How popular is the baby name Florence 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 Florence.

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Popularity of the baby name Florence


Posts that mention the name Florence

Names in the Tollemache-Tollemache family

British Army officer Leone Sextus Tollemache (1884-1917)
Leone Sextus Tollemache

The Rev. Ralph William Lyonel Tollemache-Tollemache (1826-1895), a clergyman in the Church of England, gave his fifteen children some bizarre (and bizarrely long) names.

Here are the names of the children he had with his first wife, Caroline:

  1. Lyonel Felix Carteret Eugene Tollemache (b. 1854)
  2. Florence Caroline Artemisia Hume Tollemache (b. 1855)
  3. Evelyne Clementina Wentworth Cornelia Maude Tollemache (b. 1856)
  4. Granville Grey Marchmont Manners Plantagenet Tollemache (b. 1858)
  5. Marchmont Murray Grasett Reginald Stanhope Plantagenet Tollemache (b. 1860)

And here are the names of the children he had with his second wife, Dora:

  1. Dora Viola Gertrude Irenez de Orellana Dysart Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1869)
  2. Mabel Ethel Helmingham Huntingtower Beatrice Blazonberrie Evangeline Vise de Lou de Orellana Plantagenet Saxon Toedmag Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1872)
  3. Lyonesse Matilda Dora Ida Agnes Ernestine Curson Paulet Wilbraham Joyce Eugénie Bentley Saxonia Dysart Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1874)
  4. Lyulph Ydwallo Odin Nestor Egbert Lyonel Toedmag Hugh Erchenwyne Saxon Esa Cromwell Orma Nevill Dysart Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1876)
    • His first fifteen initials spell “Lyonel the second.”
  5. Lyona Decima Veronica Esyth Undine Cyssa Hylda Rowena Viola Adele Thyra Ursula Ysabel Blanche Lelias Dysart Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1878)
  6. Leo Quintus Tollemache-Tollemache de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1879)
  7. Lyonella Fredegunda Cuthberga Ethelswytha Ideth Ysabel Grace Monica de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1882)
  8. Leone Sextus Denys Oswolf Fraudatifilius Tollemache-Tollemache de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1884)
    • He was his father’s sixth son, hence “Sextus.” “Fraudatifilius” comes from the Latin phrase fraudati filius, meaning “son of the defrauded one.”
  9. Lyonetta Edith Regina Valentine Myra Polwarth Avelina Philippa Violantha de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1887)
  10. Lyonulph Cospatrick Bruce Berkeley Jermyn Tullibardine Petersham de Orellana Dysart Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (b. 1892)

What are your thoughts on these names?

Sources:

Barbara Gale: The first hurricane-inspired baby name?

hurricane

In 1950, the United States Weather Bureau started naming Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms.

The initial names came from a radio alphabet that began Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, Easy, Fox and George. Because the alphabet happened to include several human names, you could say the first Atlantic storms that were “named” were the Charlies and Georges of 1950-1952.

It wasn’t until three years later that the USWB starting using human names exclusively. In 1953, it replaced the phonetic alphabet with a list of female names. (Male names weren’t thrown into the mix until 1979.)

The first storm with a female name was Tropical Storm Alice — the first storm of the 1953 storm season. I couldn’t find any babies named after Alice, but I did find one named after the second storm, Hurricane Barbara.

Hurricane Barbara traveled up the Eastern seaboard in mid-August. It struck the Outer Banks (islands off the North Carolina coast) on August 13. That night, a baby girl born in New Bern, N.C., to Mr. and Mrs. N. E. Ward was named Barbara Gale.

There were six other named storms (Carol, Dolly, Edna, Florence, Gail and Hazel) that season, but I could only find a namesake for one of them — Florence.

Hurricane Florence struck the Florida panhandle on September 26. Earlier that day, a baby born in Crestview, Florida, to Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Holt was named Sandra Florence.

