Baby Name: Tsunami

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which occurred in late December, triggered a deadly tsunami that reached a number of countries.

• In Kerala, India, a couple named Kutten and Priyanka managed to escape the waves. Their newborn baby girl was rescued by a relative. They named their daughter Tsunami to commemorate the event, and their survival.
• In the village of Baan Nam Khem in Thailand, a pregnant woman named Od Judet was swept up by the wave. “There were nine pregnant women in the village then. Only my baby survived. So we called her Tsunami.”
• On Little Andaman island, Lakshmi Narain Roy and his pregnant wife Namita escaped the tsunami with the help of a cycle-rickshaw. Soon after, Namita gave birth to a baby boy, but suffered from complications. They made the 7-hour journey to a hospital in Port Blair, where doctors suggested that they name the baby Tsunami. So they did.

Parents in the U.S. started naming their babies Tsunami that year as well. The name debuted in the SSA’s data in 2004 and showed up again in 2005:

• 2006: unlisted
• 2005: 7 baby girls named Tsunami
• 2004: 5 baby girls named Tsunami [debut]
• 2003: unlisted

The Japanese word tsunami means “harbor wave.”

Interesting contrast: Hurricane Katrina (2005), which destroyed much of New Orleans eight months later, ultimately caused the popularity of the baby name Katrina to plummet in the U.S.

Update: Several years later, in 2009, a tsunami struck the Samoa Islands. In the village of Saleapaga, the two-day old son of Fineaso and Terri Agaalenuu was carried to safety by a relative. Originally named Narineaso, the baby was re-named Tsunami following his lucky escape.

Sources:

• “Baby named after killer waves.” Rediff.com India News 1 Jan. 2005.
• “Couple name newborn son Tsunami.” The Star [Malaysia] 2 Jan. 2005.
• “Samoan Baby Named Tsunami.” Independent Online 2 Oct. 2009.
• “Tsunami 2004: ‘I named my baby Tsunami’.” BBC 26 Dec. 2014.

Image: The Great Wave off Kanagawa (1831) by Hokusai

[Latest update: Nov. 2023]