How popular is the baby name Inez 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 Inez.

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Popularity of the baby name Inez


Posts that mention the name Inez

Louisiana family with 16 children

kinderfest

From the late 1890s to the early 1920s, Ernest Deme Grabert and Alexina Grabert (née Pertuit) of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, welcomed 16 children — most of whom had names starting with the letter W.

Here are all 16 siblings, from oldest to youngest:

  1. Wilson (born in 1897)
  2. William (b. 1898), nicknamed “T-Lam”
  3. Witness (b. 1899)
  4. Wenise (b. 1900)
  5. Winnie (b. 1902)
  6. Willie B. (b. 1903)
  7. Wilda Josephine (b. 1904)
  8. Inez (b. 1906)
  9. Wilfred (b. 1908)
  10. Wildon Joseph (b. 1909)
  11. Wiltz Joseph (b. 1911)
  12. Norris Jean (b. 1913)
  13. Ernest D. (b. 1915)
  14. Lena (b. 1917)
  15. Darris J. (b. 1920)
  16. Dave J. (b. 1922)

Wildon (#10) went on to have seven daughters, most of whom had L-names: Leola, Lula, Lorella, Lorina, Lillie, Eloyse, and Louella.

Sources:

Image: Ein Kinderfest (1868) by Ludwig Knaus

[Latest update: Sept. 2024]

A smattering of Mormon baby names

Jessie Jensen published her annual Mormon baby names post a few weeks ago. Some highlights:

  • Dallin/Dallen, tied for “Most Mormon name.” Dallin H. Oaks is a prominent member of the LDS church and a former president of BYU.
  • Rexalyn: “Ask your doctor if Rexalyn™ is right for you.”
  • Roczen, which has popped up in Australia recently as well. The influence is probably German motorcycle racer Ken Roczen.
  • Tannin, the “Absolute Worst Name This Year” thanks to the Biblical sea monster association. (For what it’s worth, I thought Zoei was worse.)

One commenter mentioned the historical Malan family of Ogden, Utah. Most of the 16 children were given alphabetical names:

  • Alexis Bartholomew (b. 1873)
  • Claudius Daniel (b. 1875)
  • Ernest Francis (b. 1876)
  • Jeremiah (b. 1878)
  • Gideon Highly (b. 1879)
  • Inez Jane (b. 1881)
  • Kit (b. 1883)
  • Lawrence Maxwell (b. 1884)
  • Nahum Oscar (b. 1886)
  • Parley Quince (b. 1888)
  • Ray Stephen (b. 1890)
  • Teresa Una (b. 1890)
  • Verna Winona (b. 1893)
  • X Y Zella (b. 1895)
  • Benjamin (b. 1896)
  • Louise Pauline (b. 1898)

Another commenter mentioned an aunt “named OE, it was pronounced oh-EEE, just like the letters,” who was born in Utah in early 1900s. (Reminds me of Io.)

Have you come across any interesting Mormon names lately?

Popular and unique baby names in Portugal, 2014

Flag of Portugal
Flag of Portugal

According to data from the Instituto dos Registos e Notariado (IRN), the most popular baby names in Portugal in 2014 were Maria and João.

Here are Portugal’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2014:

Girl namesBoy names
1. Maria, 4,809 baby girls
2. Matilde, 2,062
3. Leonor, 1,859
4. Beatriz, 1,378
5. Mariana, 1,330
6. Carolina, 1,295
7. Ana, 1120
8. Inês, 1062 (Agnes)
9. Sofia, 980
10. Margarida, 930
1. João, 1,809 baby boys
2. Rodrigo, 1,783
3. Francisco, 1,718
4. Martim, 1,663
5. Santiago, 1,428
6. Tomás, 1,400
7. Afonso, 1,378
8. Duarte, 1,244 (Edward)
9. Miguel, 1,207
10. Guilherme, 1,206

Those #1 names remind me of all the old U.S. popularity lists (e.g., 1910s) that were dominated by Mary and John.

But that’s not all — Portugal released all of its baby name data (yay!) via the newspaper Público (you can download the full list here), so let’s check out a few of the unique baby names used only once last year:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Deegbi, Dricla, Elizangila, Euclidiana, Gelciline, Hotchali, Jacymiilly, Jeckliny, Ketley, Luwejíyane, MaMa, Naziriti, Quedna, Quintazinha, Swazilene, Taldia, Túlipa, Uhenya, Vissolela, WysmaraAriful, Award, Djezzy, Ducu, Eviquene, Iunussa, Lheônidas, Lyrics, Melquizedeque, Odissei, Otchali, Ovidiu, Stalone, Uxío, Visual, Wivendelson, Womna, Yax, Yowami, Zniber

Finally, here are Portugal’s top 10 compound names for each gender:

Girl namesBoy names
1. Maria Inês, 603 baby girls
2. Maria Leonor, 496
3. Maria Francisca, 315
4. Maria Clara, 257
5. Maria Carolina, 164
6. Ana Carolina 161
7. Maria João 140
8. Maria Beatriz 140
9. Lara Sofia, 130
10. Maria Luísa, 125
1. João Pedro, 343 baby boys
2. Rodrigo Miguel, 204
3. Pedro Miguel, 174
4. Afonso Miguel, 140
5. João Miguel, 138
6. Diogo Miguel, 136
7. João Maria, 127
8. Duarte Miguel, 124
9. Tiago Miguel, 123
10. José Pedro, 114

I’m guessing that compound names are counted separately from single names, but I’m not entirely sure.

Source: Em 2014 as meninas continuaram a responder por Maria, os rapazes por João (found by Skizzo — thank you!)

Image: Adapted from Flag of Portugal (public domain)

Rare female names in Glasgow, 1914

In July, Eleanor of British Baby Names shared a 100-year-old newspaper article called What’s in a Name?

It said that a “correspondent of leisure” had kept track of all the female names that appeared in the Marriages and Deaths column of the Glasgow Herald during the second half of 1913. He spotted a total of 208 different names (shared among 3,500 women) during that time. The two most popular? Margaret and Mary. The next-most-popular were Elizabeth, Agnes, Janet and Isabella. The least popular were the 73 that appeared only once, including:

Ailsa
Alys
Anchoria
Carina
Carmen
Cassa
Celia
Clarinda
Clementine
Daphne
Diana
Easter
Elvina
Estella
Helga
Herminia
Honor
Illma
Inez
Iris
Lavinia
Livonia
Lucinda
Sadie
Sybella
Tooze
Una
Veir
Vera
Zoe

If this anonymous name-tracking correspondent were alive today, he would definitely be a baby name blogger. :)

Which of the above names do you like best?

Source: “What’s in a Name?” Western Daily Press 10 Jan. 1914: 7.