According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Tiana came close to doubling in usage in 2010:
- 2012: 712 baby girls named Tiana [rank: 440th]
- 2011: 822 baby girls named Tiana [rank: 386th]
- 2010: 970 baby girls named Tiana [rank: 331st]
- 2009: 504 baby girls named Tiana [rank: 598th]
- 2008: 480 baby girls named Tiana [rank: 642nd]
What accounts for that sudden spike?
The very first African-American Disney Princess.
Tiana (pronounced tee-ah-nah) was the protagonist of the animated movie The Princess and the Frog, which came out in December of 2009.
The movie, a modern adaptation of the German fairy tale “The Frog Prince,” was set in New Orleans in the 1920s.
Tiana was a hardworking waitress who dreamed of opening her own restaurant. After being persuaded to kiss a frog who was actually a prince, though, Tiana was unexpectedly turned into a frog as well. So the two frogs set off on a journey through the bayou in search of the voodoo priestess who might be able to restore them both to human form.
The Princess and the Frog was a success at the box office — though it might have been an even bigger success had the record-breaking sci-fi film Avatar not been released one week later.
So, how did the character come to be called Tiana?
She was initially named Maddy (a diminutive of the French name Madeleine) in the film’s treatment, which was written by co-directors Ron Clements and John Musker in early 2006.
A year later, Disney revealed her name in a movie announcement:
A musical set in the legendary birthplace of jazz — New Orleans — “The Frog Princess” will introduce the newest Disney princess, Maddy, a young African-American girl living amid the charming elegance and grandeur of the fabled French Quarter.
The project drew criticism, though — particularly from the African-American community. Some people thought, for instance, that “Maddy” sounded too much like “Mammy.”
In response, Disney made some changes. And among those changes was a new name for the main character.
Clements claimed that Tiana meant “princess” in Greek, but this isn’t the case. (The princess association may have arisen from the name’s similarity to that of Princess Diana.) Rather, Tiana can be considered a short form of names that end with -tiana, like Tatiana and Christiana, or else an elaborated form of Tia.
What are your thoughts on the name Tiana?
P.S. Ron Clements also came up with the name Ariel for The Little Mermaid…
Sources:
- The Princess and the Frog – Wikipedia
- Barnes, Brooks. “Her Prince Has Come. Critics, Too.” New York Times 31 May 2009.
- Hill, Jim. “Why For is Disney already doing damage control on ‘The Princess and the Frog’?” Jim Hill Media 10 May 2007.
- Noyer, Jérémie. “The Princess And The Frog’s Directors John Musker and Ron Clements take us to ‘the other side’ of animation!” Animated Views 1 Jun. 2010.
- Chang, Vickie. “Dishney: The Princess and the Frog (And the Controversy).” OC Weekly 12 Aug. 2009.
- SSA
Images: Screenshots of The Princess and the Frog
