How popular is the baby name Lola 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 Lola.

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Popularity of the baby name Lola


Posts that mention the name Lola

Name quotes #119: Eva, Kelly, Rachel

double quotation mark

Welcome to May! Here’s this month’s batch of name-related quotes.

In a 2022 interview with The Telegraph, English lyricist Sir Tim Rice was asked to recall his ‘best day’:

When my first child, Eva, was born in 1975, although you don’t think of these things in a league table of great events. We named her after Eva Perón, but also because Eva is a good old English name.

(Rice, who became interested in the life of Eva Perón in the early 1970s, later collaborated with composer Andrew Lloyd Webber to create the Perón-inspired musical Evita, which opened in 1978.)

From the 2018 article “Oscar, Marcus, Casper, Cora: Companies are using human names to seem more friendly” in the Los Angeles Times:

Over the last few years, a crowd of new companies has emerged across tech, finance and health sporting a first-name brand. Oscar, Alfred, Lola — they have the look and feel of a friend, a colleague, maybe even your cat. And that’s the point: Make a connection with consumers that even Carnegie would appreciate.

[…]

The strategy seems to be working. Research shows that the more simple and human-sounding the name, the greater the company’s success.

[…]

The name game isn’t so much about the products or services being sold. It’s a subconscious approach to branding that borders on anthropomorphizing a company.

(I stumbled upon this one while doing research for a request post.)

From a January 2013 article about the divorce of Kelly Hildebrandt and Kelly Hildebrandt — one a male from Texas, the other a female from Florida:

The tale of the two Kellys began in February 2009, when Kelly Katrina Hildebrandt, of Coral Springs, found the Facebook profile of her future spouse. She saw that they had the exact same first and last name and sent him a friendly greeting to note their shared name.

They started having online exchanges and three weeks later, male Kelly, then 24, traveled from Texas to South Florida to meet female Kelly, then 20. They hit it off immediately and got engaged.

NBC 6 first reported about the Kellys in July 2009, and their story soon after went worldwide.

(My favorite line from the piece: “Male Kelly said he would be reluctant to marry anyone with the same name again.”)

From a GMA3 TikTok video featuring actress Rachel Zegler (born in 2001):

My [older] sister’s name is Jacqueline, and my parents originally wanted to name me Catherine, but they thought it would get a little bit confusing, cause they sound very similar. And my mom’s a big Friends fan, and thought that the name Rachel, for Jennifer Aniston’s character, sounded very beautiful on TV. And that is why I was named Rachel.

Want to see more quotes about names? Check out the name quotes category.

Popular baby names in France, 2021

Flag of France
Flag of France

Did you know that France is the most-visited tourist destination in the world?

Last year, the country welcomed about 738,000 babies. The most popular names among these babies were Jade (pronounced zhahd) and Gabriel.

Here are France’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Jade, 3,802 baby girls
  2. Louise, 3,768
  3. Emma, 3,202
  4. Ambre, 3,017
  5. Alice, 2,769
  6. Rose, 2,703
  7. Anna, 2,515
  8. Alba, 2,504
  9. Romy, 2,446
  10. Mia, 2,430
  11. Lina, 2,366
  12. Lou, 2,222
  13. Julia, 2,212
  14. Chloé, 2,210
  15. Léna, 2,093
  16. Léa, 2,039
  17. Agathe, 2,020
  18. Iris, 2,006
  19. Nina, 1,896
  20. Juliette, 1,870
  21. Inaya, 1,867 – an Urdu name derived from the Arabic word inayah, meaning “care, concern.”
  22. Zoé, 1,840
  23. Jeanne, 1,727
  24. Léonie, 1,726
  25. Charlie, 1,725
  26. Eva, 1,709
  27. Mila, 1,706
  28. Luna, 1,686
  29. Adèle, 1,661
  30. Victoire, 1,648
  31. Inès, 1,594
  32. Olivia, 1,594
  33. Lola, 1,547
  34. Victoria, 1,537
  35. Lucie, 1,493
  36. Margaux, 1,472
  37. Romane, 1,458
  38. Giulia, 1,454
  39. Camille, 1,428
  40. Sofia, 1,381
  41. Charlotte, 1,352
  42. Alix, 1,349
  43. Nour, 1,274
  44. Lyana, 1,237
  45. Margot, 1,225
  46. Sarah, 1,214
  47. Louna, 1,209 – likely based on Luna (#28).
  48. Mya, 1,182
  49. Manon, 1,177
  50. Lya, 1,158

