How popular is the baby name Philippina 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 Philippina.

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Popularity of the baby name Philippina


Posts that mention the name Philippina

Interesting one-hit wonder names in the U.S. baby name data

single flower

They came, they went, and they never came back!

These baby names are one-hit wonders in the U.S. baby name data. That is, they’ve only popped up once, ever, in the entire dataset of U.S. baby names (which accounts for all names given to at least 5 U.S. babies per year since 1880).

There are thousands of one-hit wonders in the dataset, but the names below have interesting stories behind their single appearance, so these are the one-hits I’m writing specific posts about. Just click on a name to read more.

2020s

2010s

2000s

1990s

1980s

1970s

1960s

1950s

1940s

1930s

1920s

1910s

1900s

  • (none yet)

1890s

As I discover (and write about) more one-hit wonders in the data, I’ll add the names/links to this page. In the meanwhile, do you have any favorite one-hit wonder baby names?

Image: Adapted from Solitary Poppy by Andy Beecroft under CC BY-SA 2.0.

[Latest update: Apr. 2024]

How did the Spanish-American War influence U.S. baby names?

Battle of Manila Bay
Battle of Manila Bay

The brief Spanish-American War, fought between the United States and Spain, began in April of 1898 and ended in December of the same year.

It inspired hundreds of patriotic parents in the U.S. to choose war-inspired baby names.

Maine & Havana

One of the events that led to war was the explosion of the USS Maine in Cuba’s Havana Harbor on February 15. The explosion killed more than 260 men. Many people in the U.S. blamed the explosion on Spain.

Wreck of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor (Cuba)
Wreck of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor

The baby names Maine and Havana both debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1898.

  • 1900: unlisted
  • 1899: unlisted
  • 1898: 9 baby girls named Maine [debut] (plus 5 more named Mayne)
  • 1897: unlisted
  • 1896: unlisted

Maine was a one-hit wonder in the data — a rarity that never returned — but Havana returned to the data dozens of times since.

  • 1900: unlisted
  • 1899: unlisted
  • 1898: 8 baby girls named Havana [debut]
  • 1897: unlisted
  • 1896: unlisted

The baby name Cuba also saw a spike in usage that year:

  • 1900: 8 baby girls named Cuba
  • 1899: 14 baby girls named Cuba (rank: 884th)
  • 1898: 29 baby girls named Cuba (rank: 597th)
  • 1897: 9 baby girls named Cuba
  • 1896: unlisted

According to U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI) data — which is more comprehensive than the SSA data for this time period — 25 babies were named Maine, 12 were named Havana, and 79 were named Cuba in 1898.

Dewey & Manila

War was formally declared on April 25. On May 1, the Battle of Manila Bay took place in the Philippines. The U.S. fleet, under the command of Commodore George Dewey, defeated Spain.

Newspaper headline about Dewey

Usage of the name Dewey spiked in 1898 for both genders. (On the boys’ list, the name reached the top 20, impressively.) The spelling variants Dewie and Dewy also debuted that year.

Boys named DeweyGirls named Dewey
1900345
(rank: 75th)
9
1899499
(rank: 39th)
24
(rank: 632nd)
18981,115
(rank: 19th)
104
(rank: 305th)
1897158
(rank: 111th)
13*
(rank: 904th)
189663
(rank: 224th)
.
189528
*Debut

Note that, during this time period, many children were not given names right away. That’s why it seems as though the name Dewey began rising in usage ahead of schedule — because dozens of children born in 1897 and 1896 weren’t named until 1898.

This likewise explains the 1897 debut of the baby name Olympia, which corresponds to the name of Dewey’s flagship, the USS Olympia.

Newspaper illustration of the USS Olympia

Getting back to Dewey…we see even higher numbers in the SSDI data: 6,708 babies named Dewey, 36 named Dewie, and 1 named Dewy in 1898.

We even see evidence of Dewey’s spike on the U.S. Census of 1920:

  • 1910s: over 4,300 people named Dewey were born
  • 1900s: over 11,000 people named Dewey were born
  • 1890s: over 12,100 people named Dewey were born
  • 1880s: over 200 people named Dewey were born
  • 1870s: over 100 people named Dewey were born

An article in the Reading Eagle in 1899 listed ten local babies named for George Dewey, and another article I spotted from decades later joked about starting a George Dewey namesake club.

