How popular is the baby name Moacir 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 Moacir.

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Popularity of the baby name Moacir


Posts that mention the name Moacir

Where did the baby name Irasema come from in 1953?

Actress Irasema Dilian (1924-1996)
Irasema Dilian

The unique name Irasema first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1953:

  • 1956: 19 baby girls named Irasema
    • 6 born in New York, 10 in Texas
  • 1955: 15 baby girls named Irasema
    • 7 born in New York, 6 in Texas
  • 1954: 18 baby girls named Irasema
    • 7 born in New York
  • 1953: 5 baby girls named Irasema [debut]
  • 1952: unlisted
  • 1951: unlisted

Notice how usage was particularly high in two states that had (and still have) a large number of Spanish speakers.

This makes me think the inspiration was actress Irasema Dilián, who was popular in Mexican cinema during the 1950s.

She was born Eva Irasema Warschalowska in 1924 in Brazil to Polish parents. She first became a film star in Italy during the 1940s. After moving to Mexico with her Italian screenwriter husband circa 1950, she ended up becoming a film star in Mexico as well. These Mexican films were then played in certain American cities, introducing Irasema (and her name) to Spanish-speaking U.S. audiences.

So where does the name come from?

Though several sources claim it’s from mythology, it seems to have originated in literature — in a novel by 19th century Brazilian novelist José de Alencar that just seemed mythological.

Alencar’s book Iracema was published in 1865. Set in the early 1500s, it told the tale of Indian maiden Iracema and her Portuguese lover Martim:

At a deeper level, the relationship between Iracema, the “virgin of the forests” whose name is an anagram of “America,” and Martim, “the warrior of the sea,” is a national Genesis; Iracema dies at the novel’s end, symbolizing the inevitable destruction of the Indian world, but she first gives birth to their son Moacir, whose name means “child of pain.” Moacir […] is the first Brazilian.

In the book, Alencar offers a potential Guarani definition/etymology of Iracema: “lips of honey,” from the words ira, “honey,” and tembe, “lips.”

What are your thoughts on the Brazilian name Irasema/Iracema?

Sources:

  • Haberly, David T. “Alencar, José de.” Concise Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature, edited by Verity Smith, Routledge, 2013, pp. 7-8.
  • Irasema Dilián – IMDb

Image: Irasema pictured in the Tampa Tribune, 13 Jul. 1952, page 68.

Creative Brazilian baby names: Nausea, Welfare, Barrigudinha

The LA Times published an interesting article on Brazilian baby names several years ago (in 1999). Here are some highlights:


Brazilian parents who like creative spellings tend to gravitate toward the letters K, W and Y because — at the time the article was written — these letters were not technically part of Brazilian Portuguese.

[In 2009, Brazil enacted spelling reforms that officially added K, W and Y to the alphabet. I’m not sure if this has made them any less desirable for baby names.]

Examples of creative spellings: Tayane (Diana), Kerolyne (Carolina).


Sometimes, parents choose names inspired by Jogo do Bicho (“the animal game” or “the animal lottery”). This is “a kind of urban numbers game based on superstitions that imbue animals and dates with good luck.”

Example of an animal lottery name: Antonio Treze de Junio de Mil Novecentos e Dezesette (June 13, 1917).


There are distinct class differences when it comes to naming:

  • In Rio’s favelas (slums), “Edson, Robson, Anderson and Washington are favorite first names […] partly because of the percussive “on” sound and partly because American-sounding names are seen as cool and classy.”
  • Many lower-middle-class parents go for more elaborate names. The Rio registrar explaining these class differences said that, “[b]y seeking status, some cross the line into silliness.” He gave examples like Siddartha, Michael Jackson, Concetta Trombetta Diletta and Marafona (synonym for prostitute).
  • Many wealthy and upwardly mobile parents stick to simple, classic names.

“Brazilian law forbids names that could expose children to ridicule,” but the law is rarely enforced. For instance, the following names made it through…

  • Antonio Morrendo das Dores (Dying of Pain)
  • Barrigudinha (Little-Bellied Girl)
  • Ben Hur
  • Colapso Cardiaco (Cardiac Collapse)
  • D’Artagnan
  • Flavio Cavalcanti Rei da Televisao (King of Television)
  • Nausea
  • Nostradamus
  • Onurb (the reversed spelling of his surname, Bruno)
  • Onurd (brother of Onurb)
  • Saddam Hussein
  • Skylab
  • Tchaikovsky Johannsen Adler Pryce Jackman Faier Ludwin Zolman Hunter Lins (goes by “Tchai”)
  • Waterloo
  • Welfare (He said he was named after his father. “My grandfather’s name was Moacir, which in the Tupi Guarani indigenous language means Bad Omen. So he named my father Welfare, because it meant well-being, which was the opposite. And there was a famous English soccer player in Sao Paulo named Harry Welfare.”)
  • Xerox

Do you know anyone from Brazil with an interesting name or name story?

Sources: