How popular is the baby name Juan 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 Juan.
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In 1971, a list of African names published in Jet magazine had an impact on U.S. baby names.
In 1977, a list of African names published in Ebony magazine had a similar impact on U.S. baby names.
And in between, in 1973, a list of African names was published in an interesting place: U.S. newspapers nationwide. That is, not in a magazine written for an African-American audience specifically.
African names in U.S. newspapers, Aug. 1973
So…did this newspaper-based list have an impact as well?
Yes, turns out it had roughly the same impact as the other two lists.
The opening line of the article was: “Here’s help for young black couples wanting to give their infants African names.” Toward the end, the article featured a list of 23 names. Most of these names ended up seeing movement in the data, including 10 (!) debuts.
The article cited as its source The Book of African Names (1970) by Chief Osuntoki. As it turns out, though, the Chief wasn’t a real person. He was a fictional character invented by the publisher, Drum and Spear Press. Here’s a quote from the book’s introduction, purportedly written by the Chief:
It is strange, indeed, it hurts my heart, that brothers from afar often come to greet me bearing such names as “Willie”, “Juan” and “François”. But we can not be hard against them, for they have been misled.
Of the 23 names listed above, the one that debuted most impressively was Jelani. In fact, Jelani ended up tied for 43rd on the list of the top boy-name debuts of all time.
1976: 55 baby boys named Jelani
1975: 46 baby boys and 6 baby girls named Jelani [debut as a girl name]
1974: 53 baby boys named Jelani
1973: 36 baby boys named Jelani [overall debut]
1972: unlisted
1971: unlisted
Which of those 23 names do you like best?
Sources:
“African chief explains symbolism of names.” San Bernardino County Sun 15 Aug. 1973: B-4.
Markle, Seth M. A Motorcycle on Hell Run: Tanzania, Black Power, and the Uncertain Future of Pan-Africanism, 1964-1974. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 2017.
The name Viveca may bring to mind American actress Vivica Fox, but she wasn’t the woman who put this name it on the map way back in in 1948:
1950: 15 baby girls named Viveca
1949: 13 baby girls named Viveca
1948: 7 baby girls named Viveca [debut]
1947: unlisted
1946: unlisted
The influence here was Swedish actress Viveca Lindfors — born Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors in Uppsala in 1920.
She’d been a film star in Europe since the early ’40s, but didn’t start appearing in movies in the U.S. until 1948.
One of her earliest movies for American audiences was Adventures of Don Juan (1948), in which she played Queen Margaret, the married love interest of Don Juan (played by Errol Flynn).
Viveca (and her name) were featured on the front cover of Life magazine in February of 1949. The blurb describing the cover began:
Viveca (pronounced Viv’eca) Lindfors is 28 years old, has brown hair and blue eyes, loves snow and hates hats, and has a very independent personality.
Her name can be traced back to the German name Wiebke (pronounced VEEB-kuh), the feminine form of Wiebe [VEE-buh]. They’re ultimately based upon the Germanic element wig, meaning “war.”
The spelling Vivica emerged in the data a few years later, and (as you’d expect) saw a big jump in usage in the ’90s, thanks to Vivica Fox.
What are your thoughts on the name Viveca? Which spelling do you prefer?
The last native speaker of Manx Gaelic — a fisherman named Ned — died in the mid-1970s.
Since then, one of the ways the Isle of Man has attempted to keep the Manx language alive is through baby names.
In mid-2003, the government released a short booklet, “Some Manx First Names” (pdf), to encourage expectant parents to give their babies traditional Manx names.
In recent years there has been an increase in the use of Manx names but often prospective parents were only aware of the more common names. The booklet includes the more popular names, for example Juan (well born) for a boy and Breeshey (shining) for a girl and less commonly used names for example Fintan (a little fair one) for a boy and Blaa (flower) for a girl.
I have yet to see any Manx names at the top of the Isle of Man rankings (e.g., 2020), but perhaps they’ll get there one day.
In the meanwhile, here’s a sampling of names from the booklet. The booklet’s original definitions are in quotes, and I’ve added some extra info in parentheses.
Male Manx Names
Austeyn, “venerable” (form of Augustine)
Conylt/Conal, “love” (form of Conall, “strong wolf”)
Finlo, “fair Scandinavian” (form of Finlugh, possibly “fair Lugh“)
Gilno/Dilno, “saint’s servant” (from the Manx words for “servant,” guilley, and “saint,” noo)
Mayl, “like God [Michael]”
Ramsey, “place name” (Ramsey is the Isle of Man’s second-largest town; “wild garlic island” in Old English)
Stoill, “with a will” (I can’t figure out the derivation here)
Female Manx Names
Aalid/Aelid, “beauty” (from the Manx word for “beauty,” aalid)
Ailstreena, “feminine of Alister” (both come from Alexander, “defending men”)
Creena, “wise” (from the Manx word for “wise,” creeney)
Malane, “magnificent [Madeline]” (form of Magdalene, “of Magdala“)
Onnee, “grace [Annie]”
Renny, “a fern” (from the Manx word for “fern,” rhennee)
Vorana, “great” (I can’t figure out the derivation here either)
If you’re on the hunt for baby names with a numerological value of 1, you’re in luck! Because today’s post features hundreds of 1-names.
Before we get to the names, though — how do we know that they’re “ones” in numerology?
Turning names into numbers
Here’s how to calculate the numerological value of a name.
First, for each letter, come up with a number to represent that letter’s position in the alphabet. (Letter A would be number 1, letter B would be number 2, and so forth.) Then, add all the numbers together. If the sum has two or more digits, add the digits together recursively until the result is a single digit. That single digit is the name’s numerological value.
For instance, the letters in the name Taylor correspond to the numbers 20, 1, 25, 12, 15, and 18. The sum of these numbers is 91. The digits of 91 added together equal 10, and the digits of 10 added together equal 1 — the numerological value of Taylor.
Baby names with a value of 1
Below you’ll find the most popular 1-names per gender, according to the latest U.S. baby name data. I’ve further sub-categorized them by total sums — just in case any of those larger numbers are significant to anyone.
1 via 10
The letters in the following baby names add up to 10, which reduces to one (1+0=1).
Girl names (1 via 10)
Boy name (1 via 10)
Eda, Dea, Ebba, Adda, Ade
Ade
1 via 19
The letters in the following baby names add up to 19, which reduces to one (1+9=10; 1+0=1).
Girl names (1 via 19)
Boy names (1 via 19)
Mae, Ema, Abbie, Alea, Aela
Adam, Jace, Dan, Jed, Jah
1 via 28
The letters in the following baby names add up to 28, which reduces to one (2+8=10; 1+0=1).
There’s no definitive answer, unfortunately, because various numerological systems exist, and each one has its own interpretation of the number one. That said, if we look at a couple of modern numerology/astrology websites, we see 1 being described as “leader,” “independent,” “determined,” “creative,” and “self-assured.”
We can also look at associations, which are a bit more concrete. Here are a few things that are associated with the number 1:
Unity
Uniqueness
First place (as in sports)
Unicorn
Monolith
I kept the list short because you can associate the number 1 with just about anything. It’s universal, you might say. (See what I did there?)
What does the number 1 mean to you? What are your strongest associations with the number?
P.S. To see names with other numerological values, check out the posts for the numbers two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine.
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