How popular is the baby name Posy 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 Posy.

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Popularity of the baby name Posy


Posts that mention the name Posy

The top girl-name debuts of 2014

lotus bud

The television-inspired Dalary was the top debut name for baby girls in 2014.

Of all the girl names appearing for the very first time on a Social Security Administration baby name list in 2014, the following were the most popular:

1. Dalary, 215 baby girls
2. Yazleemar, 28
3. Sunjai, 23
4. Hannaley, 21
5. Tauriel, 20
6. Naiovy, 17
7. Rynlee, 14
8. Abisai, 13
9. Arliz, 13
10. Everli, 13
11. Iselle, 13
12. Tessanne, 13
13. Eisele, 12
14. Aidana, 11
15. Aransa, 11
16. Huntlee, 11
17. Posy, 11
18. Tiwatope, 11
19. Xairexis, 11

And a handful from the 10-and-under group: Enzley, Sochi, Kaoir, Aketzaly, Everdeen, Jeyshangelise, Khaleesia, Yailenys/Yaileny, Espyn/Espen, Gabbanelli, Kimimela, Kween, Rocket, Ruoxi, Cove, Light, Madrona, Miamore/Miamour, Penrose, Synnove, Winslet, Ziggy, Believe, Bravery, Decker, Hastings, Katsumi, Knova, Luxanna, Mirajane, Nelliel, Penelopea, Poe, Taizley, Theophilia, Wimberley, Zoja, Zyelle.

Where do the names above come from? Here are some explanations:

  • Dalary – from the baby girl born on reality TV show “Larrymania” in late 2013. (Abby figured this one out right away!)
  • Yazleemar – from 2-year-old St. Jude patient Yazleemar, who was in Spanish-language TV commercials for the hospital.
  • Sunjai – from the dance reality TV show “Bring It.”
  • Hannaley – from actress Hannaley Suarez, host of “Suelta La Sopa” on Telemundo.
  • Tauriel – from the 2nd and 3rd films in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, released in 2013 and 2014. (elbowin called this one a while back!)
  • Naiovy – from Puerto Rican-American singer Ivy Queen, who welcomed baby girl Naiovy in late 2013.
  • Iselle – from Hurricane Iselle which hit Hawaii (as a tropical storm) in August of 2014.
  • Tessanne – from singer Tessanne Chin, who won The Voice at the end of 2013. (We added her name to Pop Culture Baby Name Game 2013, but forgot for 2014! Bah.)
  • Aransa – based on Aranza, from Mexican telenovela “Por siempre mi amor” (2013-2015).
  • Xairexis – from singer Xairexis Garcia of Spanish-language reality talent show “La Voz Kids.”
  • Sochi – from the Winter Olympics in Sochi. (Also mentioned in PCBNG ’13.)
  • Everdeen – from Hunger Games character Katniss Everdeen.
  • Winslet – from Kate Winslet…?

Can you come up with explanations for any of the others?

Here are the girl name debuts for 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010.

U.S. Baby Names 2014: Most popular names, Top girl-name debuts, Top boy-name debuts, Biggest girl-name changes, Biggest boy-name changes, Top first letters, Top lengths

Source: SSA

Image: Adapted from LotusBud0048a (public domain) by Frank “Fg2” Gualtieri

Girl names based on “Hester Jo” needed

A reader named Q* contacted me a several years ago about choosing a name for her first daughter, Posy. Q is now expecting her second daughter (due in one week!) and would like some help naming baby #2.

I never wrote a post about Posy’s name, but I think a collective brainstorm is in order for baby #2.

The frontrunners so far are Gemma, Evie (“EH-vie”), Persephone (nn Sephie) and Belle, but Q says that “nothing has really grabbed us.”

Also, there’s this to think about:

We got some very sad news this weekend which is that our close family friend passed away. We would like to incorporate her name somehow in our daughter’s name.

Her name was Hester Jo. I don’t particularly like the name Hester Jo but we would really like to somehow honor her. I prefer Hestia or Hes or Esti to Hester, but none of these names really grab me, and the fact that our last name also ends in an “-er” sound doesn’t seem to mesh well with Hester.

Can you think of any creative ways to incorporate her name? I know that Hester means “star” so I was wondering if there are any other names meaning star or something similar that might be good. Or even matching the initials HJ?

The baby’s last name will be a 2-syllable T-name a lot like Tyler.

–

First, let me say that I’m so sorry for your family’s loss.

