How popular is the baby name Melina 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 Melina.
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Because of the film Phaedra, released in late 1962. It was a flop at the U.S. box office, but had a big impact on U.S. baby names nonetheless.
The title character Phaedra (played by Greek actress Melina Mercouri, who’d played Ilya in the hit Never on Sunday) was the second wife of a wealthy man named Thanos. She initiated a forbidden romance with her husband’s adult son, Alexis, and then both of them had to suffer the consequences.
The movie is one of the many modern versions of the ancient Greek tragedy Hippolytus by Euripides.
In the film, the name Phaedra (based on an ancient Greek word meaning “bright”) is pronounced FEH-dra, with a short E. (Say “Ephedra” without the initial vowel.) Looking at online discussions about the name, though, it’s clear that people use various pronunciations, including FAY-dra and FEE-dra.
What are your thoughts on the name Phaedra? Which pronunciation do you prefer?
If you’re on the hunt for baby names with a numerological value of 9, you’re in luck! Because today’s post features hundreds of 9-names.
Before we get to the names, though — how do we know that they’re “nines” in numerology?
Turning names into numbers
Here’s how to calculate the numerological value of a name.
First, for each letter, come up with a number to represent that letter’s position in the alphabet. (Letter A would be number 1, letter B would be number 2, and so forth.) Then, add all the numbers together. If the sum has two or more digits, add the digits together recursively until the result is a single digit. That single digit is the name’s numerological value.
For instance, the letters in the name Rockwell correspond to the numbers 18, 15, 3, 11, 23, 5, 12, and 12. The sum of these numbers is 99. The digits of 99 added together equal 18, and the digits of 18 added together equal 9 — the numerological value of Rockwell.
Baby names with a value of 9
Below you’ll find the most popular 9-names per gender, according to the latest U.S. baby name data. I’ve further sub-categorized them by total sums — just in case any of those larger numbers are significant to anyone.
9
The letters in the unisex baby name Ace add up to 9.
9 via 18
The letters in the following baby names add up to 18, which reduces to nine (1+8=9).
Girl names (9 via 18)
Boy names (9 via 18)
Lea, Gaia, Ela, Acacia, Addi
Can, Adal, Acie, Edi, Jag
9 via 27
The letters in the following baby names add up to 27, which reduces to nine (2+7=9).
There’s no definitive answer, unfortunately, because various numerological systems exist, and each one has its own interpretation of the number nine. That said, if we look at a couple of modern numerology/astrology websites, we see 9 being described as “humanitarian,” “tolerant,” “helpful,” “determined,” and “compassionate.”
We can also look at associations, which are a bit more concrete. Here are some things that are associated with the number 9:
Pregnancy (9 months long)
Baseball (9 players on the field; 9 innings)
K-9 (“canine”) police dog units
“Cloud nine” (expression)
“Nine lives” of a cat (expression)
“To the nines” (expression)
“The whole nine yards” (expression)
What does the number 9 mean to you? What are your strongest associations with the number?
P.S. To see names with other numerological values, check out the posts for the numbers one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight.
When Ilya first popped up in the U.S. baby name data, it appeared as a girl name in 1961:
1963: unlisted
1962: unlisted
1961: 5 baby girls named Ilya [debut]
1960: unlisted
1959: unlisted
Why?
Because the Greek romantic comedy Never on Sunday was released in October of 1960. It starred Greek actress Melina Mercouri as a free-spirited prostitute named Ilya.
The movie was a big hit, and Melina Mercouri was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (she lost to Elizabeth Taylor). The film earned four other nominations as well, but only won the Best Song category.
Interestingly, the trailer for the film starts with a string of names: “On Monday, it’s Tonio. On Tuesday, Boris. Wednesday is Spiro the fisherman’s day. And on Thursday, Jorgo’s the lucky fellow. Friday is devoted to Homer…”
Most sources classify the name Ilya and similar names (Iliya, Illya, Ilia, etc.) as male names — specifically, as forms of Elijah/Elias. So my best guess on the character name is that it was a nickname for Iliana, the feminine form of the Greek name Ilias (yet another form of Elijah/Elias).
Do you like the name Ilya? Do you prefer it as a girl name or as a boy name?
Names that made the girls’ top 100 for the very first time were Hilma, Ellinor, Sally, Melina, and Nicole. New to the boys’ top 100 were Louie and Tor.
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