We see a similar (though less pronounced) spike of in the usage of Manila for baby girls:

  • 1900: 10 baby girls named Manila
  • 1899: 34 baby girls named Manila (rank: 512th)
  • 1898: 104 baby girls named Manila (rank: 306th) [peak usage]
  • 1897: 7 baby girls named Manila [debut]
  • 1896: unlisted

The spelling variant Manilla was the top girl-name debut of 1898, with 35 baby girls (rank: 536th).

Again, the SSDI’s numbers are even higher — 195 babies were named Manila and 118 were named Manilla in 1898.

Hobson, Admiral, Shafter, Maceo, Schley & Philippina

Here are six more war-related names that debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1898.

The baby name Hobson was inspired by Richmond Pearson Hobson, prisoner of war in Cuba. Hobson was the top boy-name debut of 1898, in fact.

  • 1900: 13 baby boys named Hobson (rank: 713th)
  • 1899: 15 baby boys named Hobson (rank: 511th)
  • 1898: 38 baby boys named Hobson (rank: 311th) [debut]
  • 1897: unlisted
  • 1896: unlisted

According to the SSDI, at least 161 babies were named Hobson that year.

(Hobson was a handsome Southerner who became a national celebrity following his month-long imprisonment. He became well known for kissing pretty young women as he toured the country. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch jokingly called him “the champion kisser of the universe.”)

The baby name Admiral was the rank of many of the men (e.g. Admiral Dewey, Admiral Sampson, Admiral Schley) who played a part in the war — Dewey especially.

  • 1900: 18 baby boys named Admiral (rank: 579th)
  • 1899: 13 baby boys named Admiral (rank: 549th)
  • 1898: 25 baby boys named Admiral (rank: 394th) [debut]
  • 1897: unlisted
  • 1896: unlisted

According to the SSDI, at least 154 babies were named Admiral.

The baby name Shafter was inspired by army general William Rufus Shafter, who had command of the U.S. forces in Cuba during the war.

  • 1900: 8 baby boys named Shafter
  • 1899: unlisted
  • 1898: 14 baby boys named Shafter (rank: 604th) [debut]
  • 1897: unlisted
  • 1896: unlisted

This was the first and only time the name Shafter landed in the U.S. top 1,000. According to the SSDI, at least 58 babies were named Shafter.

The baby name Maceo was inspired by Cuban revolutionary Antonio Maceo, “one of the outstanding guerrilla leaders in nineteenth century Latin America.” (He had died in late 1896, actually.)

  • 1900: 8 baby boys named Maceo
  • 1899: 9 baby boys named Maceo (rank: 760th)
  • 1898: 13 baby boys named Maceo (rank: 621st) [debut]
  • 1897: unlisted
  • 1896: unlisted

According to the SSDI, at least 34 babies were named Maceo.

The baby name Schley was inspired by Winfield Scott Schley, hero of the Battle of Santiago Bay.

  • 1900: unlisted
  • 1899: unlisted
  • 1898: 10 baby boys named Schley (rank: 737th) [debut]
  • 1897: unlisted
  • 1896: unlisted

Like Maine, it was a one-hit wonder in the SSA data, and, like Shafter, it was in the top 1,000 just once. According to the SSDI, at least 39 babies were named Schley.

(Winfield Scott Schley — just like Winfield Scott Hancock — had been named in honor of General Winfield Scott (1786-1866), who was a family friend. Scott became Commanding General of the U.S. Army two years after Schley was born.)

Finally, the baby name Philippina, likely inspired by the Philippines, was another one-hit wonder the year of the war:

  • 1900: unlisted
  • 1899: unlisted
  • 1898: 5 baby girls named Philippina [debut]
  • 1897: unlisted
  • 1896: unlisted

Interestingly, only a single Philippina is accounted for in the SSDI data.

The Spanish-American War ended “with Spain losing most of its overseas empire” — including Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines — “and the U.S. emerging as a world power.”

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