How popular is the baby name Mercedes 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 Mercedes.

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Popularity of the baby name Mercedes


Posts that mention the name Mercedes

The 24 children of Isaac Singer

Businessman Isaac M. Singer (1811-1875).
Isaac Singer

A reader got in touch recently to ask about several unusual names. One of them was “Vouletti,” which belonged to a daughter of Isaac Merritt Singer (1811-1875).

Isaac Singer is best remembered for his successful sewing machine manufacturing company, founded in 1851 and still going strong today. Also notable, though, is the fact that he had a total of 24 children with five different wives and mistresses.

With Maria Haley, he had two children:

  • William Adam (b. 1834)
  • Lillian C. (b. 1837)

With Mary Ann Sponsler, he had ten children:

  • Isaac Augustus (b. 1837)
  • Vouletti Theresa (b. 1840)
  • Fanny Elizabeth (b. 1841)
  • John Albert (b. circa 1843)
  • Jasper Hamet (b. 1846)
  • Julia Ann (b. circa 1847)
  • Mary Olivia (b. 1848)
  • Charles Alexander (1850-1852)
  • Caroline Virginia (b. 1857)
  • …plus one more

With Mary McGonigal, he had five children:

  • Ruth
  • Clara
  • Florence
  • Margaret
  • Charles Alexander (b. 1859)

With Mary E. Walters, he had one child:

  • Alice Eastwood (b. 1852)

With Isabella Eugenie Boyer (of France), he had six children:

  • Adam Mortimer (b. 1863)
  • Winnaretta Eugenie (b. 1865)
  • Washington Merritt Grant (b. 1866)
  • Paris Eugene (b. 1867) – Palm Beach developer, namesake of Singer Island
  • Isabelle Blanche (b. 1869)
  • Franklin Morse (b. 1870)

These are traditional names for the most part, which makes “Vouletti” all the more intriguing.

Vouletti Singer was born in 1840, married William Proctor in 1862, had three children, and died in 1913. Though her name was definitely spelled Vouletti — that’s the spelling passed down to various descendants, and the one used by her friend Mercedes de Acosta in the poem “To Vouletti” — I found it misspelled a lot: “Voulitti” on the 1855 New York State Census, “Voulettie” on the 1900 U.S. Census, “Voulettie” again in a Saturday Evening Post article from 1951.

So…where does it come from?

I have no clue. I can’t find a single person with the given name Vouletti who predates Vouletti Singer. I also can’t find anyone with the surname Vouletti. (There was a vaudevillian with the stage name “Eva Vouletti,” but she doesn’t pop up until the early 1900s.)

Theater could be a possibility, as Isaac Singer was an actor in his younger days. Perhaps Vouletti was a character name he was familiar with?

My only other idea is the Italian word violetti, which means “violet.” Her parents might have coined the name with this word in mind.

Do you have any thoughts/theories about the unusual name Vouletti?

Kids named for cars: Porsche, Mercedes, Alfa

Porsche coupe
Porsche

Last month, Joy Lowther of Norfolk, England, went into labor while shopping in a local supermarket. Ten minutes later, she gave birth to a baby girl.

She and her boyfriend decided to name the baby Porsche, as one of their older children is called Mercedes. The other two are Frank* and Alfie — who’s now called Alfa, says Joy, “because the girls are named after cars.”

Joy plans to have one more baby. If it’s a boy, he’ll be called Bentley (a name that’s very trendy in the U.S. right now thanks to reality TV).

Joy didn’t mention what she’d name another baby girl, but I know of a Porsche in Texas who has sisters named Audi and Lexus, so there are two ideas. Another possibility is Cressida, which might be picking up steam soon. Other car names that have been used as girl names include Camry, Jetta, Miata and Kia.

*Poor Frank. He’s the only sibling without a car name. On that note, here’s a question for you: If you had a bunch of siblings (4+) and all but one of you had a name that fit a pattern, would you want one of the “in” names, or would you rather be the odd one out?

Source: Alfa, Mercedes and now Porsche! (via Abby)

Image: Adapted from 1964 Porsche coupe by Edgy01 under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Unusual baby names from Marian titles

We all know of baby names that come from Marian titles — names like Fátima, Lourdes, Dolores, Guadalupe, Carmel, Pilar, Milagros, Mercedes, Luz, Consolata, Consuelo, Corazón, Loreto, Remedios, and so on.

Well, I discovered three more the other day that were brand new to me.

