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Tag Archives: names of US states

Famous Name: Georgia

11 Wednesday May 2016

Posted by A.O. in Famous Names

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

celebrity baby names, famous namesakes, Greek names, international name popularity, modern classics, name history, name meaning, name popularity, names from songs, names of countries, names of US states, nicknames, popular names, saints names, stage names, UK name popularity, US name popularity

0905_GeorgiaLee-cropped_800

Famous Namesake
The blog will look at a few musical names in May, and this week the focus is on jazz singer Georgia Lee. She was born Dulcie Pitt in Cairns, and her ancestry was an exotic blend of Jamaican, Indian, Australian Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and Scottish. She and her sisters Sophie and Heather formed The Harmony Sisters, and they toured Queensland to entertain the troops during World War II, meeting other performers such as Hollywood star John Wayne.

After the war she took the stage name Georgia Lee and became a cabaret singer in the jazz and blues clubs of 1950s Sydney and Melbourne. She was part of the bohemian world that included famous artists like Donald Friend, Margaret Olley, and Russell Drysdale, and together with Indigenous opera star Harold Blair, took part in the first Moomba Festival in Melbourne in 1951.

Georgia made her mark overseas when she went to London to sing in the West End, which was recorded on BBC radio. Homesickness cut short her international career, but back in Australia she toured with Nat “King” Cole, and appeared on popular TV shows such as Graham Kennedy’s In Melbourne Tonight and Bandstand.

She apparently suffered some sort of nervous breakdown in the late 1950s, but recovered enough to record her 1962 album Georgia Lee Sings the Blues Down Under, which was done all in one take. This was the first album ever recorded by someone with Indigenous Australian ancestry, and was also the first album in Australia recorded in stereo. The album was reissued in 2009, a year before Georgia’s death.

Georgia Lee was our Queen of Jazz, with a distinctly Australian identity and style. She was also a trailblazer for other Indigenous performers. Interviewed in her late seventies she said, “I had a fantastic life and met so many wonderful people”.

Name Information
Georgia is a feminine form of George, a name of Greek origin meaning “farmer”, which became well known because of the dragon-slaying St George. There is a St Georgia as well, a 6th century French nun, who doesn’t get nearly as much publicity, due to the paucity of dragons in her area.

As with its masculine counterpart, the name Georgia was rarely used in Britain until the 18th century, when the Hanoverian dynasty gained the throne; before this, the name Georgia was better known on the Continent, from the Italian Giorgia. However, an early British example is said to be a god child of Anne of Denmark, the wife of James I.

King George II gave his name to the American state of Georgia, which was first administered as a British colony. The name became more popular in the United States, and was a particular favourite in the south. A famous Georgia from Georgia was Georgia Brown, the daughter of politician Dr George Brown, who named her after their home state (although surely after himself too). Her story is said to have inspired the jazz standard Sweet Georgia Brown, whose lyrics explain that Georgia named her, Georgia claimed her.

Another geographical namesake is the country Georgia, once part of the Russian Empire. The origin of its name is not certain: it may be after St George, or from the Greek for “tiller of the soil”, as ancient Greeks called agricultural tribes Georgi. Another theory is that it comes from the Persian word gurg, meaning “wolf”, to indicate “land of wolves”. Its possible all these theories are true, with the different origins conflated.

The name Georgia first entered the charts in the 1940s, debuting at #442. A famous namesake for the era was American singer Georgia Carroll, who was part of the Big Band sound of the 1940s. Previously a model, the attractive songstress was known as “Gorgeous Georgia”. Another was the American artist Georgia O’Keefe, whose reputation grew substantially during the 1940s.

The name Georgia began increasing in popularity in the 1960s, making #228. This was the decade that Ray Charles released his hit version of the song Georgia on My Mind, which was written about the American state Georgia, although the lyrics are ambiguously written so that a girl can also be pictured. The composer Hoagy Carmichael did know a girl named Georgia – his sister – although he said that was a coincidence.

Georgia joined the Top 100 in 1989 at #98. It quickly leaped into the Top 50, making #42 by 1991, and was in the Top 10 by 1996, and the Top 5 by 1997. It peaked at #3 in 2001. It is currently #26 nationally, #25 in New South Wales, #26 in Victoria, #23 in Queensland, #31 in South Australia, #24 in Western Australia, #85 in Tasmania, and #21 in the Australian Capital Territory.

In the UK, Georgia’s popularity has been similar to that in Australia. It was a Top 100 name by the 1990s, peaking at #10 in 1997, and is now #48. Georgia is also popular in New Zealand, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. In the US, Georgia has never left the Top 1000. It was popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but got as low as the 700s in 1990. It has been generally trending upward since then, and is now #230, so Georgia’s popularity has been quite different there.

