Blog

Where did the baby name Livan come from in 1997?

Baseball player Liván Hernández
Liván Hernández

The name Livan first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1997. It reached peak usage the very next year.

  • 1999: 23 baby boys named Livan
  • 1998: 66 baby boys named Livan [peak]
  • 1997: 36 baby boys named Livan [debut]
  • 1996: unlisted
  • 1995: unlisted

Where did it come from?

Professional baseball player Liván Hernández, who was born (as Eisler Liván Hernández Carrera) in Cuba in 1975.

Liván pitched for nine different teams during his 17-year Major League Baseball career (from 1996 to 2012).

He was particularly successful in 1997, when he helped the Florida Marlins win both the National League Championship Series (against the Atlanta Braves) and the World Series (against the Cleveland Indians). He was named MVP of both series.

Later in his career, he was selected as an All-Star twice (in 2004 and 2005) and received a Silver Slugger Award (in 2004).

What are your thoughts on the name Liván?

P.S. Hernández’s older half-brother, Orlando, was also a pitcher in the major leagues.

Sources: Liván Hernández – Wikipedia, SSA

Image: Adapted from Hires 110331-D-7377C-010b (public domain) by Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden

Baby name story: Phila

Philadelphia City Hall
Philadelphia City Hall

A few weeks ago I read an article about first-generation Cambodian-American chef Phila (pronounced pee-LAH) Lorn, who runs a restaurant called Mawn (Khmer for “chicken”) in Philadelphia.

Where did Chef Phila’s first name come from?

“[H]is parents and siblings came to Philadelphia as refugees in 1985 after surviving the war in Cambodia.” As the first family member born in the U.S., he was named Phila — “broken English for Philadelphia.”

Not long after the article came out, Phila Lorn won the 2025 James Beard Award for Emerging Chef.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from City hall Philadelphia by R. Hood Photography under CC BY-SA 4.0.

What popularized the baby name Corliss in the 1940s?

The character Corliss Archer (played by Shirley Temple) from the film "Kiss and Tell" (1945)
Corliss Archer from “Kiss and Tell“

After re-emerging in the U.S. baby name data in 1943, the name Corliss went on to feature in the girls’ top 1,000 from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s.

  • 1946: 182 baby girls named Corliss [rank: 591st]
  • 1945: 80 baby girls named Corliss [rank: 843rd]
  • 1944: 70 baby girls named Corliss [rank: 918th]
  • 1943: 44 baby girls named Corliss
  • 1942: unlisted
  • 1941: 6 baby girls named Corliss

(The spelling Corlis also saw higher usage during that period, and Corless was a one-hit wonder in 1947.)

What accounts for the trendiness of Corliss during those years?

A fictional teenage girl named Corliss Archer.

Created by writer F. Hugh Herbert, the “energetic and vivacious” Corliss was introduced in early 1943 as the central character of…

  • A series of six short stories published in the popular women’s magazine Good Housekeeping (starting in January),
  • The radio program Meet Corliss Archer (which also started in January), and
  • The Broadway play Kiss and Tell (which premiered in March).

In 1945, the play was adapted into a film of the same name starring 17-year-old Shirley Temple. The following year (which, admittedly, was the first year of the baby boom) the name Corliss reached peak usage.

Shirley Temple also starred in a second Corliss Archer film, A Kiss for Corliss, which was released in 1949.

The character Corliss Archer from the TV series "Meet Corliss Archer" (1954-55)
Corliss Archer from “Meet Corliss Archer“

During the 1950s, the radio program Meet Corliss Archer was adapted to television twice:

  • In the first adaptation, which was broadcast live on CBS from 1951 to 1952, Corliss was played by Lugene Sanders.
  • In the second, which was produced for first-run syndication during the 1954-55 season, Corliss was played by Ann Baker (above).

The radio program itself remained on the air for more than 13 years, until mid-1956.