I think it’s wonderful that you want to honor Hester Jo. I can understand why “Hester” might not sound so hot with a surname that ends with -er, though.

Hester comes from Esther, which we know of through the biblical Queen Esther. We don’t know for sure what her name means. Esther could be based on the Persian word for “star,” on the name of the goddess Ishtar, on a Median word for “myrtle,” or on something else entirely.

One H-name with a direct connection to the original Esther is Esther’s birth name, Hadassah, which is Hebrew for “myrtle.” It could shortened to a nickname like Hada or Dassah to make it sound a bit peppier, like Posy.

Speaking of nicknames, short forms of Hester and Esther are Hettie and Essie. These could also be bestowed as-is, just like Posy (which is a nickname for Josephine).

Essie reminds me of Vanessa, a name invented by Jonathan Swift. He based it on the name of a friend, Esther Vanhomrigh, and featured it in his poem “Cadenus and Vanessa.” (And Vanessa gives rise to nicknames like Vana and Nessa.)

In terms of star-names, I like Stella, Estella, and Estelle — really, anything in the Stella family (stella is Latin for “star”).

Another star-themed idea is the Scandinavian name Astrid, which doesn’t have an etymological connection to the prefix astro- (which is based on the ancient Greek astron, “star”) but looks/sounds like it does.

The name Johanna reminds me of Hester Jo a little — Jo in the front, followed by an H.

Other H-names, let’s see…Hazel, Honora (Nora), Heidi, Harriet, Helen, maybe even Hephzibah (nn Hepsie — Persephone/Sephie is on the table, so I had to throw this in!).

Out of this group, I like Hazel the best. It has a z-sound like Posy, and also a vegetation connection like Hester/Esther (possibly “myrtle”), Hadassah (definitely “myrtle”) and Posy (in the bouquet sense).

Now on to the current favorites…

I like them all, actually. I could see any of them in a sibset with Posy.

I’d be a little concerned about trendiness with both Gemma and Belle. Gemma’s been climbing the charts rather quickly in the last few years; you never know how high it could go. And Belle, not popular on its own, could get lost in a sea of girls with -bella names (Isabella is currently ranked #1, Bella #48, Isabelle #105, Annabelle #117, Izabella #140, etc.).

Sephie reminds me a lot of Posy — both are very rare and have an old-fashioned feel. But I don’t know how fair it is to give one daughter a name that is a nickname (i.e. 1 name) and the other a name that has a nickname (i.e. 2 names). If Posy had been Josephine (nn Posy), I would have been a lot more excited about Persephone (nn Sephie).

Finally, Evie. I have a feeling that most people pronounce it EE-vee, not EHV-ee, so correcting people could become a chore. Spelling it Evvie might help, though both names can be pronounced both ways, so the extra v may not make much of a difference.

Want to help Q name her daughter? Please leave a comment with your…

  • Ideas about how to incorporate the name Hester Jo (or the initials H. J.),
  • Opinions on the current favorites, and/or
  • Other helpful suggestions.

*Name edited out at Q’s request.

Unusual baby name: Poesy Emmeline Fibonacci Nautilus

BoingBoing‘s Cory Doctorow and his partner, Alice Taylor, just welcomed a baby girl. Their newborn daughter’s full name is Poesy Emmeline Fibonacci Nautilus Taylor Doctorow.

What do the names refer to? According to the links in Cory’s post…

  • Poesy is defined as “poetry; poetic language and ideas; literature; a poem, a passage of poetry.”
  • Emmeline was inspired by British suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928).
  • Fibonacci was inspired by Italian mathematician Fibonacci (c.1170-c.1250).
    • Did you know that Fibonacci’s name is actually a sobriquet? It was created either from Filiorum Bonacci, “of the family of Bonacci,” or Filius Bonacci, “son of Bonacci.” His real name was Leonardo of Pisa (or Leonardo Pisano).
  • Nautilus was inspired by the submarine Nautilus in science fiction novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870) by Jules Verne.

Here are some of the comments Cory has received regarding the name so far:

  • “Too bad you won’t have any names available for the next child.”
  • “And you do realize you have doomed her to a life of “No, my name’s NOT POSY.””
  • “I’m particularly fond of Emmeline, though my inner geek is jumping for joy at “Fibonacci Nautilus”.”
  • “P.E.F.N.T.D. is going to be hell to monogram, though.”

What’s your opinion of the name?

(A big thanks to Nancy Friedman of Away With Words for telling me about this one!)