How popular is the baby name Zoradia 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 Zoradia.

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Popularity of the baby name Zoradia


Posts that mention the name Zoradia

Names in the Willey family: Alzada, Octavia, Idawalley

Lighthouse keeper Ida Lewis (1842-1911)
Ida Lewis

I wrote about Idawalley Zoradia Lewis a few years ago, but didn’t mention the source of her unusual name: her mother.

The original Idawalley was born in the early 1800s to Dr. Aaron C. Willey and his second wife, Lydia. She was raised in Rhode Island alongside several unusually named siblings and half-siblings.

Dr. Willey and his first wife, Joanna, had two daughters:

  • Alzada Roslyn (b. 1804)
  • Cordelia Joanna (b. 1806)

After Joanna’s death, the doctor married Lydia and had four more children:

  • Erasmus Darwin
    • He was evidently named after Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles Darwin.
  • Octavia Lodiska (b. 1811)
  • Idawalley Zoradia (b. 1815)
  • Laura E. (b. 1820)
    • Her middle name was likely Effigenia, as she went on to have a daughter named “Laura Effigenia.”

Sources:

  • Bailey, James and Norman Dodge. Dodge Family of New Shoreham, Rhode Island: A Genealogy of the Descendants of Tristram Dodge. Vol. 1. Lakewood, CO: Dodge Family Association, 2008.
  • FamilySearch.org

Image: Adapted from Ida Lewis (public domain)

Baby name story: Ida Lewis

Lighthouse keeper Ida Lewis (1842-1911)
Ida Lewis

Legendary lighthouse keeper Idawalley Zoradia “Ida” Lewis was born in 1842.

She was made the keeper of Lime Rock Lighthouse in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island, in 1870s after the previous keepers (her parents) both passed away.

During an era in which light keepers, typically male, were “frequently asked to risk their lives to saved the shipwrecked or others in danger of drowning,” Ida became famous for her superlative lifesaving abilities. She’s officially credited with saving 18 lives, though the actual count may have been double that.

She served as keeper until her death in late October, 1911.

The new Lime Rock Lighthouse keeper, Capt. Evard Jansen, arrived with his family shortly thereafter. Jansen’s wife gave birth to a baby girl in early December. The baby was the first and only baby ever born at the light, and she was named Ida Lewis Jansen.

In 1924, the island and the light were named for Ida Lewis as well. The light was later decommissioned, but has since been replaced by the Ida Lewis Yacht Club.

Sources:

  • “Commissioning Special Guest Mrs. Ida Lewis Jansen.” Ida Lewis Yacht Club Newsletter Jun. 2010: 3.
  • “First Baby of Lime Rock.” New York Times 18 Dec. 1911: 1.
  • Idawalley Zorada Lewis (-Wilson), Keeper, USLHS
  • Skomal, Lenora. Keeper Of Lime Rock. Philadelphia: Running Press, 2003.

Image: Adapted from Ida Lewis (public domain)