How popular is the baby name Tunisia 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 Tunisia.

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Popularity of the baby name Tunisia


Posts that mention the name Tunisia

How did Robin Vee Strasser get her middle name?

Actress Robin V. Strasser (circa 1971)
Robin Vee Strasser

Many sources claim that American soap opera actress Robin Strasser, who was born on the day of Germany’s surrender at the end of World War II, was named “Robin Victory in Europe Strasser” at birth.

According to Robin Strasser’s blog, though, this isn’t quite true:

Born on May 7th, 1945 at Bronx Jewish Hospital. When my mother came out of the ether (mom’s were heavily medicated in those days) they told her “Congratulations, you have a baby girl, and the WAR is OVER in Europe”.

My mother, over-joyed at the news, and apparently over-come with a sincere patriotism said she wanted to name me: Robin Victory in Europe Strasser. “You can’t do that to a baby” said one of the nurses, and wrote instead Robin VEE Strasser on my birth certificate.

I never use a middle name, and were I (being a die-hard Francophile) to use a middle name, I’d be literal with V(victory) I(in) E(Europe) VIE…which means LIFE in French.

Tres bon n’est-ce pas?

Though Germany surrendered on May 7, Victory in Europe Day is May 8 because that’s when the Allies officially accepted the surrender.

Source: Robin Strasser’s Official autoBLOGgraphy

[Other WWII-related baby names: Dawn Siren, Dee Day, D-Day, Invasia Mae, Hai Hu, Jesse Roper, Linda Ann, Linda, Mi Hwa, Victory Pearl Harbor, Swoosie, Tunisia]

Where did the baby name Tunisia come from in 1943?

Tank in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, in May 1943
Tanks in the capital of Tunisia, 1943

The place-name Tunisia has been used as a baby name for decades now. Long before it started appearing in the U.S. baby name data regularly in the mid-1960s, though, it popped up for the first time in 1943:

  • 1945: unlisted
  • 1944: unlisted
  • 1943: 8 baby girls named Tunisia [debut]
  • 1942: unlisted
  • 1941: unlisted

Why?

Because Tunisia was in the news quite a bit that year, thanks to the Tunisia Campaign of World War II.

The Axis had seized control of capital city Tunis in November of 1942. After a series of battles, the Allies freed the city in May of 1943 and drove the Axis out of Africa.

No one knows exactly how Tunis was named, but theories abound. One theory connects it to the Phoenician goddess Tanith. Another suggests it comes from a Berber verb meaning “to camp” or “to lie down.”

(John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie also penned the jazz standard “A Night in Tunisia” in the early ’40s.)

Sources: Tunisia – Wikipedia, SSA
Image: The British Army in Tunisia 1943 – Imperial War Museums