How popular is the baby name Zahra 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 Zahra.
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In 1971, a list of African names published in Jet magazine had an impact on U.S. baby names.
In 1977, a list of African names published in Ebony magazine had a similar impact on U.S. baby names.
And in between, in 1973, a list of African names was published in an interesting place: U.S. newspapers nationwide. That is, not in a magazine written for an African-American audience specifically.
African names in U.S. newspapers, Aug. 1973
So…did this newspaper-based list have an impact as well?
Yes, turns out it had roughly the same impact as the other two lists.
The opening line of the article was: “Here’s help for young black couples wanting to give their infants African names.” Toward the end, the article featured a list of 23 names. Most of these names ended up seeing movement in the data, including 10 (!) debuts.
The article cited as its source The Book of African Names (1970) by Chief Osuntoki. As it turns out, though, the Chief wasn’t a real person. He was a fictional character invented by the publisher, Drum and Spear Press. Here’s a quote from the book’s introduction, purportedly written by the Chief:
It is strange, indeed, it hurts my heart, that brothers from afar often come to greet me bearing such names as “Willie”, “Juan” and “François”. But we can not be hard against them, for they have been misled.
Of the 23 names listed above, the one that debuted most impressively was Jelani. In fact, Jelani ended up tied for 43rd on the list of the top boy-name debuts of all time.
1976: 55 baby boys named Jelani
1975: 46 baby boys and 6 baby girls named Jelani [debut as a girl name]
1974: 53 baby boys named Jelani
1973: 36 baby boys named Jelani [overall debut]
1972: unlisted
1971: unlisted
Which of those 23 names do you like best?
Sources:
“African chief explains symbolism of names.” San Bernardino County Sun 15 Aug. 1973: B-4.
Markle, Seth M. A Motorcycle on Hell Run: Tanzania, Black Power, and the Uncertain Future of Pan-Africanism, 1964-1974. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 2017.
If you’re on the hunt for baby names with a numerological value of 9, you’re in luck! Because today’s post features hundreds of 9-names.
Before we get to the names, though — how do we know that they’re “nines” in numerology?
Turning names into numbers
Here’s how to calculate the numerological value of a name.
First, for each letter, come up with a number to represent that letter’s position in the alphabet. (Letter A would be number 1, letter B would be number 2, and so forth.) Then, add all the numbers together. If the sum has two or more digits, add the digits together recursively until the result is a single digit. That single digit is the name’s numerological value.
For instance, the letters in the name Rockwell correspond to the numbers 18, 15, 3, 11, 23, 5, 12, and 12. The sum of these numbers is 99. The digits of 99 added together equal 18, and the digits of 18 added together equal 9 — the numerological value of Rockwell.
Baby names with a value of 9
Below you’ll find the most popular 9-names per gender, according to the latest U.S. baby name data. I’ve further sub-categorized them by total sums — just in case any of those larger numbers are significant to anyone.
9
The letters in the unisex baby name Ace add up to 9.
9 via 18
The letters in the following baby names add up to 18, which reduces to nine (1+8=9).
Girl names (9 via 18)
Boy names (9 via 18)
Lea, Gaia, Ela, Acacia, Addi
Can, Adal, Acie, Edi, Jag
9 via 27
The letters in the following baby names add up to 27, which reduces to nine (2+7=9).
There’s no definitive answer, unfortunately, because various numerological systems exist, and each one has its own interpretation of the number nine. That said, if we look at a couple of modern numerology/astrology websites, we see 9 being described as “humanitarian,” “tolerant,” “helpful,” “determined,” and “compassionate.”
We can also look at associations, which are a bit more concrete. Here are some things that are associated with the number 9:
Pregnancy (9 months long)
Baseball (9 players on the field; 9 innings)
K-9 (“canine”) police dog units
“Cloud nine” (expression)
“Nine lives” of a cat (expression)
“To the nines” (expression)
“The whole nine yards” (expression)
What does the number 9 mean to you? What are your strongest associations with the number?
P.S. To see names with other numerological values, check out the posts for the numbers one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight.
Have you seen any of the most popular baby girl names beyond the top 1,000 yet? If not, here they are — down to the names that were given to 100 babies each last year. The 1,000th most popular girl name was Dania, given to 249 babies, and after Dania comes…
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