How popular is the baby name Juliet in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out all the blog posts that mention the name Juliet.
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Years ago, I mentioned that Malta was the only nation I knew of in which parents were not allowed to register baby names in the national language.
Why couldn’t they? Because Malta’s government IT systems could not handle Maltese font.
But “a collective overhaul across government IT systems [is now] being done to ensure Maltese orthography is accepted across the board,” and Malta will soon be allowing parents to officially bestow traditional Maltese names.
Maltese, a Semitic language that descended from Sicilian Arabic, has six letters that English doesn’t have. One of them, ie, is easy enough to replicate on a computer; the other five (below) are not.
Here’s how to pronounce them, roughly:
C-with-a-dot makes a ch-sound
G-with-a-dot makes a j-sound (without the dot, G makes a g-sound)
Gh-with-a-line is silent*
H-with-a-line makes an h-sound (without the line, H is silent*)
Z-with-a-dot makes a z-sound (without the dot, Z makes a ts-sound)
Without these letters, a large number of traditional Maltese names are unable to be rendered properly.
(I would love to list some of those names, but, ironically, I can’t — WordPress hasn’t played nicely with special characters ever since the introduction of the Gutenberg editor a few years back.)
Anyway…well done, Malta! I’m proud of you. :)
Sources:
Mallette, Karla. European Modernity and the Arab Mediterranean. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010.
*More on the silent letters: “Maltese orthography continues to reflect the presence of some letters that are no longer pronounced in order to indicate semantic provenance — a convenience that makes it possible, among other things, to look up words in the dictionary under the three-consonant root (as one does with Semitic languages).”
Update, 6/13/20: Here’s an image of a list of traditional Maltese names…
The list above includes Maltese names that are equivalent to: Angelo, Beatrice, Francis, Elizabeth, Jacob, James, George, Juliet, Justin, Joseph, John, Hilda, Lucia, Luigi, Theresa, and Vincent.
P.S. While gathering these names, I happened to find out that the surname Buttigieg — as in former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg — is Maltese and means “poulterer.” Specifically, it comes from a pair of Sicilian Arabic words meaning “father, master, owner” and “fowl.”
Update, 1/2/21: “A baby boy called Ganni is the first child to be officially named using Maltese fonts after an IT system change that recognises letters in the national language” (Times of Malta, Dec. 23). Of course that uppercase G-with-a-dot won’t render correctly in this post, though, so here’s an image:
Here are hundreds of baby names that have a numerological value of “5.”
I’ve sub-categorized them by overall totals, because I think that some of the intermediate numbers could have special significance to people as well.
Within each group, I’ve listed up to ten of the most popular “5” names per gender (according to the current U.S. rankings).
Beneath all the names are some ways you could interpret the numerological value of “5,” including descriptions from two different numerological systems.
5 via 14
The following baby names add up to 14, which reduces to five (1+4=5).
“140” boy names: Dontavious, Markanthony, Fitzwilliam, Prometheus
5 via 149
The boy name Montavious adds up to 149, which reduces to five (1+4+9=14; 1+4=5).
What Does “5” Mean?
First, we’ll look at the significance assigned to “5” by two different numerological sources. Second, and more importantly, ask yourself if “5” or any of the intermediate numbers above have any special significance to you.
Numerological Attributes
“5” (the pentad) according to the Pythagoreans:
“They called the pentad ‘lack of strife,’ not only because aether, the fifth element, which is set apart on its own, remains unchanging, while there is strife and change among the things under it, from the moon to the Earth, but also because the primary two different and dissimilar kinds of number, even and odd, are as it were reconciled and knitted together by the pentad”
“The pentad is the first number to encompass the specific identity of all number[s], since it encompasses 2, the first even number, and 3, the first odd number. Hence it is called ‘marriage,’ since it is formed of male and female.”
“The pentad is highly expressive of justice, and justice comprehends all the other virtues […] it is a kind of justice, on the analogy of a weighing instrument.” (i.e., It is the central number in the row of numbers from 1 to 9.)