Boy Names

  1. Gabriel, 4,974 baby boys
  2. Léo, 4,358
  3. Raphaël, 3,957
  4. Louis, 3,715
  5. Arthur, 3,598
  6. Jules, 3,594
  7. Maël, 3,438
  8. Noah, 3,384
  9. Adam, 3,148
  10. Lucas, 3,054
  11. Hugo, 2,905
  12. Gabin, 2,719 – based on the Latin name Gabinus, which might have referred to the ancient city of Gabii (located in what is now central Italy).
  13. Liam, 2,672
  14. Sacha, 2,628
  15. Aaron, 2,496
  16. Léon, 2,362
  17. Isaac, 2,322
  18. Paul, 2,291
  19. Nathan, 2,286
  20. Noé, 2,276
  21. Eden, 2,260
  22. Mohamed, 2,183
  23. Ethan, 2,104
  24. Tom, 1,995
  25. Malo, 1,935 – a Breton name probably derived from the Old Breton elements mach, meaning “pledge, hostage,” and lou, meaning “luminous; beautiful.”
  26. Naël, 1,919
  27. Théo, 1,902
  28. Marius, 1,868
  29. Nino, 1,838
  30. Marceau, 1,834
  31. Mathis, 1,801
  32. Victor, 1,768
  33. Ayden, 1,753
  34. Milo, 1,723
  35. Martin, 1,712
  36. Tiago, 1,658
  37. Robin, 1,657
  38. Axel, 1,571
  39. Timéo, 1,541
  40. Eliott, 1,538 (tie)
  41. Lyam, 1,538 (tie)
  42. Enzo, 1,503
  43. Antoine, 1,445
  44. Nolan, 1,439
  45. Augustin, 1,430
  46. Gaspard, 1,379
  47. Valentin, 1,362
  48. Amir, 1,309
  49. Samuel, 1,301
  50. Côme, 1,300 – (pronounced kohm, as in the brand name Lancôme) the French form of Cosmas, ultimately derived from the ancient Greek word kosmos, meaning “order.”

The girls’ top 100 included Capucine (52nd), Apolline (65th), Thaïs (82nd), and Garance (98th).

The boys’ top 100 included Sohan (55th), Kaïs (58th), Soan (66th), and Livio (81st).

Soan, a variant spelling of Sohan, has been popularized recently by French singer/songwriter Soan (born Julien Decroix).

Also on the boys’ list, Charly (#78) pulled ahead of Charlie (#90) after the names saw nearly identical levels of usage in 2020. I wonder if this means that Charly is emerging as the preferred male spelling of the name…?

Gabriel also topped the rankings for the capital city of Paris last year. Jade, on the other hand, didn’t even make the top 10 — it was way down in 32nd place.

Finally, here are France’s 2020 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Classement des prénoms en France depuis 1900 – Insee, Demography report 2021 – Insee, World Tourism rankings – Wikipedia, Behind the Name, Malo (saint) – Wikipeda

Image: Adapted from Flag of France (public domain)

Popular baby names in Spain, 2021

Flag of Spain
Flag of Spain

The Southern European country of Spain, located on the Iberian Peninsula, shares land borders with France, Andorra, and Portugal.

Last year, Spain welcomed nearly 163,000 baby girls and almost 174,000 baby boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Lucia and Martin.

Here are Spain’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021…

Girl Names

  1. Lucia, 3,643 baby girls
  2. Martina, 3,042
  3. Sofia, 2,998
  4. Maria, 2,696
  5. Valeria, 2,390
  6. Julia, 2,363
  7. Paula, 2,050
  8. Emma, 2,033
  9. Daniela, 1,866
  10. Carla, 1,811
  11. Alma, 1,772
  12. Olivia, 1,732
  13. Sara, 1,708
  14. Carmen, 1,696
  15. Vega, 1,666
  16. Mia, 1,663
  17. Lara, 1,627
  18. Alba, 1,561
  19. Noa, 1,542
  20. Lola, 1,533
  21. Valentina, 1,434
  22. Chloe, 1,415
  23. Claudia, 1,380
  24. Jimena, 1,375
  25. Aitana, 1,246
  26. Laia, 1,116
  27. Vera, 1,069
  28. Abril, 1,067
  29. Alejandra, 1,060
  30. Ana, 1,047
  31. Triana, 1,043
  32. Candela, 1,041
  33. Adriana, 996
  34. Manuela, 962
  35. Elena, 959
  36. Carlota, 931
  37. Ines, 895
  38. Blanca, 888
  39. Marina, 868
  40. Marta, 813
  41. Lia, 790
  42. Victoria, 782
  43. Nora, 764
  44. Zoe, 752
  45. Rocio, 747
  46. Alicia, 723
  47. Clara, 718
  48. Gala, 707
  49. Luna, 685
  50. Ariadna, 673

Vega, which ranked 15th, is the Spanish word for “meadow.” As a given name, it’s a reference to the Marian title La Virgen de la Vega. (The word is also featured in the name of the famous Nevada city of Las Vegas — “the meadows.”)

