How popular is the baby name Nerine in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out all the blog posts that mention the name Nerine.

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Popularity of the Baby Name Nerine


Posts that Mention the Name Nerine

Mystery baby name: Adilene (Solved!)

jigsaw puzzle

In 1987, the most impressive debut name for girls was Jaleesa.

The next-most impressive debut? The name Adilene:

  • 1990: 166 baby girls named Adilene
  • 1989: 158 baby girls named Adilene
  • 1988: 133 baby girls named Adilene
  • 1987: 72 baby girls named Adilene [debut]
  • 1986: not listed

The name Adilene has managed to stay within the 100-to-200 babies-per-year range all the way to 2010, in fact.

Where did it come from?

…I don’t know. (Argh.)

The other mystery names I’ve written about so far — Wanza (1915), Nerine (1917), Laquita (1930), Djuna (1964) — have been older. I didn’t feel too bad asking for help on these.

But Adilene is relatively recent. I’m frustrated that I can’t come up with an explanation for this one.

What I do know is this: most of the 1987 Adilenes have Spanish surnames. So the inspiration could have been something Spanish-language. Perhaps an obscure 1986/1987 telenovela…?

Do you know the answer?

UPDATE: I think the mystery is solved! Looks like Adilene was inspired by “Adilene,” a song by Los Yonics. Big thank you to Laura and Adi for helping me out!

Image by Willi Heidelbach from Pixabay

Mystery baby names: Djuna and Djuana (Solved!)

jigsaw puzzle

So far I’ve only posted about two mystery names, Laquita and Nerine. But there are plenty of others.

One of those others is Djuna, which was the most impressive girl-name debut in the U.S. baby name data in 1964:

  • 1966: 24 baby girls named Djuna
  • 1965: 32 baby girls named Djuna
  • 1964: 198 baby girls named Djuna [rank: 738th]
  • 1963: unlisted
  • 1962: unlisted

In fact, 198 was the highest debut number ever up to that point, and it remained the record-holder until Kizzy (inspired by Roots) came along with a whopping 1,115 baby girls in 1977.

And that’s not all. A bunch of similar names became more popular in 1964 as well:

1963196419651966
Djuna–198*3224
Djuana–1907735
Dwana17823937
Duana7291811
Dejuana–241113
Dewanna13242230
Dwanna10241012
Duanna–1066
Dujuana–10*5–
Djana–9*––
Duuna–9*––
Duwana–9*––
Djuan (f)–7*––
Dejuna–6*––
Duuana–6*––
Duwanna–6*––
Dywana–6*––
Djuanna–5*––
Dajuana––9*–
*Debut

(Djana, Duuna, Dejuna and Duuana were one-hit wonders.)

Where did these names come from?

I haven’t a clue. The very first Djuna seems to be writer Djuna Barnes (1892-1982), but I don’t think she made any headlines in the 1960s.

The name was also used in a bunch Ellery Queen novels, but that Djuna was a boy. (And the books were published in the ’40s and ’50s, mostly.)

Olympian Wilma Rudolph named her baby girl Djuana in mid-1964. This may have contributed to the surge in usage. But many (most?) of the Djunas and Djuanas I’ve seen so far were born during the first half of the year, so it can’t be the main cause.

So…I’m stumped.

Do you guys have any ideas?

UPDATE: We worked together to figure out that the answer was TV character Djuna Phrayne, who was featured on a single episode of the TV series Channing. Thank you, everyone!

Image by Willi Heidelbach from Pixabay

Mystery baby name: Nerine

jigsaw puzzle

While we’re mulling over the case of Laquita, I’ll throw out another mystery baby name: Nerine.

Nerine was in the U.S. baby name data for four years in a row:

  • 1921: unlisted
  • 1920: 6 baby girls named Nerine
  • 1919: 13 baby girls named Nerine
  • 1918: 17 baby girls named Nerine
  • 1917: 43 baby girls named Nerine (the #1 debut name for girls)
  • 1916: unlisted

A variant, Nerene, also popped up in the data in 1917 and 1918:

  • 1919: unlisted
  • 1918: 7 baby girls named Nerene
  • 1917: 11 baby girls named Nerene [debut]
  • 1916: unlisted

What else can I tell you about Nerine? Well, it’s a flower name based on the word Nereid, a form of Nereus. It’s also the name of a consort of Mars, Nerine/Nerio (different etymology).

But I have no idea what made it fashionable in 1917. I can’t find a pop culture explanation, and usage of Norene/Noreen/Norine didn’t spike that year, so there wasn’t any piggybacking involved.

Thoughts?

Image by Willi Heidelbach from Pixabay

Top debut names in the U.S. baby name data, 1881 to today

flower bud

Though vast majority of the baby names on the Social Security Administration’s yearly baby name lists are repeats, every list does contain a handful of brand-new names.