The variant Jorja made the Top 100 in both Australia and New Zealand during the early to mid 2000s. It has never been popular in any other country, and in the US only made the Top 1000 once, in 2006 when it was #976 (the year after heavy metal singer Bret Michaels welcomed a daughter named Jorja). This is a common variant spelling of Georgia in Australia, which I suspect parents think will be more intuitive to pronounce, and be free of geographical associations. Like other spelling variants, it’s generally frowned upon by those who furrow their brows over names.

Georgia is a modern classic which has been Top 100 for almost thirty years, and is now very stable in the Top 30. It peaked higher in Australia than anywhere else, and has become one of our popular standards. Georgie is the usual nickname, but Gigi is now more fashionable. If this sweet peach of a name that’s been celebrated in dozens of songs has been on your mind, then you might keep going back to Georgia.

POLL RESULTS

The name Georgia received an approval rating of 79%, making it one of the highest-rated names of 2016. People saw the name Georgia as pretty or beautiful (17%), suitable for all ages (17%), warm and sunny (16%), and sweet and spunky (15%). However 9% thought it was too common and boring. Only one person thought the name Georgia had too many spelling and pronunciation issues.

(Photo of Georgia Lee from ABC radio)

Girls Names from International Destinations

27 Sunday Sep 2015

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Arabic names, car names, Celtic names, Dutch names, english names, ethnonyms, fabric names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, gemstone names, honouring, locational names, mythological names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, names of deserts, names of rivers, names of US states, Native American names, nicknames, Sanskrit names, Scottish names, slave names, stage names, surname names, unisex names, vocabulary names

alaska-mountains

Aberdeen
The third largest city in Scotland, often called The Energy Capital of Europe because of its North Sea oil reserves, and Scotland’s most important city economically. Another of its claims to fame is that it is the coldest city in the UK. The original name for Aberdeen was Aberdon, a Celtic name meaning “mouth of the Don” – the River Don empties into the North Sea north of Aberdeen’s original site. The river’s name may be derived from Devona, a Celtic deity whose name means “river goddess”. I saw a baby girl named Aberdeen in the newspaper, and her mother emailed me to explain that her name is in honour of Kurt Cobain, lead singer for the rock band Nirvana, who was born in Aberdeen, Washington (Aberdeen’s father is a great admirer). The American city’s name is after a salmon cannery which was named for the Scottish city, because it is also situated on a rivermouth. A rare name with a possible feminine origin which can be shortened to Abby or Deeni.

Alaska
The most northern state of the USA, separated from the continental US by Canada. First colonised by Russia, it was purchased by the United States in the 19th century, and eventually became a state in 1959. Once famous as a gold rush area and wild frontier, it is now known for its vast gas and oil reserves, and stunning natural beauty. The state’s name was adopted during the Russian colonial period, derived from an Aleut word meaning “mainland” (literally “that which the sea breaks against”). The name has become better known since the 2005 publication of John Green’s first young adult novel, Looking for Alaska, with the character of Alaska Young a beautiful but unstable teenage girl who is the hero’s love interest.

Calais
A town and major seaport in northern France and a major trading centre since the Middle Ages. It is famously located at the narrowest point of the English Channel, and a popular place to make for when swimming the Channel (or crossing by ferry). It was once a territory of England, and called “the brightest jewel in the English crown” for its rich commercial opportunities. The Romans called it Caletum, apparently in reference to the local Celtic tribespeople; it was from Calais that Caesar launched his invasion of Britain. Pronounced kal-ay, Calais sounds similar to names such as Callie and Carly while having the fashionable AY sound. Calais is also a boy’s name – in Greek mythology, Calaïs was a son of the North Wind, and one of the Argonauts. The name means “turquoise” or “chrysolithe” (another blue-green jewel), so is a rare masculine gemstone name. It is pronounced KAL-uh-ees. I’ve seen several boys in Australia named Calais, but more likely because of the car, the Holden Commodore Calais, than after the Greek hero.

Havana
The capital of Cuba, and a popular tourist destination that’s almost instantly recognisable from its colourful architecture and vintage cars. Under American occupation before the revolution, it was a playground for the middle classes, a sort of offshore Las Vegas with an exciting tinge of corruption and decadence. The city was founded by the Spanish in the early 16th century and named San Cristóbal de la Habana. Saint Christopher is the city’s patron, but the meaning of Habana isn’t certain. It may come from Habaguanex, the name of a Native American chief who controlled the region. The name has become fairly well known in Australia because of the DJ, singer, and dancer Havana Brown. Born in Melbourne to parents from Mauritius, Havana’s birth name is Angelique Meunier. The name Havana was #339 in Victoria in 2012. Pronounced huh-VAH-nuh, it fits in with the trend for names with a strong V sound, and looks like a natural successor to Ava and Harper.

