Money for V-names in South Africa

springboks

Do you live in South Africa? Do you have a baby with a v-name who was (or will be) born between December 25, 2024, and January 1, 2025 (inclusive)?

If so, you may want to get in touch with Vodacom. For a limited time, the South African mobile communications company is giving away thousands of rand to parents whose newborns have v-names.

Just send your information — full name, province, baby’s birth date, and baby’s v-name — to the company via WhatsApp by January 1.

All who qualify will receive at least R15,000 (about $814 U.S.); parents who happen to be Vodacom customers will receive R25,000 (about $1,357 U.S.).

Though any v-name is acceptable, Vodacom did offer the following list of suggestions:

  • Vuyisile
  • Vuyani
  • Vumani
  • Vuyelwa
  • Vaughn
  • Vincent
  • Virgil
  • Veronica
  • Valeria
  • Venus
  • Virginia
  • Violet
  • Vivienne
  • Valentina
  • Vanessa
  • Vuyo
  • Vusumuzi
  • Vihaan
  • Vaishnavi
  • Vikram

Which of the above do you like most?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Springbok, Madikwe (52635759990) by flowcomm under CC BY 2.0.

Timeline progress

Hi everyone! Here’s a quick update on the baby name timeline project, which I started last October.

More than a third of the years on the timeline have been transferred to individual pages that feature (along with the names from the original timeline) several sets of rankings:

  • Top 5 names overall (male & female)
  • Top 5 absolute increases (male & female)
  • Top 5 relative increases (male & female)
  • Top 5 debuts (male & female)

Among the years I’ve converted so far are all of the 1880s, all of the 1890s, and all of the 1950s.

At this rate, I’ll need another couple of years (at least!) to finish upgrading the timeline. But it’ll be worth it, because the second version is going to be a lot more useful and interesting than the first. :)

Nevada town named Rachel after baby

"Welcome to Rachel, Nevada" sign

If you’re a UFO enthusiast, you may know about the remote Nevada town of Rachel — the town closest to the infamous Area 51.

Rachel was founded as a mining town in the early 1970s. It was initially called “Tempiute Village” after the location of the mine, Tempiute Mountain.

Several years later, when residents of the town were discussing bringing electricity in, the topic of the town’s name came up.

The first and only child to be born in this valley was Rachel Jones. Her father delivered her in their mobile home on Feb. 15, 1978. The town, then, was on the upswing, and Rachel’s birth struck everyone as an important event.

The following month, on March 22, the town got power — and was officially renamed “Rachel.”

Rachel eventually grew to more than 500 residents. But most of these residents relocated after the mine was shut down in the late 1980s. Today, only about 50 people remain in Rachel.

If you’d like to pay a visit, Rachel is located near the midpoint of Nevada’s 98-mile Extraterrestrial Highway.

P.S. Sadly, Rachel Jones passed away May 24, 1980. Her family had moved to Moses Lake, Washington, where Rachel died of pneumonia (possibly exacerbated by the ash of the Mount St. Helens eruption).

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Sign for Rachel, Nevada, along southbound Nevada State Route 375 by Famartin under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Free cupcakes for people with “Joy” names

Hostess cupcake

Do you know a U.S. resident — either yourself or someone else — who has the word “Joy” in any part of their name (first, middle, or last)?

If so, you have until July 2 to enter that person into the Hostess Joy Drops sweepstakes:

100 winners will be selected to receive a Hostess Joy Drops package. If your “Joy” lives in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah or Virginia, they may get their package via a special drone delivery.

The package (valued at about $55) includes a box of CupCakes, a box of Twinkies, a bag of Donettes, and various other “summer fun essentials” such as sunglasses, a Frisbee, and a sheet of stickers.

Finally, just for fun, here’s a sampling of the dozens of “Joy” names in the SSA data: Joy, Joyce, LaJoy, LaJoyce, Joya, Joycie, Joyanne, Joyanna, Joyette, Joyetta, Joyelle, Joyella, Joylene, Joylynn, Joynell, Joynae, Joyous, and Joyful.

Image: Adapted from Hostess CupCake Whole by Evan-Amos under CC0 1.0.