Below are the highest-charting debut names for every single year on record, after the first.

Why bother with an analysis like this? Because debut names often have cool stories behind them, and high-hitting debuts are especially likely to have intriguing explanations tied to historical people/events. So this is more than a list of names — it’s also a list of stories.

Here’s the format: “Girl name(s), number of baby girls; Boy name(s), number of baby boys.” Keep in mind that the raw numbers aren’t too trustworthy for about the first six decades, though. (More on that in a minute.)

  • 1881: Adell & Celeste, 14; Brown & Newell, 14
  • 1882: Verda, 14; Cleve, 13
  • 1883: Laurel, 12; Brady, Festus, Jewell, Odell & Rosco, 8
  • 1884: Crystal & Rubie, 11; Benjamen, Jens, Oakley & Whitney, 9
  • 1885: Clotilde, 13; Arley & Terence, 9
  • 1886: Manuelita, 10; Terrence, 10
  • 1887: Verlie, 13; Myles, 11
  • 1888: Ebba, 18; Carlisle, Hughie & Orvel, 9
  • 1889: Garnett, 12; Doyle, 9
  • 1890: Verena, 11; Eduardo & Maggie, 10
  • 1891: Gayle, Idabelle & Zenia, 9; Sheridan, 14
  • 1892: Astrid, Dallas & Jennett, 9; Corbett, 23
  • 1893: Elmyra, 12; Estel, Mayo, Shelley & Thorwald, 8
  • 1894: Beatriz, Carola & Marrie, 9; Arvel, Erby & Floy, 8
  • 1895: Trilby, 12; Roosevelt, 12
  • 1896: Lotus, 11; Hazen, 11
  • 1897: Dewey, 13; Bryon, Frankie, Mario & Rhoda, 7
  • 1898: Manilla, 35; Hobson, 38
  • 1899: Ardis & Irva, 19; Haven, 9
  • 1900: Luciel, 14; Rosevelt, 20
  • 1901: Venita, 11; Eino, 9
  • 1902: Mercie, 10; Clarnce, 9
  • 1903: Estela, 11; Lenon & Porfirio, 7
  • 1904: Magdaline, 9; Adrain, Arbie, Betty, Desmond, Domenic, Duard, Raul & Severo, 8
  • 1905: Oliver, 9; Eliot & Tyree, 9
  • 1906: Nedra, 11; Domenico & Ryan, 10
  • 1907: Theta, 20; Taft, 16
  • 1908: Pasqualina, 10; Robley, 12
  • 1909: Wilmoth, 9; Randal & Vidal, 9
  • 1910: Ellouise, 12; Halley, 12
  • 1911: Thurley, 12; Colie, 16
  • 1912: Elynor, Glennis, Mariann, 12; Woodroe, 25
  • 1913: Wilba, 18; Vilas, 24
  • 1914: Floriene, 14; Torao, 17
  • 1915: Wanza, 33; Audra, 18
  • 1916: Tatsuko, 14; Verdun, 14
  • 1917: Nerine, 43; Delwyn, 14
  • 1918: Marne, 24; Foch, 58
  • 1919: Tokie, 12; Juaquin, 11
  • 1920: Dardanella, 23; Steele, 11
  • 1921: Marilynne, 13; Norberto, 14
  • 1922: Evelean, 14; Daren, 35
  • 1923: Nalda, 15; Clinard & Dorland, 9
  • 1924: Charis, 14; Melquiades, 13
  • 1925: Irmalee, 37; Wayburn, 11
  • 1926: Narice, 13; Bibb, 14
  • 1927: Sunya, 14; Bidwell, 14
  • 1928: Joreen, 22; Alfread & Brevard, 9
  • 1929: Jeannene, 25; Donnald, Edsol, Rhys & Wolfgang, 8
  • 1930: Laquita, 68; Shogo, 11
  • 1931: Joanie, 12; Rockne, 17
  • 1932: Carolann, Delano & Jenine, 11; Alvyn, Avelardo, Elena, Mannon & Wenford, 7
  • 1933: Gayleen, 23; Skippy, 10
  • 1934: Carollee & Janean, 12; Franchot, 9
  • 1935: Treasure, 16; Haile, 11
  • 1936: Shelva, 89; Renny & Shelva, 9

This is where the numbers start becoming more accurate. Why? Because “many people born before 1937 never applied for a Social Security card, so their names are not included in our data.” (SSA)

Now back to the list:

I’ve already written about some of the names above, and I plan to write about all the others as well…eventually. In the meanwhile, if you want to beat me to it and leave a comment about why Maverick hit in 1957, or why Moesha hit in 1996, feel free!

*If you ignore the baby name glitch of 1989, the top debut names of 1989 are actually Audreanna and Khiry.

Image by kazuend from Unsplash