“Because it levels out inequality, they call it ‘Providence’ and ‘justice’ (division, as it were) […] Likewise, it is called ‘nuptial’ and ‘androgyny’ and ‘demigod’ – the latter not only because it is half of ten, which is divine, but also because in its special diagram it is assigned the central place. And it is called ‘twin’ because it divides in two the decad, which is otherwise indivisible […] and ‘heart-like’ because of the analogy of the heart being assigned the center in living creatures.”
“Nature separated each of the extremities of our bodily part (I mean, the extremities of our feet and hands) in a five-fold way, into fingers and toes.”
“5” according to Edgar Cayce:
“Five – a change imminent, ever, in the activities of whatever influence with which it may be associated” (reading 261-14).
“Five – as seen, a change” (reading 5751-1).
“Five always active – and double the two, and one – or three and two, which it is the sum of. Hence, as is questioned here, no factor is more active than would be that of a five…in any activity. Five being the active number” (reading 137-119).
Personal/Cultural Significance
Does “5” — or do any of the other numbers above (e.g., 23, 50, 77, 131) — have any special significance to you?
Think about your own preferences and personal experiences: lucky numbers, birth dates, music, sports, and so on. Maybe you like how “23” reminds you of chromosomes and genetics, for example.
Also think about associations you may have picked up from your culture, your religion, or society in general.
If you have any interesting insights about the number 5, or any of the other numbers above, please leave a comment!
Source: Theologumena Arithmeticae, attributed to Iamblichus (c.250-c.330).
According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Quindon was one of the top debut names of 1996:
1998: 11 baby boys named Quindon
1997: 23 baby boys named Quindon
1996: 67 baby boys named Quindon [debut]
1995: unlisted
1994: unlisted
(The variant form Quinden popped up the same year.)
If you remember the 1996 movie William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, then you’ll remember who kicked off the name: young singer Quindon Tarver (b. 1982), who covered two songs for the film: Prince’s “When Doves Cry” and Rozalla’s “Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good).” In fact, he can be seen singing the latter song in the film’s wedding scene.
What are your thoughts on the name Quindon? Would you use it?
After working out for three weeks straight (yay!) you decide to reward yourself by going to the pastry shop and buying some French macarons. The nice lady at the register is pregnant, and she’s openly asking each customer for baby name ideas. When it’s your turn, you request a few extra details so you can tailor your suggestions. She says:
I like the names Leona, Amelia, and Lucia, but my spouse likes Carla, Sofia, Josephine, and Juliet. What are girl names we’d both like?
You’re a name-lover, and you could potentially give her dozens of ideas on the spot. But there’s a line of hungry people behind you, so you only have time to give her five baby name recommendations before stepping out of the way.
But here’s the fun part: Instead of blurting out the first five names you come up with (which is what you’d be forced to do in real life) you get to press a magical “pause” button, brainstorm for a bit, and then “unpause” the scenario to offer her the best five names you can think of.
Here are a few things to keep in mind as you brainstorm:
Be independent. Decide on your five names before looking at anyone else’s five names.
Be sincere. Would you honestly suggest these particular baby names out loud to a stranger in public?
Five names only! All names beyond the first five in your comment will be either deleted or replaced with nonsense words.
Finally, here’s the request again:
I like the names Leona, Amelia, and Lucia, but my spouse likes Carla, Sofia, Josephine, and Juliet. What are girl names we’d both like?
English actor Richard Burbage and English playwright William Shakespeare were close friends. So close that Burbage named his first daughter Juliet, very likely after the character from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
So Juliet Burbage, who was born in 1608 and only lived a few months, could have been the very first baby girl in history to be named after the famous character.
Burbage and his wife Winifred also had children named Richard, Francis, Anne, Winifred, Julia (probably named in honor of her deceased older sister), William and Sara. Some speculate that Anne and William were named after William Shakespeare and his wife Anne, but there’s no way to know for sure.
Have you ever met anyone named Juliet? Do you like the name?
Sources:
Collier, J. Payne. The History of English Dramatic Poetry to the Time of Shakespeare; and Annals of the Stage to the Restoration. London: George Bell & Sons, 1879.
Neil, Samuel. Shakespeare. London: Houlston and Wright, 1861.
Wilson, Ian. Shakespeare: The Evidence: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Man and His Work. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1999.
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