How popular is the baby name Katrina 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 Katrina.

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Popularity of the baby name Katrina


Posts that mention the name Katrina

Popular baby names in Malta, 2012

Flag of Malta
Flag of Malta

The most popular baby names in Malta were released back in May.

According to the National Statistics Office, the country’s top names (or name groups, actually) were Matthew/Matthias/Matteo for boys and Eliza/Lisa/Elsie/Elyse/Bettina for girls.

Here are Malta’s top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2012:

Girl Names

  1. Eliza/Lisa/Elsie/Elyse/Bettina, 98 baby girls
  2. Elena/Elenia/Helena/Ella, 91
  3. Julia/Yulia/Julianne, 67
  4. Emma/Emmanuela/Ema, 54
  5. Maya/Mia/Myah, 47
  6. Lea/Leah/Leia, 46
  7. Christina/Christa/Christabel/Krystle, 45
  8. Mikela/Makaila/Michelle, 44
  9. Chloe/Khloe, Maria/Marija/Mariah/Marie, 39 each [2-way tie]
  10. Amy/Aimee, 37
  11. Kailey/Kai/Kaleigh, 34
  12. Martina/Martine, 32
  13. Catherine/Katrina/Kate/Katya, 30
  14. Jade/Giada, 28
  15. Anna/Hannah/Ann, 27
  16. Amber/Amberley, Sophia/Sophie, 24 each [2-way tie]
  17. Jasmine/Yasmine/Yasmeen, Chanel/Shanelle, 23 each [2-way tie]
  18. Emilia/Emily/Emelie, 21
  19. Hailey/Hailee/Hayleigh, Alison/Alice/Alicia/Alyssa/Aly, Faith, 19 each [3-way tie]
  20. Aaliyah/Alaya, 18

Boy Names

  1. Matthew/Matthias/Matteo, 101 baby boys
  2. Jacob/Jake, 98
  3. Luke/Luca/Lucas, 87
  4. Zachary/Zak/Zack, 58
  5. Kaiden/Kayden/Kai, 56
  6. John/Jean/Jonathan/Juan/Gan, 50
  7. Aiden/Ayden, 47
  8. Nathan/Nathaniel, 45
  9. Isaac/Izaak, Liam/William, 43 each [2-way tie]
  10. Alexander/Alessandro/Alec, 42
  11. Benjamin/Ben, 40
  12. Michael/Miguel/Mikhail, 39
  13. Nicholas/Nick/Nicolai, 36
  14. Jaden/Jayden/Jadon, Joseph/Beppe/Giuseppe/Josef, 35 each [2-way tie]
  15. Daniel/Dan/Danil, 30
  16. Yannick/Yan, Jack/Jackson/Jacques, Thomas/Tommas/Tommy, 29 each [3-way tie]
  17. Mason/Maison, Kyle/Kail, Andrew/Andreas/Andre/Andy, 28 each [3-way tie]
  18. James/Jamie/Jayme, 26
  19. Gabriel/Gabrijel/Gabryl, 24
  20. Julian/Julien/Guiliano, Denzel/Danzel/Denzilee, 22 each [2-way tie]

The 98 baby girls of the Eliza/Lisa/Elsie/Elyse/Bettina group represent 4.8% of all baby girls born in Malta in 2012, and the 101 baby boys of the Matthew/Matthias/Matteo group represent 4.6% of all baby boys.

I have three earlier Malta lists (2006, 2007, 2009) here at NBN, but there are even more (2002 through 2012, inclusive) at the NSO website — use the link below.

Source: Naming Babies: 2012 (NSO)

Image: Adapted from Flag of Malta (public domain)

Are baby names influenced by hurricane names?

hurricane

Yes.

After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, baby names starting with the letter K increased in popularity by 9%.

After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, baby names starting with A increased in popularity by 7%.

People weren’t naming their children after the storms. (Usage of both Katrina and Andrew decreased after each respective hurricane.)

But people did suddenly have an affinity for like-sounding names.

Why?

Because we like familiar things. (Remember the name-letter effect?) When a named storm is in the news, we hear that name repeatedly. If it’s a particularly bad storm, we hear the name constantly.

And as the name becomes more familiar to us, we start to like it more and more. (Even if we don’t realize it!)

So in 2012, we shouldn’t necessarily expect the usage of the name Sandy to increase.

But we might see an uptick in the number of babies given names similar to Sandy — names like Sarah, Sammy, Sydney, Mandy and Brandy.

Source: Berger, Jonah. “Hurricanes and Hot Baby Names.” New York Times 9 Nov. 2012.

Image (Hurricane Elena) by NASA

The minor mystery of Maginel

I recently learned that actress Anne Baxter had three daughters: Katrina, Melissa and Maginel. Katrina and Melissa are names I’d seen before, but Maginel was new to me. So of course I had to dig a little deeper.

Turns out Maginel’s name is pronounced with a hard g. She was named after a great aunt who was known as Maginel–a contracted form of Maggie Nell, which was short for Margaret Ellen.

Great Aunt Maginel was the younger sister of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Anne Baxter’s grandfather. (Talk about an impressive family tree!)

Her streamlined nickname reminds me of Melvil, which is the way librarian Melville Dewey used to spell his first name.

Sources:

  • Rosenfield, Paul. “Theatrical Life of a Misfit.” Los Angeles Times. 5 Dec. 1976: S53.
  • Savoy, Maggie. “Anne Baxter Keeps Her Wigs On.” Los Angeles Times. 6 Nov. 1969: F1.
  • Secrest, Meryle. Frank Lloyd Wright: A Biography. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 1988.

Baby name needed: Boy or girl name for Liam’s sibling

A reader named Marg is expecting her second child (gender unknown) and would like some name suggestions. Her first is a boy named Liam Isaac. She says:

For a girls name I am really loving the name Eden, but don’t have a middle name for it yet?

But its really with the boys names that we are stuck. We live in Canada, but both come from families that have immigrated from Holland, and the dutch culture is a big part of our family and our traditions. We actually named Liam after my Opa, William, but wanted to shorten it to Liam.

Anyway, all that to say that we do like some Dutch names, such as Johan (which is already taken by a family member) Hendrik (ditto) and Theo. Theo we both actually REALLY like but it reminds us of two people that we really are not big fans of, and we’re not sure we can get over that.

My first thought was: Don’t give up on Theo! Not-so-hot name associations can sometimes be overridden when you give the name to a baby (who will mean a lot more to you than those two other people combined–a much stronger association). Doesn’t work for everyone, but has worked for some.

Because Liam is a take on William, maybe Henry for Hendrik, or Hans for Johan? I think “Liam and Henry” is especially cute.

Here are a few other boy names that might work (many are also found in Dutch):

Adam
Alexander/Alex
Benjamin
Caleb
Felix
Gabriel
Jacob
Jonas
Joseph
Max		Nathan
Nicholas
Noah
Owen
Paul
Philip/Filip
Robert/Robin
Samuel
Simon
Thomas

As far as middles for Eden go, I think I’d opt for something decidedly feminine:

Abigail
Amelia
Charlotte
Elizabeth
Felicia
Harriet*
Henrietta*		Johanna*
Katrina
Michelle
Olivia
Sabrina
Sophia
Theodora*

*Family-inspired

Which of the above names do you like best for Liam’s younger sibling? What other names would you suggest to Marg?