How popular is the baby name Ily 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 Ily.

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Popularity of the baby name Ily


Posts that mention the name Ily

Baby born to Liverpool F.C. fans, named Ynwa

Liverpool F.C. logo

Norwegian couple Tor-Eric and Eirin Iversen, big fans of Liverpool F.C. (the English soccer team), welcomed a baby girl back in 2010 and named her Karoline Ynwa.

The middle name Ynwa is an acronym that stands for “You’ll Never Walk Alone” — the song that was adopted as Liverpool’s anthem in the 1960s. It originally comes from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel (1945).

Tor-Eric and Eirin weren’t sure about the name Ynwa (which they pronounce “yee-nwa”) at first, but it grew on them over time. Before Ynwa they’d considered the name Gerrard (for Steven Gerrard) but decided that Gerrard wouldn’t work well for a girl.

Pål Christian Møller, head of Liverpool FC Supporters Club Norway, says the Liverpool-inspired baby name he sees most often is simply “Liverpool.” (He said if he could give himself another name, he’d add Oliver and become “O Liverpål.”) Another acronym-based Liverpool name he’s seen is Tia, which stands for “this is Anfield.” Anfield is the stadium at which Liverpool F.C. has been playing since the 1890s.

Now that news of a child named Ynwa has surfaced, do you think Liverpool fans in England will start using the name? And, if so, do you think Ynwa will ever reach the minimum usage requirement of 3 babies per year to be included on a future England and Wales baby name list?

Sources: Ynwa (4) fikk ikke velge favorittlag selv, Liverpool FC fans from Norway name their daughter YNWA (discovered originally via Clare’s Name News)

P.S. Other modern-day acronym baby names include Ily, Ilys & Ktyal. I’ve also heard rumors that the baby name Yolo now exists, but I have yet to see proof of this.

Baby girl’s middle name being chosen via raffle

Drew and Tanya Myers of Fort Worth, Texas, want you to choose a middle name for their baby girl, due in August.

Her first name will be Ily, pronounced eye-lee, an acronym name that stands for “I love you.”

To be the one to choose Ily’s middle name, you’ve got to (1) pay $25 to enter a raffle and (2) be the randomly chosen winner on July 1.

Drew and Tanya aren’t keeping the money. All proceeds will be donated to the Fort Worth Pregnancy Center, “a Christian-based organization that puts an emphasis on a child’s life” (i.e., that is pro-life).

Here are some of the rules they’ve set regarding Ily’s middle name:

  • “[We] have first right of refusal on any name — this is simply to ensure that no one names our daughter Ily Hotdog Myers. If we use our right of refusal, the raffle winner will get the opportunity to submit another name.”
  • “The middle name cannot start with the letter “B” — we’re trying to avoid ridicule with the initials “IBM.””
  • “We want there to be a story behind the name — it doesn’t have to be an elaborate yarn, but we’d love the name to have meaning behind it.”

So far, a couple dozen raffle entries have already been purchased.

While I’m not a fan of for-profit baby naming schemes, I do appreciate that they’re doing this to raise money for charity (even if it’s the sort of charity that many people will not want to support). I also really like that they’re putting an emphasis on story.

UPDATE: According to this post about the delivery, they baby was named Ily Anabelle.

Sources: Win raffle to decide child’s middle name, I Want YOU to Name My Daughter

Baby name story: Sarah

rescue helicopter

In February of 1956, Joyce Atherton of Ugthorpe, England, went into labor. An ambulance from nearby Whitby couldn’t reach her because of the snow on the ground, so helicopter pilot Ron Salt of the No. 275 Squadron RAF (Royal Air Force) flew in, picked her up, and transported her to the hospital.

Days later, a baby girl arrived. She was named Mary Sarah Atherton. Where did her middle name come from? It was inspired by the acronym SARAH, “Search And Rescue And Homing,” as Ron’s group was also known as a Search and Rescue and Homing Squadron.

(SARAH was actually a piece of equipment the squadron pilots used. It was a miniature transmitter developed in the early 1950s to help rescuers locate downed pilots, especially during air-sea rescues.)

Source: “Sarah Named After Her Air Rescuers.” Bulletin and Scots Pictorial 19 Mar. 1956: 5.

[Other acronym baby names: Kytal, Ily, Ilys, Ynwa, Liati]

Acronym baby names: Ily, Ilys, Ktyal

I’ve seen acronym baby names like Ily (I love you) and Ilys (I love you so) before.

And I’m familiar with all those crazy Soviet-era acronym names like Lunio (Lenin is dead, but his ideas remain) and Vilorik (Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, liberator of workers and peasants).

But this is the first Ktyal I’ve ever seen:

When Verna Cornelia Price gave birth to a daughter four years ago, she and her husband named the baby Ktyal, an acronym for “Know That You Are Loved.”

How do you think they pronounce Ktyal?

Have you spotted any other acronym baby names lately?

Source: Pfitzinger, Julie. “Ann Bancroft Awards.” Minneapolis Star-Tribune 25 Sept. 2006.