How popular is the baby name Horatio 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 Horatio.

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Popularity of the baby name Horatio


Posts that mention the name Horatio

Babies named for Cuthbert Collingwood

Vice-admiral Cuthbert Collingwood (1748-1810)
Cuthbert Collingwood

When Admiral Horatio Nelson was killed during the day-long Battle of Trafalgar in late 1805, Nelson’s second-in-command, Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, assumed control of the British fleet. About an hour later, the Royal Navy won the battle.

Over the next few years, dozens of baby boys in England (and elsewhere) were named in honor of Collingwood. Most were given his surname as either a first or middle name, but others received his full name:

  • Cuthbert Collingwood Hope, b. 1805 in England
  • Cuthbert Collingwood Beazley, b. 1806 in England
  • Cuthbert Collingwood Quimby, b. 1806 in the U.S. (Massachusetts)
  • Cuthbert Collingwood Medcalf, b. 1807 in England
  • Cuthbert Collingwood Gordon, b. 1808 in the U.S. (New Hampshire)
  • Cuthbert Collingwood Hall, b. 1809 in England
  • Cuthbert Collingwood Oxley, b. 1810 in Canada

Several of his namesakes were also named after Nelson:

  • Nelson Collingwood Marselis, b. 1806 in the U.S. (New York)
  • Collingwood Nelson Simmonds, b. circa 1806 in England
  • Nelson Collingwood Robins, b. 1809 in England

The rare name Cuthbert (which last appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1955) derives from the Old English words cuþ, meaning “known,” and beorht, meaning “bright.”

Sources: Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood – Wikipedia, Battle of Trafalgar Timeline – National Maritime Museum, FamilySearch.org, Wiktionary

Image: Adapted from Cuthbert Collingwood, Baron Collingwood by Henry Howard

Babies named for the Battle of Trafalgar

Battle of Trafalgar (1805)
Battle of Trafalgar

The Battle of Trafalgar — during which an outnumbered Royal Navy fleet (under Horatio Nelson) soundly defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet (under Napoleon Bonaparte) — took place off the south-western coast of Spain, near Cape Trafalgar, on October 21, 1805.

The battle cost Nelson his life, but the decisive victory “cemented Britain’s reputation as ruler of the seas.”

Dozens of babies in England were given the name “Trafalgar,” typically as a middle, over the next few years. Most of them were boys, but several were girls. Some examples…

  • John Trafalgar Black, b. 1806 in England
  • John Trafalgar Cotton, b. 1807 in England
  • Joseph Trafalgar Dowding, b. circa 1806 in England
  • Jane Trafalgar Grapes, b. 1805 in England
    • Among her siblings were William Nile (b. circa 1798), Charles Wellington (b. circa 1811), and Charlotte Waterloo (b. circa 1815) — likely named for the Battle of the Nile, the Duke of Wellington, and the Battle of Waterloo.
  • William Trafalgar Hannah, b. 1806 in England
  • Richard Trafalgar Hillgrove, b. 1807 in England
  • Robert Trafalgar May, b. 1807 in England
  • Louisa Trafalgar Priske, b. 1805 in England
  • John Trafalgar Salmon, b. 1805 in England
  • Samuel Trafalgar Sparks, b. 1807 in England

A good number of these babies — including Nelson Trafalgar Black (b. 1805 in Scotland) and Horatio Trafalgar Taylor (b. 1806 in England) — were also named in honor of the late admiral.

The Spanish place-name Trafalgar can be traced back to a pair of Arabic words. The first, taraf, means “edge, extremity” (in reference to the cape itself), and the second may mean “west.”

Sources: Battle of Trafalgar – Wikipedia, Battle of Trafalgar – Britannica, Battle of Trafalgar Timeline – National Maritime Museum, Cape Trafalgar – Wikipedia, FamilySearch.org

Image: Adapted from Battle of Trafalgar (1836) by William Clarkson Stanfield

Babies named for Horatio Nelson

Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758-1805)
Horatio Nelson

During his 37-year military career, British naval commander Horatio Nelson was directly responsible for several major victories.

One of them was the Battle of the Nile, in which the Royal Navy defeated Napoleon Bonaparte‘s French Mediterranean fleet off the coast of Egypt in August of 1798.

