How popular is the baby name Pippa 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 Pippa.

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Popularity of the Baby Name Pippa


Posts that Mention the Name Pippa

Baby Name Battle: Piper vs. Pippa

Piper and Pippa have a lot in common: both are 2-syllable p-names, and both debuted in the SSA data in the 1950s thanks to the influence of famous actresses.

Since the ’50s, though, their paths have diverged. Piper has become popular, and now sits inside the top 100. Pippa, on the other hand, has yet to reach the top 1,000.

Piper comes directly from the surname, which was originally an occupational name for a pipe player.

Pippa, short for Philippa, can be traced back to the ancient Greek name Philippos, meaning “fond of horses.”

If you were having a daughter, and you had to name her either Piper or Pippa, which would it be? Why?

Where did the baby name Pippa come from?

pippa scott, lucy, the searchers
Pippa Scott as Lucy in The Searchers

The baby name Pippa was popularized recently by royal sister Pippa Middleton, but an even earlier pop culture Pippa put the name on the map initially:

  • 1959: unlisted
  • 1958: unlisted
  • 1957: 5 baby girls named Pippa [debut]
  • 1956: unlisted
  • 1955: unlisted

That Pippa was young actress Philippa “Pippa” Scott.

Pippa Scott’s first film was the memorable Western The Searchers (1956), which starred John Wayne.

(The title of Buddy Holly’s first hit song, “That’ll Be The Day,” came from an expression that John Wayne’s character, Ethan Edwards, used repeatedly in The Searchers. And his second hit song, “Peggy Sue,” boosted the compound name Peggysue into the data for the first time — just one year after Pippa’s debut.)

Pippa Scott went on to appear in dozens of TV shows and movies during the ’60s and ’70s, and the name’s continued usage during those decades reflects this.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Pippa? Would you use it?

Sources: Pippa Scott – IMDb, That’ll Be The Day by Buddy Holly – Songfacts

Where did the baby name Aissa come from?

Celebrity daughter Aissa on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine (March 1961).
Aissa on Cosmo cover (Mar. 1961)

The relatively rare name Aissa started appearing in the U.S. data in the early 1960s:

  • 1963: unlisted
  • 1962: 5 baby girls named Aissa
  • 1961: 6 baby girls named Aissa [debut]
  • 1960: unlisted
  • 1959: unlisted

The reason?

Looks to be John Wayne’s daughter Aissa (pronounced ie-EES-ah), who was born in 1956 had a short acting career in the early 1960s. Her first and most notable role was that of Lisa Angelina Dickinson in the movie The Alamo (1960).

Photographs of Aissa also occasionally appeared in the newspapers. Perhaps the most prominent photo of her was the one on cover of Cosmopolitan magazine in March of 1961. It was their “diamond jubilee issue” (marking their 75th year in print) and, according to the caption, Aissa was “wearing $850,000 in Cartier diamonds.”

Aissa’s mother was John Wayne’s third wife, Pilar, and her two full siblings were named John Ethan and Marisa.

I know the story behind John Ethan’s middle name — it came from the character John Wayne played in The Searchers (the movie that launched Pippa) — but I don’t know the story behind “Aissa.” Perhaps the Waynes found it in the 1951 movie Outcast of the Islands, which featured an exotic character named Aissa (played by French actress Kerima)…?

In terms of etymology, “Aissa” comes from the French name Aïssa, which is based on the Arabic name Isa, a form of Jesus.

The name saw peak usage in the U.S. in the early 1990s:

  • 1994: 10 baby girls named Aissa
  • 1993: 20 baby girls named Aissa
  • 1992: 58 baby girls named Aissa [peak]
  • 1991: 20 baby girls named Aissa
  • 1990: 11 baby girls named Aissa

Aissa Wayne’s name was in the news a lot during 1992 due to legal troubles. In April, she testified in court against her ex-husband (a physician who had hired two assailants to attack her in 1988 amid their child custody battle). The ex-husband was convicted in May and sentenced in July. In December, Aissa won full custody of their 5-year-old daughter, Anastasia Pilar.

