How popular is the baby name Marie 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 Marie.
The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.
On July 8, 1895, a steerage passenger aboard the steamship St. Louis (traveling from Southampton to New York) gave birth to a baby boy.
The passenger, Marie Sillanpau,* named her son St. Louis “in honor of the ship.”
She was also given a gift of $69.50, collected from the saloon passengers.
*Her surname may have actually been the Finnish Sillanpää.
Sources:
Image: Adapted from SS St. Louis
The Italian name Gia is a pet form of Gianna, which itself is a contracted form of Giovanna (akin to Joanna). But Gia as a standalone name was very rare in the U.S. until the late 1950s, when usage increased enough for the name to debut in the U.S. baby name data:
What gave it a boost?
America’s first famous Gia: actress Gia Scala, whose career took off in the late 1950s.
Her “real” name is hard to pin down. She was born in England with the name Josephine Scoglio. But…she spent her childhood in Italy, and when she applied for U.S. citizenship in 1957, she said her legal name was Giovanna Scoglio.
In any case, she started going by Gia not long after she moved to the U.S. (in the early 1950s), and Universal Studios gave her the stage name “Gia Scala” at the start of her film career.
Since then, several other famous Gias have also influenced the charts…
Do you like the name Gia? Would you ever use it?
Sources: Gia Scala – Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen, Gia Scala – Wikipedia
P.S. Gia Allamand was on the same season of The Bachelor as Tenley Molzahn, whose name, Tenley, also happened to be a 1950s debut in the SSA data.
We’ve already talked about a bunch of virus-inspired names (Covid, Covid, Covid, Covid, Covid, Coviduvidapdap, Corona, Corona, Lockdown, Sanitizer), but there are still more! Here’s a round-up of nine others that I’ve seen, but haven’t blogged about yet…
Corona and Corona (India): A baby girl born on March 29 was named Corona Kumari, and a baby boy born on April 5 (at the same hospital) was named Corona Kumar. The names weren’t a coincidence: They were suggested by Dr. S. F. Basha, who treated both mothers.
Corona (Indonesia): A baby girl born on April 30 was named Nara Fatimah Corona.
Covid (Philippines): A baby girl born on April 13 was named Covid Marie.
Lockdown (India): A baby boy born on May 22 — aboard a Shramik Special [train], which is very interesting — was named Lockdown.
Lockdown (India): A baby boy born in April was named Lockdown. His father Sanjay said, “We went through so much trouble due to coronavirus outbreak and lockdown. He was born in the midst of such peril. So, we have decided to name him Lockdown.”
Quarantine and Sanitizer (India): A set of male twins born in May were named Quarantine and Sanitizer. Their father Dharmendra said, “Both give us protection. So, this feeling of security should remain lifelong. These are the best names that we could [find] for our children.”
Quarantino (India): A baby boy born on May 31 was named Emmanuel Quarantino. The parents had traveled from Goa to Manipur several days earlier, so they’d been placed under institutional quarantine at an isolation center called Emmanuel School. This was where the baby was born, hence the name.
(Quarantino is my favorite virus-name so far. It keeps making me think of Quentin Tarantino.)
Have you spotted any other names like these in the news? If so, please leave a comment!
Sources: Meet Emmanuel Quarantino, A Manipuri Baby Boy Who Was Born In A Quarantine Centre, Manipur: Woman gives birth to baby boy at COVID-19 quarantine centre, names him Emmanuel Quarantino, ‘Lockdown Yadav to Sanitiser Singh’: Indian parents and their tryst with Covid names, Meerut couple names their newborn twins ‘Quarantine’ and ‘Sanitizer’, Corona Kumar and Kumari: 2 Andhra Pradesh couples name newborn babies born during lockdown, Corona Kumar, then Covid Marie, the newborns being named after a pandemic, ‘Corona’ baby: Newborn girl in West Java named after pandemic
Image: COVID-19 virus (CDC)
We looked at Kippie yesterday, so today let’s check out Kipp, a primarily male name that was a one-hit wonder on the girls’ side of the list in 1961:
My wild guess about the influence here is actress Rita Marie “Kipp” Hamilton, who was in the public eye (primarily on TV) from the late ’50s to the late ’60s. She appeared on shows like Perry Mason, Rawhide, and Bewitched.
What are your thoughts on Kipp as a girl name?
