How popular is the baby name Jesus 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 Jesus.

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Popularity of the baby name Jesus


Posts that mention the name Jesus

Interesting baby name analysis

I only recently noticed that Behind the Name, one of my favorite websites for baby name definitions, has a page called United States Popularity Analysis — a “computer-created analysis of the United States top 1000 names for the period 1880 to 2012.”

The page has some interesting top ten lists. Here are three of them:

Most Volatile

Boy NamesGirl Names
1. Elvis
2. Brooks
3. Santiago
4. Lincoln
5. Ernie
6. Wyatt
7. Quincy
8. Rogers
9. Alec
10. Dexter		1. Juliet
2. Lea
3. Justine
4. Martina
5. Felicia
6. Delilah
7. Selina
8. Lonnie
9. Magdalena
10. Katy

Biggest Recoveries

Boy NamesGirl Names
1. Silas
2. Isaiah
3. Caleb
4. Emmett
5. Jordan
6. Josiah
7. Harrison
8. Ezra
9. Jason
10. Jesus		1. Ella
2. Stella
3. Sadie
4. Sophie
5. Isabella
6. Lily
7. Hannah
8. Isabelle
9. Sophia
10. Lilly

Biggest Flash-in-the-Pans

Boy NamesGirl Names
1. Dewey
2. Woodrow
3. Dale
4. Barry
5. Rick
6. Greg
7. Roosevelt
8. Shannon
9. Kim
10. Darrin		1. Debra
2. Lori
3. Tammy
4. Pamela
5. Tracy
6. Cheryl
7. Beverly
8. Dawn
9. Diane
10. Kathy

I wonder what the formulas were. I’d love to try the same analysis on the SSA’s full list, using raw numbers instead of rankings. Wonder how much overlap there’d be…

Baby born with heart outside body, named Corazon (“heart”)

María Corazón Rafael, 1939
María Corazón

On August 7, 1939, a 7-pound baby girl was born in a maternity hospital in the Tondo slum district of Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

Everything about the baby was normal except for one thing: she was born with her heart outside of her body.

As doctors debated what to do, they protected her tiny heart with a stemless cocktail glass.

She slept and ate normally, though her crib was lined with hot water bottles and she was fed with an eye-dropper. Whenever she cried, her exposed heart would beat faster.

Her mother, Esperanza Rafael, was told about her daughter’s condition several days after the birth. By then, a Catholic priest had already baptized her with the name María Corazón, Spanish for “Mary Heart.” (Typically the name María Corazón refers to the Virgin Mary, but, in this case, of course, it also referred to the baby’s dire medical condition.)

Esperanza attributed her daughter’s malformation to her worship of a picture of the Sacred Heart, which features the exposed heart of Jesus Christ.

Visitors flocked to see María Corazón. One of these visitors was Aurora Quezón, wife of Philippine president Manuel Quezón. Another was Manila Mayor Juan Posadas, who “told doctors to spare no efforts to save the child … he would pay all expenses.”

María Corazón’s father, a 31-year-old mining company clerk and law student, turned down various commercial offers, including “a $10,000 offer by a Manila sportsman to take the baby to the New York World’s Fair by clipper plane.”

The doctors refused to risk María’s life by performing an operation, but they did bring in a movie camera to record the baby and her exposed heart.

The resultant film was to be donated to medical science, said Dr. Guillermo del Castillo, who delivered Maria, for study in the hope that some technique could be devised to correct such future abnormalities should it fail to aid its donor.

After living a total of 162 hours and 25 minutes, baby María Corazón died of bronchial pneumonia on August 14.

Sources:

  • “Baby Born in Philippines With Heart Outside Body.” Milwaukee Journal 8 Aug. 1939: 6.
  • “Credits Worship for Baby With Heart Outside Body.” New London Evening Day 9 Aug. 1939: 9.
  • “News Summary.” Philippine Magazine. 36.9 (1939): 358.
  • “Operation on Baby Ruled Out.” Leader-Post 10 Aug. 1939: 5.
  • “Outside Heart Baby Dies After Living for Week in Hospital in Manila.” Evening Independent 14 Aug. 1939: 3.
  • “People in The News.” Life 28 Aug. 1939: 20.
  • “Picture Held Reason for Malformation.” Leader-Post 9 Aug. 1939: 1.
  • Wilson, Richard C. “Child With Heart Outside Body Amazes Entire Medical Profession.” Bend Bulletin 10 Aug. 1939: 1.

Image: © 1939 Life

Texas octuplets: Chukwuebuka, Chidinma, Chinecherem, Chimaijem…

kinderfest

In December of 1998, the Chukwu octuplets (6 girls and 2 boys) were born in Texas to Nigerian parents Nkem Chukwu (mom) and Iyke Louis Udobi (dad).

The first baby was born naturally on December 8th, while the other seven were born via Caesarean section on December 20th.

Here are their names:

  1. Ebuka (pronounced uh-BOO-kuh), nickname of
    • Chukwuebuka (meaning “God is great”) Nkemjika Louis
  2. Chidi (CHEE-dee)
    • Chidinma (“God is good”) Anulika Louis
  3. Echerem (CHER-um)
    • Chinecherem (“God thinks of me”) Nwabugwu Louis
  4. Chima (CHEE-muh)
    • Chimaijem (“God knows my way”) Otito Louis
  5. Odera (oh-DARE-uh)
    • Chijindu (“God has my life”) Chidera Louis
  6. Ikem (EE-kem)
    • Chukwubuikem (“God is my strength”) Maduabuchi Louis
  7. Jioke (YOH-kee)
    • Chijioke (“God holds my portion”) Chinedum Louis
  8. Gorom (gorm)
    • Chinagorom (“God is merciful”) Chidiebere Louis

Ikem and Jioke (#6 and #7) are the two boys.

When the names were announced (via a statement released by Texas Children’s Hospital), the parents said that they named the children in the tradition of the Igbo (EE-boh) ethnic group. They also explained:

It is very special to us that God gave us our babies at the same time of the year that we celebrate the birth of His Son, Jesus. The names we have given our children symbolize the strength, guidance and grace we know God will give them throughout their lives.

The seven surviving octuplets turned 10 on Saturday. (Odera, #5, passed away a week after she was born.)

Today, the family — which also includes a younger sister, 6-year-old Favor — lives in a 6-bedroom home in a suburb of Houston.

The kids agreed that Ebuka was the best student and Ikem was the messiest eater. Chima is the tallest, and all the kids pointed to her when asked whom the boss of the group was.

Sources: Chukwu octuplets – Wikipedia, Houston octuplets get names (UPI), Surviving Houston octuplets turn 10 years old (NBC News), Octuplets’ names reflect parents’ tradition (Tampa Bay Times)