What are your thoughts on the name Aissa/Aïssa?

Sources:

P.S. Here are several more “delayed” celebrity baby name debuts, i.e., celebrity baby-inspired names that didn’t appear on the charts at the time of birth.

P.P.S. John Wayne’s second wife was named Esperanza, nicknamed Chata. His first was named Josephine.

Popular Baby Names in British Columbia, 2018

According to British Columbia’s Vital Statistics Agency, the most popular baby names in the province in 2018 were Olivia and Liam.

Here are British Columbia’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2018:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 246 baby girls
  2. Emma, 222
  3. Amelia, 170 (tie)
  4. Charlotte, 170 (tie)
  5. Chloe, 160
  6. Sophia, 149
  7. Ava, 148
  8. Isla, 137
  9. Emily, 134
  10. Abigail, 132

Boy Names

  1. Liam, 283 baby boys
  2. Lucas, 225
  3. Oliver, 211
  4. Benjamin, 200
  5. Logan, 183
  6. Ethan, 182
  7. Noah, 181 (tie)
  8. William, 181 (tie)
  9. James, 175
  10. Leo, 165

In the girls’ top 10, Isla replaced Hannah.

In the boys’ top 10, Leo replaced Owen.

Names used just five times each in 2018 include…

  • Girl names: Ayda, Bria, Clover, Dilnoor, Ever, Flora, Guneet, Havana, Irene, Jenny, Krystal, Lavinia, Magnolia, Opal, Pippa, Rosha, Sahej, Taryn, Waverly, Zia
  • Boy names: Adriel, Bjorn, Clyde, Drake, Eamon, Fergus, Graydon, Hamza, Ibraheem, Jagger, Kaya, Leland, Malikai, Ollie, Partap, Reginald, Smith, Tegh, Watson, Zephyr

In 2017, the top names were Olivia and Benjamin.

Source: Baby’s Most Chosen Names in British Columbia, 2018

Rare Girl Names from Early Cinema: O

orchid, gloria swanson, movie, 1926

Want a rare girl name with a retro feel?

Here’s a list of uncommon, feminine O-names associated with the earliest decades of cinema.

For those that saw enough usage to register in the national data set, I’ve included links to the popularity graphs.

Enjoy!

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O Yama
O Yama was a character played by actress Florence Lawrence in the short film The Heart of O Yama (1908).

Oceola
Oceola was a character played by actress Dolly Larkin in the film Her Atonement (1913).

  • Usage of the baby name Oceola (which debuted in the data in 1913).

Odile
Odile was a character name in the films The Rat (1925) and The Rat (1937), both of which were based upon the same stage play.

  • Usage of the baby name Odile.

Ohati
Ohati was a character played by actress Anna May Wong in the film A Trip to Chinatown (1926).

Ojira
Princess Ojira was a character played by actress Helen Gardner in the film A Princess of Bagdad (1913).

Okalana
Queen Okalana was a character played by actress Anne Revere in the film Rainbow Island (1944).

Ola
Ola Humphrey was an actress who appeared in films in the 1910s. She was born in California in 1874. Her birth name was Pearl Ola Jane Humphrey. Ola was also a character played by actress Lucy Fox in the film What Fools Men Are (1922).

  • Usage of the baby name Ola.

Olago
Olago was a character played by actress Sarah Padden in the film Man of Two Worlds (1934).

Olala
Olala Ussan was a character played by actress Billie Dove in the film The Thrill Chaser (1923).

Olalla
Olalla was a character name in the films The Wandering Jew (1923) and The Wandering Jew (1933), both of which were based upon the same stage play.

O-Lan
O-Lan was a character played by actress Luise Rainer in the film The Good Earth (1937), which was based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name by Pearl S. Buck. Rainer won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1937 for playing O-Lan.

Olana
Olana was a character played by actress Marie Walcamp in the short film Olana of the South Seas (1914).

  • Usage of the baby name Olana.

Oleander
Oleander Tubbs was a character played by actress Helen Chandler in the film Mr. Boggs Steps Out (1938).