The first was Chiquinquirá, which I learned about through a Gawker post (of all places). The name belongs to TV personality María Chiquinquirá Delgado Díaz of Maracaibo, Venezuela. Her name was inspired by La Virgen de Chiquinquirá, patroness of Colombia, of the Peruvian city of Caraz, and of the Venezuelan state of Zulia (which is where Maracaibo is located).

This discovery inspired me to seek out other rare Marian title-names (rare for the U.S., anyway). I ended up finding two more: Suyapa and Lasalette.

Suyapa comes from La Virgen de Suyapa, patroness of Honduras. (Suyapa is a suburb of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.) I found a few dozen instances of this name both on the SSA’s baby name lists and in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).

Lasalette comes from Our Lady of La Salette, a Marian apparition that occurred in France in the mid-1800s. I knew of the apparition, but I’d never realized La Salette was used as a name until I checked the SSDI and found three Lasalettes.

You learn something new every day, I guess. :)

Baby names inspired by car names

Mazda Miata
Mazda Miata

Love cars? Here are some car-related names that have been used as baby names, according to the U.S. baby name data.

  • Allante, from Cadillac Allante.
  • Aston, from Aston Martin. Inspired by Aston Hill in England.
  • Audi, German manufacturer. The name is a Latin translation of Horch, surname of founder August Horch.
  • Avanti, from Studebaker Avanti. The word avanti means “forward” in Italian.
  • Bentley, British manufacturer. Named after founder W. O. Bentley.
  • Camry, from Toyota Camry. The name is based on kanmuri, which means “crown” in Japanese. (Here’s a baby Camryn, born inside a Camry.)
  • Capri, from Lincoln Capri.
  • Caprice, from Chevrolet Caprice. Named after a New York City restaurant.
  • Catera, from Cadillac Catera.
  • Celica, from Toyota Celica. The name is based on caelica, which means “celestial” in Latin.
  • Chevelle, from Chevrolet Chevelle.
  • Chevy, nickname for Chevrolet.
  • Cooper, from MINI Cooper. Named after auto racer John Cooper.
  • Cressida, from Toyota Cressida.
  • DeLorean, from DMC DeLorean.
  • Diamante, from Mitsubishi Diamante.
  • Dino, from Fiat Dino or Ferrari Dino. Both named after V6 engine designer Alfredo “Dino” Ferrari.
  • Dodge, a division of Chrysler. (I know of two babies named after Dodge pickup trucks specifically.)
  • Elantra, from Hyundai Elantra.
  • Elise, from Lotus Elise. Named after Elisa Artioli, granddaughter of Italian entrepreneur Romano Artioli.
  • Elva, British manufacturer. The name is based on elle va, which means “she goes” in French.
  • Florian, from Isuzu Florian. Named after the fictional horse in Florian, the Emperor’s Stallion by Felix Salten.
  • Ford, American manufacturer. Named after founder Henry Ford. (I know of two babies named after Fords.)
  • Hudson, American manufacturer.
  • Jazz, from Honda Jazz.
  • Jeep, a division of Chrysler.
  • Jetta, from Volkswagen Jetta. The name is based on the phrase “jet stream.”
  • Jimmy, from GMC Jimmy.
  • Kia, South Korean manufacturer. (Here’s a baby Kia, born inside a Kia.)
  • Lexus, a division of Toyota. The name has no specific meaning, according to the company.
  • Lincoln, a division of Ford. Named after former U.S. president Abraham Lincoln.
  • Martin, from Aston Martin. Named after founder Lionel Martin.
  • Mercedes, from Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG. Named after Mercedes Jellinek, daughter of Austrian entrepreneur Emil Jellinek.
  • Miata, from Mazda Miata. Possibly means “reward” in Old High German.
  • Millenia, from Mazda Millenia.
  • Mondeo, from Ford Mondeo. The name is based on mundus, which means “world” in Latin.
  • Morgan, British manufacturer.
  • Porsche, German manufacturer. Named after founder Ferdinand Porsche.
  • Reatta, from Buick Reatta.
  • Renault, French manufacturer.
  • Royce, from Rolls-Royce. Named after founder Henry Royce.
  • Scion, a Toyota marque.
  • Shelby, from Shelby American. Named for founder Carroll Hall Shelby.
  • Torino, from Ford Torino.
  • Toyota, Japanese manufacturer. Named for founder Kiichiro Toyoda.
  • Wrangler, from Jeep Wrangler.
  • …and VW, short for Volkswagen. :)

Blog readers have also told me about babies named Riviera (after the Buick Riviera) and Axel (because of its similarity to the word axle).

Know any babies that were named for automobiles?

Update, 2016 – Here’s a baby whose middle name, Megan, was inspired by a Renault Megane.