A secret stash of names like Everly?

Ever-names, particularly Everly, are very trendy right now.

In 2019, over 4,750 baby girls were named Everly, making Everly the 43rd most popular girl name in the nation.

And it was trailed in the rankings by a number of variants, including Everleigh (108th), Everlee (377th), Everley, and Everlie. Not to mention Evelyn-influenced forms like Everlyn and Everlynn.

So, when I came upon a group of Ever-names (deep in the SSA data) that hadn’t seen usage in decades, I was very intrigued. Here are the names I found:

They were used primarily in the South during the first half of the 20th century.

Do you think any of these could be revived in the midst of Ever-mania?

Ibis, Iris, Isis, or Ivis?

African sacred ibis

After reading something about ibises recently, I wondered: Has “ibis” — which is a lot like both the flower-inspired name Iris and the goddess-inspired name Isis — ever been used as a baby name?

Turns out it has! Not very often, though. The name Ibis has appeared in the SSA data on and off since the 1960s, typically registering as a girl name. I don’t think many of these babies were named with the bird in mind, though; “Ibis” seems to be a variant spelling of “Ivis” in Spanish-speaking families.

So, which of these four (very similar) names names do you like best? Why?

  • Ibis
  • Iris
  • Isis
  • Iris

New gemstone baby names

kyanite
Kyanite

We’re very familiar with gemstone baby names names like Ruby, Opal and Jade. But you probably haven’t met anyone (yet) with one of the following names:

  • Citrine: Citrine debuted in the SSA data in 2019. Citrine is an orange-y variety of quartz. It’s one of the birthstones for November.
  • Kyanite: Kyanite debuted in 2019 as well. Kyanite is typically blue, and its name is related to the color word “cyan.”
  • Malachite: Malachite debuted in 2017. Malachite is a green-banded mineral. Its name refers to the leaves of the mallow plant.
  • Lazuli: Lazuli, part of the rock name lapis lazuli (which translates to “stone of azure”), debuted in 2016.

These newbies join the many gem-names — Amethyst, Angelite, Beryl, Celestine, Diamond, Emerald, Garnet, Jasper, Larimar, Obsidian, Olivine, Onyx, Sapphire, Topaz, Turquoise, etc. — that have previously appeared in the SSA data. (Not to mention the rock names Coal, Flint, Granite, Shale, and Slate.)

I’m sure Citrine and Kyanite won’t be the last of the names in this category to emerge in the data, though, because there are just so many other nicely-named minerals and rocks out there. Some examples…

  • Agate: a banded, colored quartz with a name that happens to look and sound similar to Agatha.
  • Alexandrite: a color-changing variety of chrysoberyl named after Alexander II of Russia. It’s one of the birthstones for June.
  • Ametrine: a type of quartz with zones of purple and yellow/orange; a mix of amethyst and citrine.
  • Carnelian: a red variety of quartz. Its name can be traced back to the Latin word conus, the name of a type of berry.
  • Peridot: a green gemstone with a name of unknown origin. It’s the birthstone for August.
  • Selenite: a type of gypsum. Its name comes from the ancient Greek word for “moon,” selene. (If you’ve ever watched metaphysical content on YouTube, you’ve probably seen a selenite wand before…)
  • Tourmaline: a gem that comes in a wide variety of colors. It’s one of the birthstones for October.

Which gem/mineral/rock name do you think we’ll spot next in the U.S. baby name data?

Image: Kyanite by Elade53

Covid, Corona, Quarantino: Even more virus-inspired baby names

Illustration of the COVID-19 virus
COVID-19 virus

We’ve already talked about a bunch of virus-inspired names (Covid, Covid, Covid, Covid, Covid, Coviduvidapdap, Corona, Corona, Lockdown, Sanitizer), but there are still more! Here’s a round-up of nine others that I’ve seen, but haven’t blogged about yet…

Corona and Corona (India): A baby girl born on March 29 was named Corona Kumari, and a baby boy born on April 5 (at the same hospital) was named Corona Kumar. The names weren’t a coincidence: They were suggested by Dr. S. F. Basha, who treated both mothers.

Corona (Indonesia): A baby girl born on April 30 was named Nara Fatimah Corona.

Covid (Philippines): A baby girl born on April 13 was named Covid Marie.

Lockdown (India): A baby boy born on May 22 — aboard a Shramik Special [train], which is very interesting — was named Lockdown.

Lockdown (India): A baby boy born in April was named Lockdown. His father Sanjay said, “We went through so much trouble due to coronavirus outbreak and lockdown. He was born in the midst of such peril. So, we have decided to name him Lockdown.”

Quarantine and Sanitizer (India): A set of male twins born in May were named Quarantine and Sanitizer. Their father Dharmendra said, “Both give us protection. So, this feeling of security should remain lifelong. These are the best names that we could [find] for our children.”

Quarantino (India): A baby boy born on May 31 was named Emmanuel Quarantino. The parents had traveled from Goa to Manipur several days earlier, so they’d been placed under institutional quarantine at an isolation center called Emmanuel School. This was where the baby was born, hence the name.

(Quarantino is my favorite virus-name so far. It keeps making me think of Quentin Tarantino.)

Have you spotted any other names like these in the news? If so, please leave a comment!

Sources: Meet Emmanuel Quarantino, A Manipuri Baby Boy Who Was Born In A Quarantine Centre, Manipur: Woman gives birth to baby boy at COVID-19 quarantine centre, names him Emmanuel Quarantino, ‘Lockdown Yadav to Sanitiser Singh’: Indian parents and their tryst with Covid names, Meerut couple names their newborn twins ‘Quarantine’ and ‘Sanitizer’, Corona Kumar and Kumari: 2 Andhra Pradesh couples name newborn babies born during lockdown, Corona Kumar, then Covid Marie, the newborns being named after a pandemic, ‘Corona’ baby: Newborn girl in West Java named after pandemic

Image: COVID-19 virus (CDC)