How popular is the baby name Rosetta 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 Rosetta.

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Popularity of the baby name Rosetta


Posts that mention the name Rosetta

Popular baby names in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1866

19th-century Providence, Rhode Island
19th-century Providence

Last month we looked at the top Providence names of 1867, so today let’s check out the rankings from the year before — 1866.

First, some stats:

  • 1,633 babies were babies were born in Providence in 1866, by my count. (The number given by the author of the document is 1,632.)
  • 1,457 of these babies (707 girls and 750 boys) had names that were registered with the government at the time of publication. The other 176 babies got blank spaces.
  • 234 unique names (123 girl names and 108 boy names) were shared among these 1,457 babies.

And here’s some extra information I forgot to mention in the last post: In 1860, the city of Providence was home to 29.0% of Rhode Island’s population. In 1870, it was home to 31.7% of the population. So each of these 3 sets of rankings (1866, 1867, 1868) ought to account for roughly 30% of the residents of the state.

Now, on to the names…

Top 5

The top 5 girl names and boy names of 1866 were, unsurprisingly, very similar to the top names of 1867.

Top baby girl namesTop baby boy names
1. Mary
2. Catherine
3. Ellen
4. Margaret
5. Sarah
1. John
2. William
3. James
4. George
5. Thomas

The girls’ top 5 is identical, while the boys’ top 5 includes Thomas instead of George.

All Girl Names

As expected, Mary was the front-runner by a huge margin. And, while there were dozens of Catherines, and a single Catharine, there weren’t any Katherines.

  1. Mary, 149 baby girls
  2. Catherine, 43
  3. Ellen, 40
  4. Margaret, 37
  5. Sarah, 36
  6. Elizabeth, 32
  7. Alice, 18
  8. Annie, 15
  9. Anna & Eliza, 14 each (2-way tie)
  10. Clara, 13
  11. Ann, 11
  12. Carrie, Emma, Jane & Susan, 10 each (4-way tie)
  13. Grace & Ida, 9 each (2-way tie)
  14. Esther, Martha & Minnie, 7 each (3-way tie)
  15. Anne & Julia, 6 each (2-way tie)
  16. Agnes, Charlotte, Cora, Harriet, Jennie, Joanna, Maria & Rosanna, 5 each (8-way tie)
  17. Amelia, Bridget, Ella, Frances, Hattie, Lydia, Nellie & Theresa, 4 each (8-way tie)
  18. Abby, Emily, Florence, Josephine, Laura, Lillian, Lizzie, Louise & Marion, 3 each (9-way tie)
  19. Ada, Amy, Augusta, Deborah, Edith, Etta, Eva, Fannie, Georgianna, Hannah, Henrietta, Honora, Isabel, Isabella, Lottie, Lucy, Mabel, Marietta, Maud & Teresa, 2 each (20-way tie)
  20. Almira, Annette, Bertha, Catharine, Cedelia, Celia, Christina, Delia, Diana, Dora, Dorcas, Eldora, Eleanor, Elsie, Emeline, Etherine, Eugenie, Evangeline, Fanny, Flora, Geneva, Georgia, Gracie, Helen, Helena, Imogene, Janette, Jessie, Kate, Lena, Louisa, Lucia, Lucinda, Madelina, Marian, Marsalin, May, Millie, Mina, Mini, Minna, Neatah, Nettie, Phebe, Rebecca, Rosa, Roselia, Rosetta, Ruth, Sophia, Stella, Susanna, Susannah, Tillie & Winnifred, 1 each (55-way tie)

All Boy Names

John had an even more commanding lead in 1866 than in 1867.

  1. John, 109 baby boys
  2. William, 78
  3. James, 62
  4. George, 44
  5. Thomas, 41
  6. Charles, 36
  7. Edward, 28
  8. Joseph, 27
  9. Frederick, 20
  10. Henry, 18
  11. Frank, 17
  12. Michael, 15
  13. Francis, 14
  14. Daniel, 13
  15. Albert, Patrick & Robert, 12 each (3-way tie)
  16. Walter, 11
  17. Arthur, Peter & Samuel, 8 each (3-way tie)
  18. Alfred, Harry, Louis & Stephen, 7 each (4-way tie)
  19. Martin, 6
  20. Matthew, 5
  21. Christopher, Clarence, Herbert, Howard & Hugh, 4 each (5-way tie)
  22. Benjamin, Eugene, Ira & Jeremiah, 3 each (4-way tie)
  23. Aaron, Alvin, Arnold, Earl, Edgar, Elisha, Freddie, Harrison, Lewis, Marcus, Nicholas, Philip, Richard & Timothy, 2 each (14-way tie)
  24. Abner, Adam, Adolph, Alanson, Alden, Ambrose, Antonio, August, Augustavus*, Augustus, Bartholomew, Bernard, Bradford, Byron, Chauncey, Clinton, David, Duncan, Eben, Ebenezer, Edwin, Elias, Elliott, Ethan, Everett, Ezra, Ferdinand, Frederic, Fullerton, Gilbert, Gwynn, Harold, Herman, Isaac, Jesse, Josiah, Lauriston, Luther, Manuel, Marks, Maurice, Miles, Mortimer, Oliver, Olney, Oscar, Otto, Rana, Rectol, Salisbury, Shamball, Simon, Terence, Theodore, Victor, Willard, Willie & Wilton, 1 each (58-way tie)

