The name Alanis first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1995:
- 1998: 108 baby girls named Alanis
- 1997: 148 baby girls named Alanis
- 1996: 172 baby girls named Alanis
- 1995: 15 baby girls named Alanis [debut]
- 1994: unlisted
- 1993: unlisted
The following year, Alanis was one of the fastest-rising baby names in the country, and the spelling variants Alannis and Alanys both debuted in the data.
What was influencing these names in the mid-1990s?
Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis (pronounced uh-LAN-iss) Morissette.
Her third studio album, the alt-rock juggernaut Jagged Little Pill (1995), won “Album of the Year” at both the Grammy Awards and the Juno Awards. It was the best-selling album of 1996 and went on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time.
Jagged Little Pill, which had twelve tracks, spawned six hit singles:
- “You Oughta Know,” which peaked at #6 in both the U.S. and Canada
- “You Learn,” which peaked at #1 in Canada
- “Hand in My Pocket,” which peaked at #1 in Canada
- “Ironic,” which peaked at #4 in the U.S. and #1 in Canada
- “Head over Feet,” which peaked at #1 in Canada
- “All I Really Want,” which peaked at #2 in Canada
Isn’t it ironic (don’t you think) that the music video I’m embedding below is the one for the song “Ironic”?
So, did Alanis Morissette influence baby names in her home country as well?
Yes — in 1996, her name debuted in the Canadian data. In fact, it reached the Canadian girls’ top 1,000 for the first and only time that year:
- 1998: 7 baby girls named Alanis in Canada
- 1997: 13 baby girls named Alanis in Canada
- 1996: 23 baby girls named Alanis in Canada [rank: 867th]
- 1995: unlisted
- 1994: unlisted
- 1993: unlisted
(There may have been a handful of earlier namesakes as well: she’d been famous in Canada since the early ’90s, when she was a teen pop star known mononymously as “Alanis.”)
Alanis Nadine Morissette was born to parents Alan and Georgia Morissette in Ontario in 1974. She was born 12 minutes after her twin brother, Wade Imre Morissette.
If “Imre” in association with Alanis Morissette rings a bell for you, that’s because Alanis’ first child, born in late 2010, was named Ever Imre. She has since welcomed two more children: a daughter named Onyx Solace, and a second son named Winter Mercy.
What are your thoughts on name Alanis?
P.S. We’ve also checked out the Canadian usage of the names Crosby, Sidney, and Tamia…
Sources:
- Alanis Morissette – Wikipedia
- Alanis Morissette – Canadian Music Hall of Fame
- Alanis Morissette discography – Wikipedia
- Baby Names Observatory – Statistics Canada
- SSA
Top image: Screenshot of the music video for “You Oughta Know”
.svg){kind=link}