I’m not sure why F. Hugh Herbert chose “Corliss” as the name of the character. (Perhaps he was inspired by Corliss Palmer?) But I do know that the character was based on his own teenage daughters, Diana and Pamela. He wrote,

I merely had to put into the lips of Corliss some of their more pungent phrases, into the life of Corliss some of their exuberant high spirits, their natural gaiety, bounce, and charm.

Sources:

Image: Screenshots of Kiss and Tell (1945) and Meet Corliss Archer (1954-55)

Popular baby names in Croatia, 2024

Flag of Croatia
Flag of Croatia

Last year, the European country of Croatia welcomed 32,628 babies — 15,733 girls and 16,895 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Mia and Luka, as usual.

Here are Croatia’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Mia, 377 baby girls
  2. Rita, 363
  3. Nika, 328
  4. Mila, 296
  5. Lucija, 292
  6. Ema, 290
  7. Marta, 286 (tie)
  8. Sara, 286 (tie)
  9. Eva, 219
  10. Dora, 212
  11. Lara, 210
  12. Iva, 207
  13. Elena, 201
  14. Ana, 195
  15. Klara, 191
  16. Laura, 181
  17. Petra, 180
  18. Marija, 174
  19. Tena, 161
  20. Vita, 158
  21. Lana, 153
  22. Hana, 152
  23. Lea, 148 (tie)
  24. Una, 148 (tie)
  25. Sofia, 147
  26. Franka, 143
  27. Cvita, 139 (tie)
  28. Ena, 139 (tie)
  29. Nora, 136
  30. Maša, 130
  31. Nikol, 126
  32. Leona, 125
  33. Lena, 123
  34. Maris, 116
  35. Magdalena, 113
  36. Iris, 108 (tie)
  37. Tia, 108 (tie)
  38. Lota, 106
  39. Tara, 105
  40. Karla, 104
  41. Emili, 102
  42. Roza, 101
  43. Mara, 100
  44. Aria, 99 (tie)
  45. Sofija, 99 (tie)
  46. Bruna, 95
  47. Aurora, 93
  48. Katja, 92
  49. Kiara, 91 (tie)
  50. Tea, 91 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Luka, 603 baby boys
  2. Jakov, 468
  3. Toma, 426
  4. David, 420
  5. Petar, 376
  6. Niko, 365
  7. Ivan, 359
  8. Mateo, 350
  9. Roko, 349
  10. Matej, 337
  11. Noa, 300
  12. Josip, 298
  13. Fran, 290
  14. Šimun, 274
  15. Teo, 273
  16. Lovro, 262
  17. Vito, 261
  18. Mihael, 240
  19. Borna, 236
  20. Karlo, 235
  21. Marko, 231
  22. Leon, 225
  23. Filip, 223
  24. Jan, 220
  25. Leo, 211
  26. Ante, 206
  27. Gabriel, 185
  28. Ivano, 181
  29. Viktor, 153
  30. Lukas, 151
  31. Bruno, 147 (tie)
  32. Oliver, 147 (tie)
  33. Adrian, 143 (tie)
  34. Noel, 143 (tie)
  35. Rafael, 140
  36. Tin, 126
  37. Dominik, 125 (3-way tie)
  38. Emanuel, 125 (3-way tie)
  39. Liam, 125 (3-way tie)
  40. Marin, 121
  41. Mauro, 117
  42. Nikola, 116
  43. Maro, 114
  44. Toni, 100
  45. Duje, 96
  46. Antonio, 81 (4-way tie)
  47. Franko, 81 (4-way tie)
  48. Jona, 81 (4-way tie)
  49. Lovre, 81 (4-way tie)
  50. Patrik, 78

In the girls’ top 50, Maris, Aria, and Kiara replaced Marla, Luce, and Lora.

In the boys’ top 50, Franko and Jona replaced Erik and Andrej.

I didn’t post about Croatia’s top baby names of 2023, but here are Croatia’s 2022 rankings.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Civil ensign of Croatia (public domain)