Boy Names

  1. Martin, 3,459 baby boys
  2. Hugo, 3,339
  3. Mateo, 3,270
  4. Leo, 2,837
  5. Lucas, 2,810
  6. Manuel, 2,587
  7. Daniel, 2,520
  8. Alejandro, 2,513
  9. Pablo, 2,276
  10. Enzo, 2,007
  11. Alvaro, 1,941
  12. Mario, 1,792
  13. Adrian, 1,781
  14. Diego, 1,598
  15. Thiago, 1,567
  16. Bruno, 1,485
  17. Oliver, 1,452
  18. David, 1,441
  19. Alex, 1,438
  20. Marco, 1,413
  21. Gonzalo, 1,364
  22. Marcos, 1,349
  23. Nicolas, 1,315
  24. Antonio, 1,303
  25. Izan, 1,279
  26. Miguel, 1,275
  27. Javier, 1,267
  28. Luca, 1,216
  29. Liam, 1,198
  30. Gael, 1,127
  31. Marc, 1,095
  32. Dylan, 1,044
  33. Juan, 1,036
  34. Angel, 1,035
  35. Carlos, 992
  36. Jose, 988
  37. Gabriel, 960
  38. Sergio, 907
  39. Eric, 862
  40. Jorge, 849
  41. Dario, 832
  42. Adam, 818
  43. Samuel, 811
  44. Hector, 784
  45. Rodrigo, 762
  46. Iker, 750
  47. Pau, 735
  48. Jesus, 723
  49. Guillermo, 706
  50. Jaime, 705

Home to more than 47 million people, Spain is divided into 17 autonomous communities (including two island groups) and two autonomous cities (both located on the northern coast of Africa).

Map of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain
Spain’s 17 autonomous communities

The top baby names within each of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities last year were…

Girl NamesBoy Names
Andalusia
(18.0% of the population)
1. Maria, 970
2. Lucia, 821
3. Martina, 667
4. Carmen, 623
5. Lola, 614
1. Manuel, 1,165
2. Hugo, 823
3. Martin, 801
4. Alejandro, 780
5. Pablo, 654
Catalonia
(16.2% of pop.)
1. Julia, 469
2. Martina, 423
3. Mia, 403
4. Emma, 400
5. Lucia, 379
1. Marc, 439
2. Nil, 439
3. Pol, 438
4. Jan, 422
5. Leo, 420
Madrid (community)
(14.3% of pop.)
1. Lucia, 712
2. Sofia, 576
3. Martina, 463
4. Olivia, 437
5. Paula, 394
1. Mateo, 654
2. Martin, 593
3. Lucas, 552
4. Alejandro, 530
5. Daniel, 500
Valencia (community)
(10.7% of pop.)
1. Lucia, 378
2. Sofia, 368
3. Martina, 324
4. Maria, 270
5. Valeria, 265
1. Martin, 408
2. Mateo, 375
3. Marc, 354
4. Hugo, 336 (tie)
5. Lucas, 336 (tie)
Galicia
(5.7% of pop.)
1. Sofia, 170
2. Noa, 162
3. Martina, 140
4. Lara, 137
5. Valeria, 129
1. Mateo, 276
2. Martin, 261
3. Hugo, 198
4. Leo, 176
5. Lucas, 168
Castile and León
(5.0% of pop.)
1. Lucia, 171
2. Sofia, 139
3. Valeria, 126
4. Martina, 121
5. Daniela, 116
1. Martin, 187 (tie)
2. Mateo, 187 (tie)
3. Hugo, 157
4. Lucas, 147
5. Daniel, 146
Canary Islands
(4.7% of pop.)
1. Martina, 131
2. Lucia, 113
3. Sofia, 109
4. Valeria, 86
5. Chloe, 83
1. Mateo, 152
2. Hugo, 124
3. Thiago, 114
4. Leo, 112
5. Lucas, 93
Basque Country
(4.6% of pop.)
1. Ane, 149
2. Laia, 135
3. June, 121
4. Nahia, 113
5. Maddi/Malen, 97 (tie)
1. Markel, 155
2. Martin, 143
3. Julen, 141
4. Oihan, 131
5. Jon, 118
Castilla-La Mancha
(4.3% of pop.)
1. Lucia, 206
2. Valeria, 172
3. Martina, 149
4. Sofia, 144
5. Maria, 143
1. Martin, 217
2. Hugo, 200
3. Mateo, 199
4. Lucas, 172
5. Daniel, 155
Murcia
(3.2% of pop.)
1. Lucia, 173
2. Maria, 167
3. Sofia, 143
4. Valeria, 133
5. Martina, 122
1. Hugo, 177
2. Pablo, 152
3. Alejandro, 129
4. Martin, 125
5. Leo, 122
Aragon
(2.8% of pop.)
1. Lucia, 125
2. Martina, 80 (tie)
3. Valeria, 80 (tie)
4. Vega, 78
5. Sofia, 74
1. Martin, 112 (tie)
2. Mateo, 112 (tie)
3. Hugo, 108
4. Lucas, 93
5. Leo, 88
Balearic Islands
(2.6% of pop.)
1. Martina, 93
2. Julia, 90
3. Emma, 75
4. Maria, 66
5. Lucia, 64
1. Marc, 146
2. Pau, 95
3. Hugo, 90
4. Lucas, 63
5. Marti, 62
Extremadura
(2.2% of pop.)
1. Lucia, 114
2. Martina, 101
3. Maria, 83 (tie)
4. Valeria, 83 (tie)
5. Paula, 81
1. Manuel, 129
2. Martin, 104
3. Alvaro, 94
4. Hugo, 92
5. Daniel, 84
Asturias
(2.1% of pop.)
1. Lucia, 62
2. Valeria, 57
3. Martina, 53
4. Lara, 46
5. Sofia, 44
1. Martin, 83
2. Mateo, 68
3. Lucas, 64
4. Hugo, 57
5. Marco, 50
Navarre
(1.4% of pop.)
1. Nahia, 37
2. Ane, 36 (tie)
3. Irati, 36 (tie)
4. Lucia, 35
5. Martina, 34
1. Martin, 48
2. Mateo, 46
3. Julen, 37
4. Hugo, 36 (tie)
5. Leo, 36 (tie)
Cantabria
(1.2% of pop.)
1. Lucia, 48
2. Sofia, 41
3. Martina, 40
4. Vega, 36
5. Valeria, 35
1. Mateo, 60
2. Martin, 53
3. Hugo, 47
4. Leo, 46
5. Lucas, 44
La Rioja
(0.7% of pop.)
1. Lucia, 28
2. Sofia, 26
3. Martina, 21
4. Julia, 19
5. Carmen/Maria/Valeria, 16 (tie)
1. Martin, 33 (tie)
2. Mateo, 33 (tie)
3. Daniel, 26 (tie)
4. Hugo, 26 (tie)
5. Pablo, 22

