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

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 stories: Tsunami

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which occurred in late December, triggered a deadly tsunami that reached a number of countries.

  • In Kerala, India, a couple named Kutten and Priyanka managed to escape the waves. Their newborn baby girl was rescued by a relative. They named their daughter Tsunami to commemorate the event, and their survival.
  • In the village of Baan Nam Khem in Thailand, a pregnant woman named Od Judet was swept up by the wave. “There were nine pregnant women in the village then. Only my baby survived. So we called her Tsunami.”
  • On Little Andaman island, Lakshmi Narain Roy and his pregnant wife Namita escaped the tsunami with the help of a cycle-rickshaw. Soon after, Namita gave birth to a baby boy, but suffered from complications. They made the 7-hour journey to a hospital in Port Blair, where doctors suggested that they name the baby Tsunami. So they did.

Parents in the U.S. started naming their babies Tsunami that year as well. The name debuted in the SSA’s data in 2004 and showed up again in 2005:

  • 2006: unlisted
  • 2005: 7 baby girls named Tsunami
  • 2004: 5 baby girls named Tsunami [debut]
  • 2003: unlisted

The Japanese word tsunami means “harbor wave.”

Interesting contrast: Hurricane Katrina (2005), which destroyed much of New Orleans eight months later, ultimately caused the popularity of the baby name Katrina to plummet in the U.S.

Update: Several years later, in 2009, a tsunami struck the Samoa Islands. In the village of Saleapaga, the two-day old son of Fineaso and Terri Agaalenuu was carried to safety by a relative. Originally named Narineaso, the baby was re-named Tsunami following his lucky escape.

Sources:

Image: The Great Wave off Kanagawa (1831) by Hokusai

[Latest update: Nov. 2023]

Popular baby names in Malta, 2007

Flag of Malta
Flag of Malta

Malta seems to be having some trouble tallying baby names. According to the island’s National Statistics Office, these were the top boy names of 2007:

  1. Luke/Luca, 98 baby boys
  2. Matthew/Matteo/Matthias, 88
  3. Jake, 56
  4. Julian, 40
  5. John/Gianni/Jean/Juan/Sean, 38
  6. Nicholas/Nikolai & Aiden, 37 (tie)
  7. Kieran, 35
  8. Isaac, 34
  9. Andrew/André/Andrea & Zack, 33 (tie)
  10. Nathan/Nathaniel, 32
  11. Jeremy/Jerome & James/Jamie & Jayden, 31 (tie)
  12. Daniel & Gabriel & Miguel, 29 (tie)
  13. Liam, 28
  14. Alexander/Alessandro/Alejandro & Neil, 26 (tie)
  15. Michael/Mikiel/Mikail/Michele & Carl/Carlo/Karl & Kyle, 24 (3-way tie)
  16. Benjamin & Thomas/Tommaso, 20 (tie)
  17. Christian/Kristian, 18
  18. Mark/Marc/Marco, 17
  19. Dejan & Denzel, 16 (tie)
  20. Kayden, 13

There’s nothing wrong with the list itself. But problems begin when you try to compare this list with the 2006 list.

For instance, in 2006, 49 boys were named Michael or Michele. A year later, there’s no way to tell if either of these names has became more or less popular — all we know is that 24 boys were named Michael, Michele Mikiel or Mikail, and that 29 boys were named Miguel specifically.

And that’s just the beginning. Between 2006 and 2007, Nicholas became Nicholas/Nikolai, Thomas became Thomas/Tommaso, and James became James/Jamie. Alexander became Alexander/Alessandro/Alejandro, while (accent-less) Andre became Andrew/André/Andrea. All of these odd groupings make it impossible to draw conclusions about how the popularity level of a specific name has changed over time.

I am also suspicious about spelling. Aidan (#6) and Jaydon (#19) from the 2006 list seemed to morph into Aiden (#6) and Jayden (#11) in 2007.

Finally — and this may be nit-picky — I dislike how Jeremy and Jerome were lumped together. The names may look alike, but they are unrelated.

I have issues with the girl names as well:

  1. Maria/Mariah, 73 baby girls
  2. Martina, 47
  3. Julia/Giulia, 42
  4. Christina/Kristina/Christine/Christa, 41
  5. Elisa/Eliza/Elizabeth, 39
  6. Sarah, 36
  7. Emma & Maya, 34 (tie)
  8. Nicole/Nicola/Nicolette, 31
  9. Amy & Jasmine/Yasmine, 30 (tie)
  10. Michela/Michelle, 29
  11. Katrina/Katie & Shania, 27 (tie)
  12. Aaliyah & Hayley & Jade, 21 (tie)
  13. Alexandra/Alessandra/Alessia, 20
  14. Francesca & Ylenia, 19 (tie)
  15. Kylie, 18
  16. Kaya, 17
  17. Emily & Kayleigh, 16 (tie)
  18. Kelsey & Leah & Rihanna & Thea, 15 (4-way tie)
  19. Ella & Elena & Kiera & Kyra, 14 (4-way tie)
  20. Hannah, 13

Between 2006 and 2007, Julia became Julia/Giula, Nicole became Nicole/Nicola/Nicolette, Jasmin (sans e) became Jasmine/Yasmine, and Elisa/Eliza became Elisa/Eliza/Elisabeth. Michela went from being grouped with Michaela to being grouped with Michelle.

And, as with the boys, I don’t think spelling stayed consistent. Hailey (#10, 2006) became Hayley (#12, 2007) and Kaylie (#17, 2006) became Kayleigh (#17, 2007).

Malta, you’re driving me crazy! I hope the top names of 2008 are listed more logically, i.e., using name-groupings that have been used before.

Source: Naming Babies: 2007 [pdf]

Image: Adapted from Flag of Malta (public domain)

Baby whose embryo survived Katrina flooding named Noah

The lives of Louisiana couple Glen and Rebekah Markham were thrown into disarray by Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005.

Rebekah and the couple’s toddler evacuated before the storm hit, while Glen, a New Orleans police officer, stayed to work. They were entirely out of touch for about two weeks.

Months later, after the chaos had died down, Rebekah called her fertility clinic and learned that the couple’s frozen embryos had been rescued from the floodwater by medical personnel.

Several months after that, Rebekah had one of those embryos implanted.

Earlier today, she gave birth via Caesarean section to a baby boy.

They baby’s name? Noah Benton Markham — first name borrowed from the Bible’s most famous flood-survivor.

(In total, 20 babies were born “as a result of the rescued embryos, which puts Noah among the youngest survivors of the storm that took more than 1,800 lives.”)

Sources: