The Paris Olympics gave us dozens of interesting Olympian names (e.g., Hezly, Mijaín, Arisa, Mondo) to talk about, but the one I’m most interested in right now is Ilona.
Ilona Maher (pronounced ih-LOH-nah MAHR) was part of the U.S. Women’s Olympic Rugby Sevens team that won bronze in dramatic fashion on July 30.
Perhaps more importantly, Ilona Maher is very popular on social media. She has over 3 million followers on Instagram and over 2 million on TikTok.
She’s also been spotlighted by a number mainstream media outlets, such as Time, People, and CNN. She even appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers a week ago.
What really caught my eye, though, were the name-related comments on one of Ilona’s recent IG posts — the one in which she posed with swimmer Katie Ledecky.
Here’s one of the comments:
And another:
Currently, the name Ilona is being given to about 20 baby girls per year in the U.S.:
- 2023: 17 baby girls named Ilona
- 2022: 22 baby girls named Ilona
- 2021: 19 baby girls named Ilona
- 2020: 24 baby girls named Ilona
Do you think we’ll see a noticeable increase in usage in 2024, thanks to Ilona Maher?
P.S. Maher mentioned in this TikTok video that her mother Mieneke, who is Dutch, pronounces her first name ee-LOH-nah.
Update, Sept. 8, 2024: Ilona Maher will be one of the celebrity contestants on the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars.
Sources: Ilona Maher – Wikipedia, SSA
Top image: Adapted from Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower 2024 (1) by Ibex73 under CC BY 4.0.
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