Since 1953, many more babies — hundreds, probably — have been named for Atlantic hurricanes. Hurricane-inspired baby names I’ve written about here include Hazel (1954), Alicia (1983), Elena (1985), Gloria (1985), Andrew (1992) and Isabel (2003).

P.S. One of the things that helped popularize the idea of naming hurricanes in the first place was George R. Stewart’s book Storm (1941), which also had an influence on the baby name Mariah.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Hurricane Elena by NASA (public domain)

Celebrity baby name: Endellion

Prime Minister David Cameron (in 2016)

British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, Samantha, welcomed a baby girl on Tuesday (Aug. 24). Their fourth child was born a month early while the Camerons were on vacation in Cornwall.

Regarding the baby’s name, Cameron was quoted as saying, “It was very exciting having a baby in Cornwall. We’ll have to have something Cornish in there somewhere.”

And indeed they did get something Cornish in there. The baby was named Florence Rose Endellion. Endellion is in honor of St Endellion, a village in north Cornwall. The village name is based on the name of a 6th century Cornish saint, St. Endelienta.

The Camerons’ older children are named Ivan, Arthur and Nancy. (Ivan passed away in 2009 at age 6.)

Sources: British PM announces new baby’s name, Cameron ‘proud dad’ after wife Samantha has baby girl, Camerons reveal daughter’s name
Image: Adapted from David Cameron announces his resignation by Tom Evans under OGL 3.

Popular and unique baby names in Quebec (Canada), 2009

Flag of Quebec
Flag of Quebec

The most popular baby names in the Canadian province of Quebec in 2009 were:

Girl Names

  1. Léa
  2. Florence
  3. Emma
  4. Rosalie
  5. Jade
  6. Juliette
  7. Camille
  8. Gabrielle
  9. Maika
  10. Mia

Boy Names

  1. William
  2. Olivier
  3. Thomas
  4. Nathan
  5. Alexis
  6. Felix
  7. Gabriel
  8. Samuel
  9. Antoine
  10. Xavier

Now that that’s out of the way, it’s time for the fun stuff. Here are some of the baby names that were bestowed only once in Quebec last year. (I didn’t see another Kierkegaard, but I did spot a Rousseau!)

  • Attila Norbert (boy)
  • Aztlan (boy) – Legendary homeland of the Nahua (Aztecs).
  • Bienheureux (boy) – French for “very happy” or “blessed.”
  • Billary (girl) – Bill + Hilary? Could it be some sort of tribute?
  • Carnegie Ursula (girl)
  • Fraidy (girl) – I was actually having a conversation about about cats when I noticed this one.
  • Galadrielle (girl) – Galadriel with a French twist.
  • God-Day (boy)
  • Greace (girl) and Alizee Greace (girl) – Is Greace supposed to be Grace? Looks more like “grease” to me.
  • Great-Rousseau (girl)
  • Harvest (girl)
  • Heavenly-Trinity (girl)
  • Jeanne-Bosco (girl) – Surely inspired by St. John Bosco.
  • Kinda Ahmed (girl) – Not definitely Ahmed, but kinda Ahmed.
  • Klervi (girl) – It looks made-up, but it’s not. Comes from the name of an obscure saint.
  • Limerick (boy)
  • Nervastone (boy)
  • Precious-Angel (girl)
  • Rafter (boy)
  • Ratzy (girl) – Well, much of January ’09 was part of the Year of the Rat. Maybe that’s where this comes from.
  • Rose-Desneiges (girl) – Des neiges is French for “of the snows.”
  • Schneider-Himrick (boy) – Sounds like a tool company.
  • Shadey (girl)
  • Syntyche (girl) – Means “with fate” in ancient Greek.
  • Tayden (boy) – First time I’ve seen this particular -ayden.
  • Turquoise Gold (girl) – School colors, maybe?
  • Wilberlyne (girl) – Kind of a cute way to feminize Wilber.

Have you had a chance to look through the list? If so, did you notice any interesting names?

Source: List of Baby Names – Retraite Québec

Image: Adapted from Flag of Quebec (public domain)