Holland
A historic region of the Netherlands, sometimes informally used to refer to the country itself (Dutch people outside North and South Holland may not appreciate this, just as Scots don’t care for being told they’re from England). The name comes from the Middle Dutch holtland, meaning “wooded land”, but folk etymology connects it to the modern Dutch hol land, meaning “hollow land”, because the Netherlands is famously low-lying. Holland is also an area of Lincolnshire, similarly flat and famous for tulips, but its name comes from the Old English for “hill spur land, ridge land”. It is from this area that the English surname Holland comes, and you can see Holland as a surname name too. Both Holland Park in London and the Holland Tunnel in New York are from the Lincolnshire connection. Holland is also a fabric; this heavy linen was in the past often imported from the Netherlands. Long in use for both sexes, on a girl this name easily shortens to Holly.

India
India is named for the Indus River, one of the longest rivers of Asia, which flows from Tibet into the Arabian Sea; the Sanskrit name for the river is Sindhu, which means “body of trembling water”. Alexander the Great crossed the Indus, and the ancient Greeks called the people of present-day Pakistan and India Indoi, meaning “people of the Indus” – it’s the origin of the word for the Hindu religion as well. The Indus Valley was the birthplace for an ancient civilisation, the oldest urban culture in South Asia. In Britain, India was often given as a name in reference to the British Raj, and still has a rather upper class image in the UK. In the US, India had steady use in Indiana, but overall was more common in the south – a famous fictional namesake is India Wilkes from Gone With the Wind, the sister of Ashley. India was also given as a slave name in colonial America, perhaps because it was associated with a dark complexion. It’s always been a name which symbolises exoticism to Europeans, and is around the 200s in Australia, a natural successor to popular Indiana and sharing the nickname Indi.

Mississippi
An American state in the south, named for the Mississippi River, another inspiration for the name. The Mississippi is the chief river of North America, and one of the largest in the world, rising in Minnesota and meandering to the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River Valley is one of the country’s most fertile areas, and was the focus for the steamboat era, brought to life in the works of Mark Twain. It features in songs such as Johnny Cash’s Big River, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Proud Mary, and Charley Pride’s Roll on Mississippi. The river’s name comes from Misi-ziibi, the Objibwe or Algonquin for “great river”. Lengthy, and a spelling minefield for the unwary, this comes with two snappy nicknames: Missi and Sippi.

Odessa
A city in the Ukraine founded by Catherine the Great. It was named thus because of a belief that it was the site of an ancient Greek city called Odessos – Odessos is now thought to have been where Varna, in modern Bulgaria, is today. The name is probably pre-Greek, and its meaning and origin unknown. A free port, Odessa was a city where people of many cultures and languages mingled; its cosmopolitan nature made it a place for freethinkers to congregate, and Mark Twain predicted it would become one of the great cities of the world. The first tremors of the Russian Revolution could be felt here in 1905, after a workers’ uprising was put down with a brutal massacre. Odessa looks as if it could be related to all kinds of familiar names, and is sometimes even touted as a feminine form of Odysseus, so it feels like a “real name”. It’s right on trend and would make a great alternative to popular Olivia.

Sahara
The largest desert in Africa, and the largest hot desert of the world, the Sahara stretches right across northern Africa, often very beautiful in its shifting sandscapes. Its name is an intensifier of ṣaḥrā , the Arabic word for desert, to suggest “great desert”. The singer-songwriter Sahara Smith received her name because her father hiccuped while suggesting the name Sara, and liked the result. This is a pretty name which is so similar to names like Sara, Sarah, Zara and Zahara that its main issue is probably being confused with them.

Venice
A city in northern Italy built on a series of islands separated by a maze of canals and linked by bridges. It is seen as one of the most beautiful cities in the world and a very romantic destination, thanks to its ornate architecture and the gondolas providing transport through its waterways. A wealthy city for most of its history, it has a particularly strong connection with the arts and music, and has featured in many plays, novels, and films. The city’s name comes from the Veneti, the tribespeople who populated the area in ancient times. Etymologists believe their name comes from an ancient root meaning “strive, wish for, love” (to suggest strong kinship bonds), giving it a very attractive meaning as well. The name seems to have been used since the 16th century, although in at least some records, may have been confused with the related names Venus or Venetia. This artistic name would make a good alternative to rising Florence.

POLL RESULTS
People’s favourite names were Odessa, India and Holland, and their least favourite were Havana, Venice and Mississippi.

(Photo is of Denali National Park in Alaska)

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