How popular is the baby name Virgil 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 Virgil.
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Do you live in South Africa? Do you have a baby with a v-name who was (or will be) born between December 25, 2024, and January 1, 2025 (inclusive)?
If so, you may want to get in touch with Vodacom. For a limited time, the South African mobile communications company is giving away thousands of rand to parents whose newborns have v-names.
Just send your information — full name, province, baby’s birth date, and baby’s v-name — to the company via WhatsApp by January 1.
All who qualify will receive at least R15,000 (about $814 U.S.); parents who happen to be Vodacom customers will receive R25,000 (about $1,357 U.S.).
Though any v-name is acceptable, Vodacom did offer the following list of suggestions:
The flower-name Amaryllis first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1926. The following year, the name came as close as it’s ever come to reaching the girls’ top 1,000:
1929: 28 baby girls named Amaryllis
1928: 28 baby girls named Amaryllis
1927: 45 baby girls named Amaryllis [rank: 1,139th]
1926: 7 baby girls named Amaryllis [debut]
1925: unlisted
1924: unlisted
What caused the debut and the subsequent spike?
The Magic Garden, a romantic tale written by Indiana author Gene Stratton-Porter.
The protagonist of the story — which was originally published in McCall’s magazine over the course of six months (from October of 1926 to March of 1927) — was a young girl named Amaryllis Minton.
Her father’s millions provided the little girl servants and governesses to order around, but all the money in the world could not buy love, so one day after her fifth birthday she ran away to find it. Among the flowers of an enchanting garden, she came upon a little boy who was lonely, too, and and wanted a playmate.
Incidentally, Amaryllis didn’t realize she was named after a flower until partway through the narrative.
In 1927, The Magic Garden was serialized in various newspapers across the country, published in book form, and adapted into a successful silent film (starring actresses Joyce Coad as young Amaryllis and Margaret Morris as grown-up Amaryllis).
What are your thoughts on the name Amaryllis?
P.S. The flower was named after a female character in Virgil’s Eclogues, but Virgil didn’t invent the name. In Roman literature, Amaryllis was a stock character — “a natural, pretty young woman who was usually a shepherdess.” The name derives from the Ancient Greek verb amarysso, meaning “to sparkle.”
Sources:
“Affairs and Folks.” National Magazine: Mostly About People Apr. 1927: 335-337.
The rare name Adderly first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1987:
1989: unlisted
1988: unlisted
1987: 6 baby boys named Adderly [debut]
1986: unlisted
1985: unlisted
Why?
My guess is the TV series Adderly (1986-1988), a spy spoof that was produced in Canada and broadcast in both Canada and the United States.
The main character was Virgil Homer “V. H.” Adderly, played by Canadian actor Winston Rekert.
Adderly was a former secret agent who, after being injured (his left hand was crushed by an enemy agent wielding a medieval mace), got reassigned to a desk job in his agency’s Miscellaneous Affairs department. Despite this, Adderly kept uncovering “overlooked threats amongst the pushed papers” and took action to investigate and prevent these plots.
I don’t know if any Canadian babies were named Adderly in the 1980s, unfortunately, as the Canadian data only goes back to 1991.
But I do know that the surname Adderly can be traced back to either of two locations in England called Adderley. One of the locational names is based on the Old English personal name Ealdred (male), while the other is based on the Old English personal name Ealdthryth (female). In both cases, the second element of Adderley derives from the Old English word leah, meaning “clearing” or “meadow.”
Romanko, Karen A. Television’s Female Spies and Crimefighters: 600 Characters and Shows, 1950s to the Present. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2016.
Hanks, Patrick. (Ed.) Dictionary of American Family Names. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
SSA
Image: Screenshot of Adderly
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