The destruction of the French fleet not only changed the balance of power in the Mediterranean, but also inspired expectant parents (both in the UK and elsewhere) to name several hundred baby boys after Nelson. Some examples…

  • Horatio Nelson Bakewell, b. 1798 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Davison, b. 1799 in Canada
  • Horatio Nelson Freeman, b. 1799 in the U.S. (Vermont)
  • Horatio Nelson Mallalieu, b. 1799 in England
  • John Horatio Nelson Merryweather, b. 1799 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Thompson, b. 1798 in England

A handful of the names even featured Nelson’s rank:

Nelson’s most famous (and final) engagement was the Battle of Trafalgar, in which the Royal Navy defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet off the coast of Spain in October of 1805.

News of the victory — which ensured Britain’s safety from Napoleonic invasion — and of Nelson’s death by enemy fire brought about a second (and larger) wave of namesakes, including…

  • Horatio Nelson Abbott, b. 1805 in the U.S. (Connecticut)
  • Horatio Nelson Andrews, b. 1806 in Canada
  • Horatio Nelson Chandler, b. 1806 in the U.S. (New Hampshire)
  • Horatio Nelson Crosby, b. 1806 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Dallas, b. 1805 in Scotland
  • Horatio Nelson Edmond, b. 1806 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Gardner, b. 1805 in Canada
  • Horatio Nelson Goddard, b. 1806 in England
  • John Horatio Nelson Houghton, b. 1805 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Hurlbut, b. 1806 in the U.S. (New York)
  • Horatio Nelson Scot, b. 1806 in Scotland
  • Joseph Horatio Nelson Strickland, b. 1806 in England

Again, some of the names featured Nelson’s rank, as well as various titles:

  • Viscount Nelson Ball, b. 1805 in the U.S. (Vermont)
  • Lord Nelson Holt, b. 1807 in England
  • Admiral Nelson Lumbard, b. 1807 in the U.S. (Massachusetts)

Dozens of the second-wave names also commemorated Nelson’s last battle:

  • Nelson Trafalgar McPherson, b. 1805 in Scotland
  • Horatio Trafalgar James Sidaway, b. 1805 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Trafalgar Hope, b. 1806 in Scotland
  • Trafalgar Nelson Francis, b. circa 1807 in England
  • Horatio Trafalgar Beck, b. 1807 in England

Impressively, Horatio Nelson fought the battles of the Nile and Trafalgar after having already lost sight in his right eye (in 1793) and most of his right arm (in 1797).

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson (1799) by Lemuel Francis Abbott

Rare baby name: Castara

The book "Castara" (1634) by William Habington
“Castara“

While searching for “star” names recently, I discovered the curious name Castara, which was given to dozens of baby girls in the U.S. during the 1800s.

Some examples…

“Castara” reminded me of both Castor, the name from Greek mythology (and also the name of a star, coincidentally), and Castoria, the name of the old-timey patent medicine.

But I think the most likely explanation for this one is literature.

A volume of poetry called Castara was published anonymously in London in 1634. Later editions of the collection included extra poems and revealed the name of the author: William Habington, who’d invented the name “Castara” as a pseudonym for his wife, Lucy Herbert.

Habington’s poems had titles like…

  • “To Castara, Softly singing to her selfe.”
  • “To Castara, Inquiring why I loved her.”
  • “To Cupid, Upon a dimple in Castara’s cheeke.”
  • “To Castara, Upon a trembling kisse at departure.”
  • “To Castara, Weeping.”
  • “To Castara, Upon an embrace.”

Many of the poems praised Castara’s innocence and purity, so I believe Habington created the pseudonym from the Latin word castus, which means “morally pure,” “chaste.” (Castus is the word from which chaste derives, in fact.)

One researcher noted that, after Habington’s poems were published, the name Castara “rapidly [became] a generic name for a woman one might be in love with” in literature. For instance, in British writer Anna Maria Porter’s novel A Sailor’s Friendship (1805), the hero (who was probably modeled after Admiral Horatio Nelson) had a love interest named Castara.

Habington’s poems could be found in anthologies published in the U.S. during the 19th century. Several are featured in Richard Henry Stoddard’s The Loves and Heroines of the Poets (1861), for example. I also spotted mentions of Castara in various American periodicals (e.g., “…eloquent lines of Habington to his Castara…” in a California newspaper in 1857).

Despite this, the name Castara never caught on like some of the other names coined by writers — names such as Lorna, Pamela, Vanessa, and Wendy.

What are your thoughts on the name Castara?

Sources:

Image: Clipping from Castara