(I didn’t combine any variant spellings, but I did lump the abbreviated names Chas., Benj., and Fred’k in with Charles, Benjamin and Frederick.)

*Does Augustavus = Augustus + Gustav?

Twins

I counted 19 pairs of twins born in Providence in 1866. I didn’t notice any triplets this year. (All of these names have already been accounted for above.)

Girl-girl twinsGirl-boy twinsBoy-boy twins
Agnes & Anna
Eldora & Ellen
Eliza & Mary
Elizabeth & Julia
Frances & Mary
Josephine & Mary
Mary & Sarah
Theresa & (blank)
Alice & Frederick
Alice & John
Annie & Stephen
Catherine & (blank)
Sarah & Samuel
Edgar & Oscar
Edward & James
Francis & James
James & John
John & Thomas
(blank) & (blank)

I’ll try to finish/post the final set of rankings before the end of the year.

Source: Snow, Edwin M. Alphabetical Lists of Persons Deceased, Born and Married in the City of Providence During the Year 1866. Providence: Hammond, Angell & Co., 1867.

Will the new Disney fairy Zarina influence baby names?

the disney fairies, including zarina
The Disney Fairies (L-R): Vidia, Iridessa, Fawn,
Zarina, Tinker Bell, Silvermist, Rosetta

In 2008, Disney began releasing straight-to-DVD movies featuring Tinker Bell and other fairies.

Since then, at least two of the Disney fairy names have debuted on the SSA’s baby name list:

Pixie has also seen increased usage in the last few years. (The fairies live in Pixie Hollow.)

The Pirate Fairy, the latest film in the series, was released yesterday. The titular “pirate fairy” is a new fairy named Zarina.

Usage of the baby name Zarina has been slowly but steadily rising since the 1960s.

Do you think the Disney movie will influence the popularity of the baby name?

What do you think of the name Zarina?

UPDATE, 2/13/2019: The usage of Zarina increased quickly in 2014 and 2015, but since then has actually been declining:

  • 2017: 56 baby girls named Zarina
  • 2016: 69 baby girls named Zarina
  • 2015: 95 baby girls named Zarina
  • 2014: 74 baby girls named Zarina
  • 2013: 42 baby girls named Zarina

Maybe it’s naturally adjusting back to pre-movie levels? Hm.

Scottish baby named Princess (after three-year fight)

In July of 1986, a baby girl was born to Isle of Skye residents Hugh and Audrey Manwaring-Spencer. She was named Princess Dulcima Rosetta.

So the birth certificate was filled out, the necessary paperwork was sent to the General Register Office in Edinburgh, and all was well…until five months later, when Hugh and Audrey received a letter from the GRO:

Based upon an Order in Council of 1910, the name Princess is not a recognized forename in this country because it is part of the Crown’s royal prerogative and cannot be assumed or entered in any register or official document without the consent of the sovereign.

The GRO not only rejected the name, but demanded that the birth certificate be returned.

The parents wrote to Queen Elizabeth instead.

In December of 1987, the queen’s private secretary responded:

You may rest assured that you have caused no offense to the queen and you may continue to use the word as your daughter’s Christian name.

But three weeks later, in a second letter, he flip-flopped:

The name will have to be omitted from the birth certificate. However…there is no objection to you and your family continuing to use the word Princess as the name by which your daughter is known to her friends and family.

And then the GRO sent another birth certificate demand-letter.

Finally, in early 1989, the GRO backed down and decided to accept the name Princess. The Manwaring-Spencer family, including little non-princess Princess, had emerged triumphant.

How common is the name Princess in Scotland nowadays? Not very. Here are some recent numbers:

  • 1 in 2011
  • 7 in 2010 (including Princess-Skye and Princess-Tamia)
  • 2 in 2009
  • 4 in 2008 (including Princess-Vanessa)
  • 2 in 2007

And, while Princess is now permitted in the UK, it’s still verboten elsewhere. For instance, it’s regularly one of the most-rejected baby names in New Zealand.

Sources: