How popular is the baby name Herva 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 Herva.
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In last week’s post on Radames, I mentioned the televised 1949 concert performance of the opera Aida in which the lead part was sung by soprano Herva Nelli.
According to her 1994 obituary in Gramophone magazine, Herva was born in Italy in 1909 and named after French politician Gustave Hervé, who was at that time an ardent socialist (though he later changed his views).
The surname Hervé has the same root as the name Harvey: both come from a Breton personal name made up of the elements haer, meaning “battle,” and vy, meaning “worthy.”
What are your thoughts on the name Herva? (Would you consider using it as a feminine version of Harvey?)
Source: Hanks, Patrick. (Ed.) Dictionary of American Family Names. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
The curious name Radames has appeared in the U.S. baby name data rather consistently since the early ’50s.
1952: 5 baby boys named Radames – all 5 born in NY
1951: 6 baby boys named Radames – all 6 born in NY
1950: 5 baby boys named Radames [debut]
1949: unlisted
1948: unlisted
The name Radames was created by Giuseppe Verdi for the opera Aida (1871), which was set in ancient Egypt. The character Radamès was a soldier involved in a love triangle: he was in love with Aida, the Ethiopian slave of Princess Amneris, who was in love with him.
A full concert-version of Aida was performed by the NBC Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Arturo Toscanini) in New York City in 1949. The performance — featuring tenor Richard Tucker as Radamès and soprano Herva Nelli as Aida — aired not just on radio, but also on television. Due to length, it was divided into two broadcasts (March 26 and April 2).
Thanks to these broadcasts, more people experienced a performance of Aida at one time “than had seen the work performed in the previous 60-some years of its existence.” This could account for the debut of Radames in 1950. After all, the name Aida saw increased usage in 1949, and much of that increase happened in New York specifically:
1951: 105 baby girls named Aida – 39 (37%) born in NY
1950: 107 baby girls named Aida – 42 (39%) born in NY
1949: 112 baby girls named Aida – 50 (45%) born in NY
1948: 73 baby girls named Aida – 31 (42%) born in NY
1947: 76 baby girls named Aida – 32 (42%) born in NY
That said…there’s also immigration to consider.
Puerto Rican immigration to New York City peaked in the early 1950s. The name was already in use on the island, so some of the 1950s New York usage of Radames is no doubt attributable to Puerto Rican families. (And this is on top of the pre-existing low-level usage of Radames in the city thanks to the Italians.) So immigration is another possible explanation for the debut.
But, getting back to the opera…in October of 1954, a movie-version of Aida (starring teenage Italian actress Sophia Loren) was released in the U.S. The same year, we see higher usage of both Aida and Radames:
Girls named Aida
Boys named Radames
1956
163 [rank: 766th]
9
1955
173 [rank: 718th]
7
1954
193 [rank: 669th†]
10
1953
129 [rank: 810th]
.
1952
128 [rank: 800th]
5
†Peak ranking
So we can assume that pop culture had at least some influence on these names during the ’50s.
What are your thoughts on the name Radames? Which factor — radio/TV or immigration — do you think had more of an influence on the usage of Radames in 1950?
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