The top baby names within each of Spain’s two autonomous cities (in Africa) were…

Girl NamesBoy Names
Melilla
(0.2% of the population)
1. Amira, 15
2. Nour, 9
3. Noha, 8
4. Malak/Maryam/Tasnim, 7 (tie)
1. Amir, 20
2. Adam, 15
3. Mohamed, 14
4. Imran, 13
5. Maher, 12
Ceuta
(0.2% of pop.)
1. Amira, 10
2. Jimena, 6 (tie)
3. Zaira, 6 (tie)
4. Martina/Noor/Suyud, 5 (tie)
1. Mohamed, 17
2. Amir, 13
3. Akram, 9
4. Maher, 8 (tie)
5. Omar, 8 (tie)

Finally, here’s a link to Spain’s 2020 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Apellidos y nombres más frecuentes – INEbase, Population of Spain in 2022, by autonomous community – Statista, Spain – Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Flag of Spain (public domain)
Map: Adapted from Autonomous communities of Spain no names by Habbit under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Where did the baby name Tavares come from in 1974?

Tavares album "Hard Core Poetry" (1974).
1974 Tavares album

In the mid-1970s, the name Tavares suddenly popped up in the U.S. baby name data:

  • 1978: 163 baby boys named Tavares
  • 1977: 169 baby boys (peak) named Tavares
  • 1976: 169 baby boys (peak) / 5 baby girls named Tavares
  • 1975: 162 baby boys / 10 baby girls named Tavares
  • 1974: 60 baby boys / 8 baby girls named Tavares [dual-debut]
  • 1973: unlisted
  • 1972: unlisted

What was behind the debut?

Tavares, a soul/R&B music group consisting of the five Tavares brothers: Ralph, Arthur (called “Pooch”), Antone (“Chubby”), Feliciano (“Butch”), and Perry (“Tiny”).

They scored their first hit in 1974 with a cover of the Hall & Oates song “She’s Gone.” The cover reached #1 on Billboard‘s R&B chart and peaked at #50 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart. Over the next few years, the brothers put out a string of successful songs, including “It Only Takes a Minute” (1975) and “Whodunit” (1977).

The Tavares brothers were born and raised in New England, but were of Cape Verdean ancestry. Their Portuguese surname was originally a “habitational name from any of at least seven minor places” in Portugal called Tavares.

Variants of the name that also emerged in the data during the ’70s include Tavare, Travares, Tarvares, Tavaris, Tavaras, Tavarus, Taveres, Tavoris, and Tavores.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Tavares?

Sources:

P.S. Butch was married to Lola Falana from 1971 to 1975.