeal to modern parents. Here they are, ordered by feast day:

  1. St. Geneviève, Frankish, 6th century. Feast day: January 3.
  2. St. Talida, Egyptian, 4th century. Feast day: January 5.
  3. St. Genoveva Torres Morales, Spanish, 20th century. Her name is the Spanish form of Geneviève. Feast day: January 5.
  4. St. Marciana, Roman, 4th century. Feast day: January 9.
  5. St. Savina, Roman, 4th century. Feast day: January 30.
  6. St. Marcella, Roman, 5th century. Feast day: January 31.
  7. St. Viridiana, Italian, 13th century. Feast day: February 1.
  8. St. Cinnia, Irish, 5th century. In Irish, the letter C is always hard (i.e. pronounced like a K). Feast day: February 1.
  9. Sts. Maura, various places and centuries. Feast days include February 13, May 3, and November 30.
  10. St. Belina, French, 12th century. Feast day: February 19.
  11. St. Romana, Roman, 4th century. She may be merely legendary. Feast day: February 23.
  12. Bl. Villana de’Botti, Italian, 14th century. Feast day: February 28.
  13. St. Foila, Irish, 6th century. Also recorded as Faile and Faoile (possibly pronounced FWEE-la), her name may mean seagull in certain dialects. Feast day: March 3.
  14. St. Fina, Italian, 13th century. Her full name may have been Serafina. Feast day: March 12.
  15. St. Maria Gemma Umberta Pia Galgani, Italian, 1878-1903. Feast day: April 11.
  16. St. Vissia, Roman, 3rd century. Feast day: April 12.
  17. St. Domnina, Roman, 1st century. Feast day: April 14.
  18. St. Anthia, Roman, 2nd century. Feast day: April 18.
  19. St. Zita, Italian, 13th century. Patroness of maids and domestic servants. Dante wrote her into his Inferno [Canto XXI, line 38] during the early 1300s. Feast day: April 27.
  20. St. Tertulla, Numidian, 3rd century. Feast day: April 29.
  21. St. Henedina, Roman, 2nd century. Feast day: May 14.
  22. Sts. Basilla, various places and centuries. Feast days include May 17, May 20, and August 29.
  23. St. Emmelia, Anatolian, 4th century. Feast day: May 30.
  24. St. Melosa, Greek, unknown century. Feast day: June 1.
  25. Sts. Melania, both Roman, both 5th century. Melania the Elder is the paternal grandmother of Melania the Younger. Feast days: June 8 and December 31.
  26. Sts. Julitta, both Anatolian, both 4th century. Julitta is a diminutive of Julia. Feast days: June 16 and July 30.
  27. Sts. Marina, various places and centuries. Feast days include June 18, July 17, and July 18.
  28. St. Demetria, Roman, 4th century. Feast day: June 21.
  29. St. Lucina, Roman, 1st century. Feast day: June 30. (Several other saints were also named Lucina.)
  30. Sts. Cyrilla, one Egyptian, 4th century, the other Roman, 3rd century. Feast days: July 5 and October 28.
  31. St. Triphina, Breton, 6th century. Feast day: July 5.
  32. St. Sunniva, Irish (but associated with Norway), 10th century. The name has become moderately popular in Norway within the past decade or so. Feast day: July 8.
  33. St. Severa, Frankish, 7th century. Feast day: July 20. (Several other saints were also named Severa.)
  34. St. Liliosa, Spanish, 9th century. Feast day: July 27.
  35. St. Serapia, Roman, 2nd century. She was a slave belonging to St. Sabina (below). Feast day: July 29.
  36. St. Clelia Barbieri, Italian, 19th century. Feast day: July 13.
  37. Bl. Kateri Tekakwitham, Mohawk, 17th century. Kateri is a Mohawk rendering of the name Catherine. Feast day: July 14.
  38. St. Kinga, Polish, 13th century. Also known as Cunegunda and Kunigunda, she is the patroness of Poland and Lithuania. Feast day: July 24.
  39. Sts. Lucilla, both Roman, both 3th century. Feast days: July 29 and August 25.
  40. St. Seraphina, unknown location, 5th century. Feast day: July 29.
  41. St. Serena, Roman, 3rd century. Likely a legendary saint. Feast day: August 16.
  42. St. Sabina, Roman, 2nd century. One of her slaves was St. Serapia (above). Feast day: August 29.
  43. St. Ammia, Anatolian, 3rd century. Feast day: August 31.
  44. St. Verena, Egyptian (but associated with Switzerland), 3rd century. Feast day: September 1.
  45. St. Rosalia, Italian, 12th century. In Palermo, a festino is held every July 15th in her honor. Feast day: September 4.
  46. St. Melitina, Greek, 2nd century. Feast day: September 15.
  47. Sts. Aurelia, one possibly Italian, unknown century, the other Austrian, 11th century. Feast days: September 25 and October 15.
  48. St. Lioba, English (but associated with Germany), 8th century. Also known as Leoba, Liobgetha, and Leobgytha. Feast day: September 28.
  49. St. Flavia, Roman, unknown century. Feast day: October 5th.
  50. St. Flaviana, possibly Frankish, unknown century. Feast day: October 5.
  51. St. Galla, Roman, 6th century. Her name is likely based on the Latin word gallus, meaning either Gaulish (if capitalized) or rooster (if uncapitalized). Feast day: October 5.
  52. St. Saula, possibly British, possibly 4rd century. Or, she could be legendary. Associated with St. Ursula. Feast day: October 20.
  53. St. Cilinia, Frankish, 5th century. Feast day: October 21.
  54. St. Alodia, Spanish, 9th century. Feast day: October 22.
  55. St. Cyrenia, Anatolian, 4th century. Feast day: November 1.
  56. St. Carina, Anatolian, 4th century. Feast day: November 7.
  57. St. Apphia, Anatolian, 1st century. Feast day: November 22.
  58. St. Attalia, Austrian, 8th century. Feast day: December 3.
  59. St. Asella, Roman, 5th century. Feast day: December 6.
  60. St. Anysia, Greek, 4th century. Feast day: December 30.

Of all the names in the series, only four (Maura, Marina, Serena, and Carina…see any trends?) currently rank among the top 1,000 baby names in the nation. Eleven others ranked in previous years, but not in 2007.

Did you see any names you liked?

More importantly, did I miss any good ones?

Update, 2016: Here are a few more…

  • St. Hyacintha Mariscotti (Italian: Giacinta), 17th century. Feast day: January 30.
  • St. Humility, 13th century. Feast: March 22.
  • St. Maravillas de Jesús, 20th century. (Maravillas means “wonders” in Spanish.) Feast day: December 11.