Babies named for the concept of states’ rights

American general States Rights Gist (1831-1864)
States Rights Gist

In U.S. politics, the idea of states’ rights emerged soon after the creation of the federal government in the 1780s. The first two political parties, in fact, were the Federalists, who advocated for a strong central government, and the Anti-Federalists, who advocated for states’ rights.

The first person to be named after the concept was States Rights Gist, who was born in South Carolina in September of 1831.

His name was no doubt inspired by the Nullification Crisis (1832-33), which ensued “when South Carolina nullified a federal tariff that favored Northern manufacturing over Southern agriculture.” (Note that many babies born during this time period were not named immediately after birth.)

Map of the United States in 1861
The United States in 1861

Several dozen other babies have been named “States Rights” (or something very similar) since then. Most of these babies were born in the southern U.S. during the mid-to-late 19th century. Some examples…

The baptism of States Rights Gist Finley — whose grandfather’s brother was the original States Rights Gist, and whose father was South Carolina politician David E. Finley — was mentioned in a local newspaper:

States Rights Gist Finley (baptism)

So…what became of the original States Rights Gist?

He served as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, and was killed at the Battle of Franklin in late 1864.

Intriguingly, one of his distant relatives (his father’s second cousin) happened to be named States Gist (b. 1787) — no middle name. Was he named for states’ rights? Was he named for the young United States? We’ll never know. But we do know that he had a half-brother named Independent (b. 1779) and a cousin named Federal Ann Bonaparte (b. 1797).

Sources:

Images: Adapted from States Rights Gist; clipping from the Yorkville Enquirer (1 Apr. 1899)
Map: Adapted from The United States in 1861 (LOC)

Where did the baby name Abilene come from in 1964?

The George Hamilton IV album "Abilene" (1963)
George Hamilton IV album

The place-name Abilene appeared for the first time in the U.S. baby name data in 1964:

  • 1966: unlisted
  • 1965: unlisted
  • 1964: 5 baby girls named Abilene
  • 1963: unlisted
  • 1962: unlisted

What put it there?

A country song.

“Abilene” by George Hamilton IV was released in May of 1963. In August, the song reached #15 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart. Soon after that, it began a four-week run atop the Hot Country Singles chart.

Here’s Hamilton’s recording of the song (which starts, Abilene, Abilene/Prettiest town I’ve ever seen):

Primary songwriter Bob Gibson was inspired to compose “Abilene” in the late 1950s after watching the 1946 western Abilene Town. The movie is set in Abilene, Kansas, but here’s what Gibson had to say about the location being referred to in the song:

People had always asked me, “Bob, did you write that song about Abilene, Kansas or Abilene, Texas?” I’d always have to say, “I don’t know.” I didn’t know! Like all good Americans, I learned all of my history from the movies, and I knew that Abilene was this great railhead. I started going down to Kerrville for the folk festival there in 1978, and the first time I got on that stage at Kerrville and sang Abilene, and 5,000 Texans stood up and put their hands of their hearts, I knew right away I’d written it about Abilene, Texas!

The city in Texas was named (in 1881) after the town in Kansas. The town in Kansas, in turn, was named (in the early 1860s) by Eliza Hersey, wife of the town’s first settler, Timothy Hersey. Eliza chose the biblical place-name Abilene (found in Luke 3:1).

What are your thoughts on Abilene as a first name?

Sources:

  • George Hamilton IV – Billboard
  • Gibson, Bob and Carole Bender. Bob Gibson: I Come For To Sing. Naperville, IL: Kingston Korner, 1999.
  • Bearce, Stephanie and the Dickinson County Historical Society. Abilene. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2012.
  • SSA

The baby name Laniakea

Laniakea Supercluster

The Laniakea Supercluster — the galaxy supercluster that contains the Milky Way — was first described in the science journal Nature in September of 2014.

