How popular is the baby name Rise 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 Rise.

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Popularity of the baby name Rise


Posts that mention the name Rise

Mystery baby name: September

Graph of the usage of the baby name September in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name September

Here’s a good mystery name to post in September: September.

The name September — just like the name Staria from a couple of weeks ago — debuted in 1955 with 20 baby girls:

  • 1958: 7 baby girls named September
  • 1957: 24 baby girls named September
  • 1956: 15 baby girls named September
  • 1955: 20 baby girls named September [debut]
  • 1954: unlisted
  • 1953: unlisted

Where did it come from? I don’t know.

At first I thought the movie September Affair (or the associated song, “September Song”) might have something to do with it, but the timeline is off. Plus, I feel like September would need to be used as a character name (or a stage name?) to recast it as a potential baby name in the eyes of expectant parents.

But, as usual, word-names are particularly hard to figure out. The origins of Memory and Treasure are still obscure, for instance. (They’re not impossible to solve, though! Check out Rise, or Strange.)

Any ideas about what happened in 1955 (or late 1954) to make people see September as more than month name?

Where did the baby name Risë (ree-sah) come from in 1942?

Opera singer Risë Stevens, as Carmen.
Opera singer Risë Stevens

This one took me years to figure out.

The curious name Rise debuted in the Social Security Administration data in 1942:

  • 1944: 13 baby girls named Rise
  • 1943: 7 baby girls named Rise
  • 1942: 15 baby girls named Rise [debut]
  • 1941: unlisted
  • 1940: unlisted

“Rise”? Huh.

Rise was the 4th-most-popular debut name that year, and not far behind (in 7th place) was the somewhat similar Risa:

  • 1944: 12 baby girls named Risa
  • 1943: 5 baby girls named Risa
  • 1942: 12 baby girls named Risa [debut]
  • 1941: unlisted
  • 1940: unlisted

Later in the ’40s, names like Reesa and Rissa popped up. And in the ’50s, names like Riesa and Reisa appeared. So there was definitely a minor Ris– trend going on in the mid-20th century, with “Rise” being the unlikely top variant.

But because “Rise” is also a vocabulary word, I had no luck pinning down the source. (It’s ridiculously hard to research word-names on the internet. I’m still stumped on Memory and Treasure.) Eventually I gave up.

Years later, as I was grabbing an image for the Finesse post, the answer landed right in front of me in the form of a cigarette ad:

Opera singer Risë Stevens in an advertisement for Camel cigarettes (Life magazine, 1953)
Risë Stevens in a cigarette ad

The full-page advertisement for Camels from a 1953 issue of LIFE magazine featured a “lovely star of the Metropolitan Opera” named Risë Stevens. I knew right away that this glamorous-looking lady — and her diaeresis! — was the solution to the “Rise” puzzle.

Mezzo-soprano Risë Stevens was born Risë Steenberg in New York City in 1913. Her first name is pronounced REE-sah or REE-suh. Here’s how she explained it:

“It’s Norwegian; it was my grandmother’s name and my great-grandmother’s name. In school I was called everything but Rise; I was called Rose; I was called Rise {rhyming with “eyes”}; I was called Risé {rhyming with “play”}; even Teresa. In school, it was terrible; I would have arguments with the teachers. I would say, ‘I should know how to pronounce my own name.'”

(One source suggests that the name Risë is related to the Latin word risus, meaning “laughter.”)

So what was an opera singer doing in a national advertising campaign? Shouldn’t those be reserved for Hollywood stars? Well, turns out she was a Hollywood star — at least for a time. She sang professionally from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, but in the early 1940s she gave acting a shot.

Her first film, released in late 1941, was the musical The Chocolate Soldier. Notice how her dots were left off the movie poster:

Poster for the film "The Chocolate Soldier" (1941), co-starring Risë Stevens.

This film accounts for the 1942 debut of both “Rise” and the phonetic respelling Risa.

Risë Stevens ultimately left Hollywood and returned to the opera — and she managed to bring at least a portion of her movie audience with her:

“I probably would never have reached that vast public had I not done films,” she said. “At least, I won a lot of people over to opera.”

This explains why Risë Stevens, often called the greatest Carmen of her generation, was being featured in advertisements and on television talk shows more than a decade later. And why her unique name therefore saw peak usage in the 1950s.

If you want to know more about Risë (and hear her sing!) here’s a Risë Stevens Tribute video created by the National Endowment for the Arts.