Olette
Olette was a character played by actress Peggy Hyland in the film The Sixteenth Wife (1917).

Olivetta
Olivetta was a character name in multiple films, including The Long Arm of the Law (short, 1911) and 13 Washington Square (1928).

Olivette
Olivette was a character played by actress Olive Borden in the film The Monkey Talks (1927).

Ollante
Ollante was a character played by actress Dorothy Dalton in the film The Jungle Child (1916).

Olympe
Olympe Bradna was an actress who appeared in films from the 1930s to the 1940s. She was born in France in 1920. Her birth name was Antoinette Olympe Bradna. Olympe was also a character name in multiple films, including New Lives for Old (1925) and Camille (1936).

Oma
Oma Tuthill was a character played by actress Mayre Hall in the film The Battle of Ballots (1915).

  • Usage of the baby name Oma.

Ona
Ona Munson was an actress who appeared in films from the 1920s to the 1950s. She was born in Oregon in 1903. Her birth name was Owena Elizabeth Wolcott. Ona was also a character played by actress Gail Kane in the film The Jungle (1914).

  • Usage of the baby name Ona.

Onda
Onda was a character played by actress Marie Walcamp in the short film Onda of the Orient (1916).

  • Usage of the baby name Onda.

Oneta
Oneta was a character played by actress Anna May Wong in the film The Desert’s Toll (1926).

  • Usage of the baby name Oneta.

Opitsah
Opitsah was a character played by actress Bessie Eyton in the short film Opitsah: Apache for Sweetheart (1912). Despite the title, the word opitsah isn’t Apache — it’s Chinook Jargon for “knife,” but it can also denote a “lover” or “sweetheart.”

Ora
Ora Carew was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1920s. She was born in Utah in 1893. Ora was also a character name in multiple films, including Sparrow of the Circus (short, 1914) and Her Supreme Sacrifice (short, 1915).

  • Usage of the baby name Ora.

Orchid
Orchid was a character name in multiple films, including Fine Manners (1926), starring Gloria Swanson, and Gangs of New York (1938).

  • Usage of the baby name Orchid (which debuted in the data in 1926).

Oriole
Oriole Hartley was a character played by actress Nanci Price in the film The Girl in the Show (1929).

  • Usage of the baby name Oriole.

Orlean
Orlean was a character played by actress Evelyn Preer in the film The Homesteader (1919).

  • Usage of the baby name Orlean.

Ormi
Ormi Hawley was an actress who appeared in films in the 1910s. She was born in Massachusetts in 1889. Her birth name was Ormetta Grace Hawley.

  • Usage of the baby name Ormi (which debuted in the data in 1916).

Orry
Orry Baxter was a character played by actress Jane Wyman in the film The Yearling (1946).

  • Usage of the baby name Orry.

Osa
Osa Massen was an actress who appeared in films from the 1930s to the 1950s. She was born in Denmark in 1914. Her birth name was Aase Iverson Madsen.

  • Usage of the baby name Osa.

Osprey
Osprey Bacchus was a character played by actress Helen Jerome Eddy in the film A Very Good Young Man (1919).

Ottilie
Ottilie Van Zandt was a character played by actress Ethel Shannon in the film Maytime (1923).

Ottima
Ottima was a character played by actress Marion Leonard in the short film Pippa Passes; or, The Song of Conscience (1909).

Ottola
Ottola Nesmith was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1960s. She was born in Washington, D.C., in 1889. She was named after her father, Capt. Otto Nesmith.

Ouida
Ouida Bergère was an actress who appeared in films in the 1910s. She was born in 1886. Her birth name was Eunie Branch. The name Ouida was invented by English author Ouida (b. 1839), whose birth name was Marie Louise Ramé.

  • Usage of the baby name Ouida.

Oulaid
Oulaid was a character played by actress Mary Alden in the film The Tents of Allah (1923).

Owanono
Owanono was a character played by actress Tsuru Aoki in the short film Desert Thieves (1914).

Ozma
Ozma was a character name in multiple films, including The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays (1908) and The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914).

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…Which of the above names do you like best?

Source: IMDb