Where did the baby name Mulan come from in 1998?

The title character from the movie "Mulan" (1998)
Mulan from “Mulan“

The name Mulan first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1998:

  • 2000: 6 baby girls named Mulan
  • 1999: 7 baby girls named Mulan
  • 1998: 16 baby girls named Mulan [debut]
  • 1997: unlisted
  • 1996: unlisted

Where did it come from?

The animated Disney movie Mulan, which was released in June that year. Mulan went on to become the seventh-highest-grossing film of 1998.

The titular character (voiced by Ming-Na Wen) was a young woman who lived with her parents and grandmother in ancient China.

When China was suddenly invaded by the Huns, the emperor ordered that one man from every family join the Imperial Army. Mulan, wanting to spare her ailing father from having to serve, dressed in her father’s armor and, posing as a man, enlisted in his place. (She was accompanied on her military adventures by a diminutive Chinese dragon named Mushu.)

The movie was based on the Chinese folk song Mùlán Cí, which can be traced back to the Northern Wèi dynasty (386-535).

The legendary female warrior Mùlán was named after a type of magnolia tree, the word for which comprises two characters — the first (mù) meaning “wood,” the second (lán) meaning “orchid.”

What are your thoughts on the baby name Mulan?

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Mulan

What gave the baby name Ariel a boost in 1982?

The character Ariel Aldrin from the TV series "As The World Turns" (1956-2010)
Ariel from “As The World Turns“

In 1981, the unisex name Ariel was given to roughly the same number of girls and boys.

Just one year later, it was given to almost twice as many girls as boys:

Girls named ArielBoys named Ariel
1984636 [rank: 362nd]281 [rank: 504th]
1983650 [rank: 348th]315 [rank: 471st]
1982584 [rank: 394th]294 [rank: 497th]
1981228 [rank: 721st]236 [rank: 553rd]
1980181 [rank: 853rd]239 [rank: 554th]

What caused this sudden interest in Ariel as a girl name?

My guess is a television character.

In February of 1982, Swedish-born Ariel Aldrin (played by actress Judith Blazer) was introduced on the long-running CBS soap opera As The World Turns.

During her time on the show, Ariel worked as a model at the local fashion emporium (“Fashions, Ltd.”) and married two different men: Dr. John Dixon (who she’d mistakenly believed was wealthy) and Burke Donovan (who’s son, she’d discovered, was the heir to a fortune). Neither relationship lasted very long. She “left town to pursue a European count” in 1984.

P.S. Earlier in the ’80s, the name may have been influenced (slightly) by Princess Ariel, one of the main characters of the Saturday morning cartoon Thundarr the Barbarian (1980-1981).

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of As The World Turns

Babies named for the Battle of Trafalgar

Battle of Trafalgar (1805)
Battle of Trafalgar

The Battle of Trafalgar — during which an outnumbered Royal Navy fleet (under Horatio Nelson) soundly defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet (under Napoleon Bonaparte) — took place off the south-western coast of Spain, near Cape Trafalgar, on October 21, 1805.

The battle cost Nelson his life, but the decisive victory “cemented Britain’s reputation as ruler of the seas.”

Dozens of babies in England were given the name “Trafalgar,” typically as a middle, over the next few years. Most of them were boys, but several were girls. Some examples…

  • John Trafalgar Black, b. 1806 in England
  • John Trafalgar Cotton, b. 1807 in England
  • Joseph Trafalgar Dowding, b. circa 1806 in England
  • Jane Trafalgar Grapes, b. 1805 in England
    • Among her siblings were William Nile (b. circa 1798), Charles Wellington (b. circa 1811), and Charlotte Waterloo (b. circa 1815) — likely named for the Battle of the Nile, the Duke of Wellington, and the Battle of Waterloo.
  • William Trafalgar Hannah, b. 1806 in England
  • Richard Trafalgar Hillgrove, b. 1807 in England
  • Robert Trafalgar May, b. 1807 in England
  • Louisa Trafalgar Priske, b. 1805 in England
  • John Trafalgar Salmon, b. 1805 in England
  • Samuel Trafalgar Sparks, b. 1807 in England

A good number of these babies — including Nelson Trafalgar Black (b. 1805 in Scotland) and Horatio Trafalgar Taylor (b. 1806 in England) — were also named in honor of the late admiral.

The Spanish place-name Trafalgar can be traced back to a pair of Arabic words. The first, taraf, means “edge, extremity” (in reference to the cape itself), and the second may mean “west.”

Sources: Battle of Trafalgar – Wikipedia, Battle of Trafalgar – Britannica, Battle of Trafalgar Timeline – National Maritime Museum, Cape Trafalgar – Wikipedia, FamilySearch.org

Image: Adapted from Battle of Trafalgar (1836) by William Clarkson Stanfield

What gave the baby name Korben a boost in 1998?

The character Korben Dallas from the movie "The Fifth Element" (1997)
Korben Dallas from “The Fifth Element“

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Corbin saw a discernible increase in popularity in 1998. Other spellings (like Korbin and Corban) saw similar increases, but none were as steep as that of Korben, which more than tripled in usage:

  • 2000: 43 baby boys named Korben
  • 1999: 31 baby boys named Korben
  • 1998: 37 baby boys named Korben
  • 1997: 11 baby boys named Korben
  • 1996: 8 baby boys named Korben

What was influencing these names?

Korben Dallas, the main character of the “campy sci-fi extravaganza” The Fifth Element, which was released in theaters in May of 1997.

The movie was set in the 23rd century, and Korben (played by Bruce Willis) — who had recently retired from the elite Special Forces unit of the Federated Army — was now driving a a flying taxicab in New York City.

One day, an orange-haired woman wearing an outfit made of white bandages fell into Korben’s cab through the roof. (Leeloo, played by Milla Jovovich, had just jumped off the ledge of a building after escaping from a science lab.) This unlikely encounter led to Korben getting caught up in mission to save humanity from a “planet-sized sphere of supreme evil” that was swiftly approaching Earth.

The Fifth Element was the ninth-highest-grossing film of 1997, and went on to become a science-fiction cult classic. (The name Leeloo debuted in the U.S. baby name data about a decade after the movie came out.)

What are your thoughts on the baby name Korben? (Do you like it more or less than the traditional spelling, Corbin?)

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of The Fifth Element