P.S. Risë Stevens had a granddaughter named Marisa — a combination of the names of her grandmothers, Maria and Risë. Risë Stevens’ son told her that he went with the -a ending instead of the -ë ending because he was “not going to put her through what you’ve been through.”

Sources:

Second image: © 1953 Life

Popular and unique baby names in Alberta (Canada), 2013

Flag of Alberta
Flag of Alberta

Alberta’s top baby names of 2013 were announced a couple of weeks ago.

According to data from Service Alberta, the most popular baby names last year were Olivia and Liam.

Here are Alberta’s top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2013:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 293 baby girls
  2. Emma, 271
  3. Emily, 249
  4. Sophia, 241
  5. Ava, 198
  6. Avery, 172
  7. Abigail, 164
  8. Charlotte, 156
  9. Chloe, 156
  10. Lily, 156
  11. Ella, 152
  12. Isabella, 144
  13. Hannah, 138
  14. Amelia, 132
  15. Brooklyn, 126
  16. Madison, 123
  17. Sadie, 118
  18. Grace, 115
  19. Mia, 115
  20. Elizabeth, 111

Boy Names

  1. Liam, 310 baby boys
  2. Lucas, 254
  3. Ethan, 244
  4. Noah, 234
  5. Logan, 225
  6. Benjamin, 222
  7. William, 217
  8. Jacob, 204
  9. Mason, 198
  10. Carter, 192
  11. Alexander, 185
  12. Jack, 177
  13. Nathan, 177
  14. Samuel, 170
  15. Owen, 168
  16. Oliver, 164
  17. Hunter, 162
  18. Jackson, 156
  19. James, 156
  20. Jaxon, 155

Lucas rose from 7th place in 2012 to 2nd place last year, and Noah rose from 10th to 4th. Meanwhile, Jacob fell from 3rd to 8th and Mason fell from 5th to 9th.

Usage of Sadie more than doubled from 51 baby girls in 2012 to 118 in 2013. (Sadie shot up in the U.S. last year as well.)

Here are some of the more unusual names I spotted on the list:

Unusual Girl NamesUnusual Boy Names
Avexis, Azkadellia, Beatle, Blissannie, Caliber, Calyannabella, Dignity, Ecclesia, Edgely, D’Or, Emathyst, Emma-Tiger, Fra’Oll, Freixelyne, Glamour, Hannaneh, Izumi, Jilmil, Kayyo, Kree-Dance, Klarybel, Koket, Lava, Lootii, Lszybelle, Maple, Maquinna, Mòrag-Elizabeth, Nebraska, Qori, Shanaekqaheart, Slash, Solomiya, Taynjerine, Thiingdong, Trudith, Venelope, Vyllain, Winter-Wray, ZxianneAerlwilliam, Aidence, Arismendy, Bemba, Blacker, Brenver, Buffalochild, Chrysogonus, Cooch, Crisxander, Dentley, Dulee’O, Ezzekielle, Godbless, Goodluck, Grady-Best, Gurmn, Hurricane, Isaiah-Ron-Kurt, Jax-Jude, Jet-Lee, Jixxr, Kairaratjo, Klutch, Kris-n, Linclon, Mambo, Mickdam, Neepin-Neepsy, Noah-Niño, Phyo, Sun-Rise, Sunstar, Thunderheart, Trigger, Unitus-Judah, Whiskeyjack, Wintersky, Zancent

If marshmallow peeps could magically come alive, I think “neepin-neepsy” is the sound they would make. (Also “peep,” of course.)

Jamie Dirom of the Calgary Herald went through all of the available Alberta lists (1980 to 2013) and found even more great ones, including:

  • Arson, Coco-Janelle, Codeine, Dancingeaglewhistle, Deemon, Invincible, Itty, Lethal, Nytewolf, Oreo, RocRock, Selphie, Sensimillia, Soda, Tiramisu

Tiramisu! If that exists, there has to be a Cheesecake out there somewhere… :)

Sources: Alberta’s Top Baby Names, Alberta baby names 2013 list reveals kids called Kindle, Lava, Daenarys and Peeta, but Olivia, Liam still tops, Unique? Not so unique: 101 unusual Alberta baby names

Image: Adapted from Flag of Alberta (public domain)

Baby names that debuted most impressively in the U.S. data, 1881 to today

lotus bud

Though most of the baby names in the SSA’s annual datasets are repeats, each dataset does contain a handful of brand-new names.

Below are the most popular debut names for every single year on record, after the first.

Why bother with an analysis like this? Because debut names often have cool stories behind them, and high-hitting debuts are especially likely to have intriguing explanations tied to historical people/events. So this is more than a list of names — it’s also a list of stories.