A couple of weeks ago, one of the co-discoverers of the Laniakea Supercluster, cosmographer Daniel Pomarède, sent out the following tweet:

It’s true — at least 35 U.S. baby girls have been named Laniakea (pronounced lah-nee-uh-KAY-uh) since 2014.

The name didn’t emerge in the U.S. baby name data right away (so I probably won’t add it to the baby name timeline), but I don’t think there’s any doubt that it was influenced by the discovery of the Laniakea Supercluster.

  • 2018: 12 baby girls named Laniakea
  • 2017: unlisted
  • 2016: 6 baby girls named Laniakea [debut]
  • 2015: unlisted
  • 2014: unlisted

The Hawaiian word laniakea comprises two shorter Hawaiian words: lani, meaning “heaven” or “sky,” and akea, meaning “spacious” or “wide.” Definitions of laniakea include “wide heavens,” “open skies,” “broad horizons,” and — the one preferred by the astronomers — “immeasurable heaven.”

The supercluster’s name was chosen by Hawaiian language professor Nawa’a Napoleon (whose full name, incidentally, is David John Nawa’akauluaokamehameha Napoleon).

What are your thoughts on Laniakea as a baby name?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from 07-Laniakea (LofE07240) by Andrew Z. Colvin under CC BY-SA 4.0.

What gave the baby name Ashanti a boost in 2002?

Ashanti's self-titled debut album (2002)
Ashanti album

The baby name Ashanti shot to peak usage — and nearly into the girls’ top 100 — in the year 2002:

Girls named Ashanti [rank]Boys named Ashanti
2004532 [533rd]10
2003962 [325th]6
20022,945* [115th]23
2001281 [825th]24
200020620
*Peak usage

Here’s a visual:

Graph of the usage of the baby name Ashanti in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Ashanti

Many Ashanti-like names also saw higher usage in 2002. Examples include Ashanty, Ashante, Ashaunti, Ashantee, Ashonti, Ashawnti, Ashonte, Ashantie, Kashanti, Tashanti, and Lashanti (the fastest-rising girl name of 2002) — not to mention debut names such as Jashanti, Dashanti, Eshanti, Ashauntee, and Ashantii.

What was drawing so much attention to the name Ashanti in the early 2000s?

Mononymous R&B singer Ashanti (pronounced uh-SHAHN-tee), born Ashanti Douglas in New York in 1980.

Ashanti kicked off her career with a string of hits.

In early 2002, she was the featured artist on two songs — “Always On Time” by Ja Rule and “What’s Luv?” by Fat Joe — that peaked at #1 and #2 (respectively) on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart. After that, her first solo single, “Foolish,” reached the top spot and stayed there for ten weeks straight (from April to June).

Here’s the audio for “Foolish”:

The following year, Ashanti reached the #2 spot twice more — first as the featured artist on “Mesmerize” (again by Ja Rule), and second with her solo single “Rock Wit U (Awww Baby).”

Here’s what Ashanti told Jet magazine in 2002 about her name:

She said the name Ashanti originates in the African country of Ghana. “It is a tribe and what’s cool about it is that in a lot of countries women are low on the totem pole. But in the Ashanti tribe women are respected.”

The word Ashanti is a form of the word Asante, which refers to the Asante people of Ghana. The etymology of Asante isn’t known for certain — one theory links it to a Twi word meaning “war,” another to a Twi word meaning “clay.”

In mid-2022, the singer turned her experience of growing up with an unusual name into a children’s book called My Name Is a Story.

The story opens with a brown girl named Ashanti in a racially diverse classroom; she wishes that her name was “easy…like recess, sunshine, and skipping rocks.” Instead, she finds that her name is “a spelling bee for my teacher and jumbled puzzle pieces on my classmates’ tongues.”

Ultimately, the little girl “learns to love her unique name.”

What are your thoughts on the baby name Ashanti?

P.S. The name first entered the girls’ top 1,000 in 1979 thanks to the movie Ashanti (1979) starring Michael Caine and Beverly Johnson.

Sources: