How popular is the baby name Plutarch 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 Plutarch.

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Popularity of the baby name Plutarch


Posts that mention the name Plutarch

Babies named after Katniss from “Hunger Games”?

"The Hunger Games" (2008)
“The Hunger Games“

The Hunger Games is a young adult science-fiction trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The last of the three books, Mockingjay, was released a few weeks ago.

At the moment, Mockingjay is #5 on the Amazon.com Bestseller List. Catching Fire, the second book, is #13. Hunger Games, the first, is #16.

Movies based on the books are in the works.

What interests me about the series is that most of the Hunger Games characters have odd names. The young female protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, was named after an edible plant called katniss. She has a younger sister named Primrose, a male friend named Peeta, and lives in a world where people are named anything from Glimmer to Plutarch.

We all know that popular books and movies have the potential to affect baby name trends–even create brand new baby names. Babies have been named Renesmee thanks to Twilight, Neytiri thanks to Avatar, Galadriel thanks to The Lord of the Rings…the list goes on.

Could you see Katniss crossing over into the real world as a baby name? How about any of the other Hunger Games names?

(I first learned about these books in a video by Joanna Penn of The Creative Penn, which is a great blog/site/podcast for writers.)

Update, March 26, 2012: As you know, the trilogy is now a movie. And, last weekend, Hunger Games (the film) had the 3rd-best opening weekend of all time (after The Dark Knight and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2). So…Katniss is pretty much a sure thing at this point. If it doesn’t debut in 2011 for the books, it’s bound to debut in 2012 for the movie.

Update, July 21, 2020: The name Katniss did indeed debut in 2012, as did Finnick. Primrose made a return that year as well, as did Gale for baby boys. Two more Hunger Games names affected by subsequent movies include Everdeen (debuted in 2014) and Cressida (re-emerged in 2014). And, going back to the books, the name Rue returned in 2010.

Where did the baby name Varinia come from in 1961?

The character Varinia from the movie "Spartacus" (1960).
Varinia in “Spartacus“

So far, the baby name Varinia has appeared in the U.S. baby name data just three times. The first two appearances were in the early 1960s:

  • 1963: unlisted
  • 1962: 7 baby girls named Varinia
  • 1961: 5 baby girls named Varinia [debut]
  • 1960: unlisted
  • 1959: unlisted

What put this rare name on the onomastic map?

The 1960 film Spartacus, which starred Kirk Douglas as rebellious Thracian slave Spartacus. Varinia, played by Jean Simmons, was a slave girl from Britannia who become Spartacus’ wife.

The movie was based on the 1951 novel of the same name by Howard Fast. The author invented the character Varinia (originally Germanic, not Britannic) for the book.

Though we know that the real-life Spartacus had a wife — she’s mentioned by Plutarch — we don’t know what her name was. The name chosen by Fast is a form of the Roman name Varinius, which might be based on the Latin word varius, meaning “various, variegated.”

Incidentally, this wasn’t the first time that Jean Simmons played a name-influencing character. In 1954, she was appearing in theaters as both Désirée Clary and Corby Lane.

Source: Spartacus (1960) – TCM, Varinius – Behind the Name