Here’s the format: “Girl name(s), number of baby girls; Boy name(s), number of baby boys.” Keep in mind that the raw numbers aren’t too trustworthy for about the first six decades, though. (More on that in a minute.)

  • 1881: Adell & Celeste, 14; Brown & Newell, 14
  • 1882: Verda, 14; Cleve, 13
  • 1883: Laurel, 12; Brady, Festus, Jewell, Odell & Rosco, 8
  • 1884: Crystal & Rubie, 11; Benjamen, Jens, Oakley & Whitney, 9
  • 1885: Clotilde, 13; Arley & Terence, 9
  • 1886: Manuelita, 10; Terrence, 10
  • 1887: Verlie, 13; Myles, 11
  • 1888: Ebba, 18; Carlisle, Hughie & Orvel, 9
  • 1889: Garnett, 12; Doyle, 9
  • 1890: Verena, 11; Eduardo & Maggie, 10
  • 1891: Gayle, Idabelle & Zenia, 9; Sheridan, 14
  • 1892: Astrid, Dallas & Jennett, 9; Corbett, 23
  • 1893: Elmyra, 12; Estel, Mayo, Shelley & Thorwald, 8
  • 1894: Beatriz, Carola & Marrie, 9; Arvel, Erby & Floy, 8
  • 1895: Trilby, 12; Roosevelt, 12
  • 1896: Lotus, 11; Hazen, 11
  • 1897: Dewey, 13; Bryon, Frankie, Mario & Rhoda, 7
  • 1898: Manilla, 35; Hobson, 38
  • 1899: Ardis & Irva, 19; Haven, 9
  • 1900: Luciel, 14; Rosevelt, 20
  • 1901: Venita, 11; Eino, 9
  • 1902: Mercie, 10; Clarnce, 9
  • 1903: Estela, 11; Lenon & Porfirio, 7
  • 1904: Magdaline, 9; Adrain, Arbie, Betty, Desmond, Domenic, Duard, Raul & Severo, 8
  • 1905: Oliver, 9; Eliot & Tyree, 9
  • 1906: Nedra, 11; Domenico & Ryan, 10
  • 1907: Theta, 20; Taft, 16
  • 1908: Pasqualina, 10; Robley, 12
  • 1909: Wilmoth, 9; Randal & Vidal, 9
  • 1920: Dardanella, 23; Steele, 11
  • 1921: Marilynne, 13; Norberto, 14
  • 1922: Evelean, 14; Daren, 35
  • 1923: Nalda, 15; Clinard & Dorland, 9
  • 1924: Charis, 14; Melquiades, 13
  • 1925: Irmalee, 37; Wayburn, 11
  • 1926: Narice, 13; Bibb, 14
  • 1927: Sunya, 14; Bidwell, 14
  • 1928: Joreen, 22; Alfread & Brevard, 9
  • 1929: Jeannene, 25; Donnald, Edsol, Rhys & Wolfgang, 8

(From the SSA: “Note that many people born before 1937 never applied for a Social Security card, so their names are not included in our data.”)

  • 1990: Isamar, 446; Dajour, 26
  • 1991: Emilce, 30; Quayshaun, 93
  • 1992: Akeiba, 49; Devanta, 41
  • 1993: Rosangelica, 91; Deyonta, 37
  • 1994: Ajee, 185; Shyheim, 168
  • 1995: Yamilex, 130; Alize, 30
  • 1996: Moesha, 426; Quindon, 67
  • 1997: Erykah, 279; Cross, 43
  • 1998: Naidelyn, 78; Zyshonne, 26
  • 1999: Verania, 62; Cauy, 32
  • 2000: Kelis, 108; Rithik, 22
  • 2001: Yaire, 184; Jahiem, 155
  • 2002: Kaydence, 70; Omarian, 31
  • 2003: Trenyce, 88; Pharrell, 67
  • 2004: Eshal, 38; Jkwon, 100
  • 2005: Yarisbel, 30; Jayceon, 48
  • 2006: Lizania, 35; Balian, 24
  • 2007: Leilene, 81; Yurem, 206
  • 2008: Aideliz, 91; Yosgart, 72
  • 2009: Greidys, 186; Jeremih, 87

I’ve already written about some of the names above, and I plan to write about all the others as well…eventually. In the meanwhile, if you want to beat me to it and leave a comment about why Maverick hit in 1957, or why Moesha hit in 1996, feel free!

Source: U.S. SSA

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