How popular is the baby name Maria 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 Maria.

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Popularity of the baby name Maria


Posts that mention the name Maria

Baby name story: Tesselschade

Dutch engraver Maria Tesselschade Visccher (1594-1649)
Maria Tesselschade Visccher

The other day, I visited the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam website to admire some Willem Claeszoon Heda paintings. (Here’s more on the name Claeszoon.)

A few clicks later, I was learning about römer drinking glasses, and that led me to a Dutch glass engraver Maria Tesselschade Visccher (b. 1594).

There’s an interesting story behind the name “Tesselschade.” Although, as with Return Meigs, so many versions of the story exist that it’s hard to know which to believe.

The name Tesselschade is made up of two parts: Tessel, which refers to the Dutch island of Texel, and schade, Dutch for “damage.” Sources agree that Tesselschade’s father, Roemer Visscher, was a Dutch merchant whose ships had been caught in a storm off the coast of Texel sometime before her birth. But sources disagree on when the storm happened, how many ships sank, and whether or not Roemer had been aboard one of them and rescued.

Tesselschade ended up having three daughters: Taddea, Maria Tesselschade, and an unnamed third. She outlived all of them. I don’t believe the name was given to any other descendants.

Sources:

  • Carroll, Jane Louise and Alison G. Stewart. Saints, Sinners, and Sisters. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2003.
  • “Lights of Dutch Literature.” The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science and Art. May 1854: 134-141.
  • Maria Tesselschade Visscher – Wikipedia
  • Schama, Simon. The Embarrassment of Riches. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987.
  • Sneller, A. Agnes and Olga van Marion. De Gedichten van Tesselschade Roemers. Hilversum: Uitgeverij Verloren, 1994.

Where did the baby name Cabrini come from in 1947?

Italian-American religious sister Frances Xavier Cabrini
Frances Xavier Cabrini

The Italian surname name Cabrini popped up in the U.S. baby name data for the first time in 1947:

  • 1949: unlisted
  • 1948: 6 baby girls named Cabrini
  • 1947: 6 baby girls named Cabrini [debut]
  • 1946: unlisted
  • 1945: unlisted

Why?

Because, in July of 1946, Italian-American religious sister Frances Xavier Cabrini (a.k.a. Mother Cabrini) was canonized by Pope Pius XII. This made her the first U.S. citizen* to become a Catholic saint.

Cabrini was born (as Maria Francesca Cabrini) in 1850 in Lombardy, which at that time was part of the Austrian Empire. (It’s now in Italy.) She took her religious vows in 1880, moved to the United States in 1889, and became a naturalized citizen in 1909. She died in Chicago in 1917.

She’s remembered especially for her work with Italian immigrants. In fact, she was proclaimed “Patroness of Immigrants” by Pius XII in 1950.

Since 1947, the name Cabrini has appeared in the U.S. baby name data over a dozen times, mainly in the 1950s and 1960s. The most recent inclusion was in 2019, when it was given to 7 baby girls.

I’m not certain about the etymology of Cabrini, but several sources suggest that, like the Spanish surname Cabrera, it’s derived from the Latin word capraria, meaning “pertaining to goats” or “place of goats.” (The Latin word for “goat” is capra.)

What are your thoughts on the baby name Cabrini?

*The first native-born U.S. citizen to be canonized was Elizabeth Ann Seton, in 1975.

Sources: Frances Xavier Cabrini – Wikipedia, SSA

Popular names in Austria, 1895

Vienna in the 1890s
Vienna in the 1890s

Wondering which names were the most popular in Austria, say, 116 years ago? Of course you are!

Luckily, the New York Times has the answer. In 1895, the paper reported that the most popular names in Austria “according to the last census” were these:

Male NamesFemale Names
Franz (1,834,000 males)
Johann (1,380,000)
Josef (1,085,000)
Leopold (584,000)
Wenzel (448,000)		Anna (1,780,000 females)
Maria (1,632,000)
Elizabeth (1,260,000)

The name Wenzel comes (via Wenceslaus, via Václav) from the Slavic name Veceslav, made up of elements meaning “more” and “glory.”

In 1895, Austria was actually part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a dual monarchy ruled by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. (The 1914 assassination of his nephew/heir presumptive, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, is what kicked off WWI.)

Sources:

Image: LOC

Do people in isolation forget their names?

I first learned of the man that Slate calls “the most isolated man on the planet” nearly a year ago. And I’ve been wondering about him ever since.

Who is he? He’s an indigenous Brazilian who lives in the Amazon. He appears to be the last survivor of his tribe, as he’s been living alone since the mid-1990s, maybe earlier.

No one’s been able to establish contact with him. No one knows what language he speaks. And no one knows what his name is. (They’ve taken to calling him the “Man of the Hole” because he digs deep, rectangular holes in each of his huts).

Specifically, the things I wonder are…

  • Does he have a name? If so,
  • Does he ever use it? (In thought? In speech, if he speaks to himself?) And, more generally,
  • Is it possible that a person who has no one left to communicate with, but decades left to live, could eventually forget his or her name?

I only know of two other lone survivors, and both have interesting name stories.

1. Ishi was the last of the Yahi, a sub-group of the Yana, a people indigenous to northern California. His tribe was decimated during the last half of the 1800s. He lived alone for three years before emerging from the wilderness and making contact with European-Americans in 1911, at about the age of 49.

I’ve seen several conflicting tales about the origin of Ishi’s name. The most plausible is that tribal tradition prevented him from revealing his real name, so “Ishi” was chosen for him:

Under pressure from reporters who wanted to know the stranger’s name, [anthropologist] Alfred Kroeber called him “Ishi,” which means “man” in Yana. Ishi never uttered his real name.

2. Juana Maria was the last of the Nicoleño, a people indigenous to San Nicolas Island. She was left behind after her tribe was relocated to the mainland. She lived alone for 18 years (1835-1853) before finally being taken to the mainland as well.

She passed away just seven weeks later. During those seven weeks, no one learned what her real name was. (I’m not sure why. Maybe, like Ishi, she couldn’t share it. Or maybe she just couldn’t remember it.) She was baptized Juana Maria just before she died.

Today, “Ishi” and “Juana Maria” are the names we use to refer to these two people, but these names aren’t their real names. They’re names bestowed by outsiders. Just as “Man of the Hole” was coined by outsiders.

Do you think we’ll ever learn the name of the “Man of the Hole”? And, do you think it’s possible that a person living in isolation could forget his/her name, if given enough time? (If so, how long?)

Sources: