More About Matilda

29 Sunday Jul 2012

Posted by A.O. in Your Questions Answered

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angel names, Australian Aboriginal names, Australian names, Biblical names, celebrity baby names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, germanic names, Google, Irish names, name combinations, name history, name meaning, name popularity, name trends, names of convicts, names of roses, names of ships, names of stars, names of trains, rhyming names, saints names, Shakespearean names, sibsets, US name popularity, Waltzing More Than Matilda

I love the title I chose for my blog, and as time goes by, it seems to be growing into its name even better. Although I don’t suffer from one ounce of name regret, an unintended side effect of its title is that it when people Google anything to do with the name “Matilda”, they often seem to be guided to Waltzing More Than Matilda.

They have been sent here under false pretences, because the blog isn’t dedicated to the name Matilda, or people named Matilda, or the song Waltzing Matilda. Even though Matilda is a Featured Name, in the wider scheme of things, it doesn’t rate too many mentions at all on the blog. I feel bad that so often, the information they are looking for just isn’t here.

So this is my attempt to answer as many of the Googled questions as I can about the name Matilda. They are all genuine questions, but I have added punctuation and corrected the odd typo to make things easier (it seemed fair enough as people don’t write their Google searches for publication). I’ve added information in brackets to make questions clearer, and where there were several questions asking similar things, I have amalgamated them into a generic enquiry.

I hope you enjoy learning more about Matilda; I ended up learning a great deal myself!

Matildas in the Bible/What is the Biblical significance of the name Matilda?

There aren’t any, and there is none.

Is Matilda the name of an angel?

No. Angels are always given male Hebrew names by tradition.

Is Matilda a saints name?

Yes. Saint Matilda was the wife of King Henry I of Germany, and she was therefore Queen Matilda too. She is said to have been very beautiful and virtuous, and was famous for her devotion to prayer and works of charity. Her feast day is March 14, and she is the patron saint of parents with large families, although she only had five children herself – Hedwig, Otto, Gerberga, Henry and Bruno.

Is there a character named Matilda in Shakespeare?

No.

Is there a star or constellation named Matilda?

No.

Is there a rose named Matilda?

Yes. There’s a hybrid named Rosa “Matilda” which was registered in France in 1988. It’s a hardy perennial shrub, and its scentless blooms are white with delicate pink edges.

Is Matilda an Irish or an Australian name?

Neither – it’s the Latinised form of a Germanic name, Mahthildis.

What is the Irish form of Matilda?

Maitilde. It was never a common name in Ireland though.

Why do Australians claim Matilda (as their own)? It’s not really Australian

It’s because of our national song, Waltzing Matilda. I’m sorry if it annoys you – you sound annoyed. You’re right that it’s not Australian, it’s German originally, but a German migrant to Australia helped to inspire the song.

What was Waltzing Matilda‘s first name?

As far as I know, the song’s title was always Waltzing Matilda.

Is Waltzing Matilda a train?

Not that I know of.

Did James Cook have a kid named Matilda?

No. His children were called James, Nathaniel, Elizabeth, Joseph, George and Hugh.

Were any of the convicts named Matilda?

When I searched the Australian Convict Collection at Ancestry.com.au, I got almost 2000 hits for the name “Matilda”. Some of those would be middle names, and some would be doubled-up entries, so maybe around 1000 convicts had the name Matilda.

There was also a convict ship named the Matilda; she came out in 1791 as part of the Third Fleet. However, she only carried male convicts, so there were no Matildas on the Matilda, alas.

How popular is the name Matilda in Australia?

It made #19 on the national chart for 2011.

A beautiful rocking Australian girl named Matilda?

I’m sure there’s absolutely tons of them.

Is there an Aboriginal name that’s the equivalent of Matilda?

It depends what you mean by “equivalent”. If you mean, Is there an Aboriginal girl’s name with the same meaning as Matilda?, then I don’t think so. Matilda means something like “strong in battle”, as the ancient Germanic tribes had a warrior culture. Aboriginal names tend to be inspired by nature.

However, if you mean, Is there a girl’s name of Aboriginal origin which, like Matilda, is considered to be a stereotypically Australian girl’s name?, then I would suggest that the name Talia fits that description, and Allira seems to be preparing to take its place.

Famous people named Matilda

One of the most notorious in Australia is Matilda Mary “Tilly” Devine, who was a prostitute and madam prominent in the 1920s and ’30s. The press called her “The Worst Woman in Sydney” and “The Queen of the Night”. Her colourful career continued until the late 1960s, and she died relatively well off.

Celebrity babies named Matilda

Matilda Esma Birmingham – Simon Birmingham (2011)

Matilda Thomson – Craig Thomson (2009)

Matilda Kewell – Harry Kewell and Sheree Murphy (2008)

Matilda Rose Ledger – Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams (2005)

Matilda Elizabeth Ramsay – Gordon Ramsay (2002)

In what year was Matilda a name?

Wow, that’s very specific. The name’s origins go back to the Dark Ages, but I’m not sure at which point it was Latinised as Matilda. I do know that it became an English name in 1066, as this was the name of William the Conqueror’s wife. However, her name was pronounced Maude. I think the modern-day pronunciation dates to the 18^th century.

There must be a “first Matilda” – the first person with both the modern spelling and pronunciation of the name – but who she is, and what year she was born, I’m afraid I cannot say. I welcome input and suggestions from others more knowledgeable than myself.

Is Matilda too trendy?

No, I don’t think so. It’s trending downwards in Australia and the UK, and is still underused in the United States.

Will Matilda reach Top 100 in North America?

It’s been back on the US Top 1000 for only four years, and you are already worrying about it getting into the Top 100? Sheesh. It’s not even going up in popularity very quickly! If it does, it won’t be for years and years, so quit stressing already.

Is Matilda a boy or a girl name?/Matilda as a boy’s name/Any boys named Matilda?

It’s a girl’s name, and although you are free to use it on a boy, it’s an idea that doesn’t appeal to me. I’ve never heard of a boy named Matilda; they may all call themselves Matt to avoid terminal embarrassment.

What’s a good boy’s name to match with Matilda?

Angus, Banjo, Barnaby, Charlie, Darcy, Harry, Henry, Jack, Jasper, Lachlan, Liam, Sam, William

What girl names go good with Matilda?

Adelaide, Alice, Charlotte, Clementine, Harriet, Edith, Emmeline, Lucy, Poppy, Rose, Ruby, Sophie

An Aussie-style sibset for Matilda?

I think the quintessential Australian sibset is Jack, Matilda, Lachlan, and Ruby.

Names to go with the middle name Matilda?

Annabel Matilda, Caroline Matilda, Eloise Matilda, Jane Matilda, Phoebe Matilda, Violet Matilda

A boy’s name that rhymes with Matilda?

Bob the Builder? Seriously, I don’t think there is one.

Name of story about mean stupid couple who have nice smart kid called Matilda?

Matilda, by Roald Dahl. It was originally published in 1988, made into a film in 1996, and adapted as a musical in 2012.

What’s that song at the start of (the movie) Matilda where she makes stuff spin round?

Little Bitty Pretty One. It was written and originally recorded by Bobby Day; the movie features the 1957 version sung by Thurston Harris.

What are the cast of (the movie) Matilda all doing now?

The whole cast? For flip’s sake, that’s dozens of people! Go look it up at the Internet Movie Database or something.

Matilda is an awesome name

Too right it is!

(Image from Flickr)

Waltzing With … Olivia

22 Sunday Jul 2012

Posted by A.O. in Waltzing with ...

≈ 5 Comments

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anagram names, created names, english names, European name popularity, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, Latin names, locational names, name combinations, name history, name meaning, name popularity, New Zealand name popularity, popular names, saints names, Shakespearean names, sibsets, tree names, UK name popularity, US name popularity

This blog post was first published on July 22 2012, and substantially revised and re-posted on May 4 2016.

This Friday, July 27, it is Schools Tree Day. I always think this is a great way to start off the Spring Term, as it gets students out of the classroom and connecting with nature. This year there will be an emphasis on programs where children plant and care for trees in public bushland, teaching them about the environment and community responsibility.

National Tree Day (on Sunday July 29), and its “junior partner”, Schools Tree Day, are Australia’s biggest tree-planting events. National Tree Day was co-founded by pop singer Olivia Newton-John and Australian environmental group Planet Ark in 1996; since then more than 3.8 million people have planted over 22 million trees and shrubs.

Olivia Newton-John is an ambassador to the United Nations Environmental Program, and has won awards for her efforts on behalf of the environment from the Environmental Media Association and the Rainforest Alliance. This year she was named one of Australia’s Living Treasures by the National Trust. In honour of Ms Newton-John’s achievements and charity work, I am taking a closer look at her first name.

Name Information
Olivia is a name invented by William Shakespeare for his play Twelfth Night. It is generally believed that Shakespeare based it on the Latin name Oliva, meaning “olive” and pronounced oh-LEEV-ah.

Oliva of Brescia was a Roman saint martyred in the 2nd century. Interestingly, the saint is now often known as Saint Olivia, to distinguish her from a legendary saint from the 9th century called Oliva of Palermo, and known as Blessed Olive.

Blessed Olive was a beautiful thirteen year old girl of noble family who was kidnapped by Muslims and martyred by them after the usual imprisonment and torture. It’s clearly a piece of propaganda, but she is still a patron saint of music. Confusingly, sometimes she is also known as Saint Olivia, to distinguish her from Saint Oliva of Brescia.

Shakespeare chose the name Olivia for a beautiful countess of Illyria, an ancient land in the Balkans on the Adriatic Coast, where Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Albania are now. As its name suggests, Twelfth Night was written as an entertainment for the end of the Christmas season; its first performance was after Candlemas in 1602.

The eve of Epiphany was supposed to be a time when all the usual rules were turned topsy-turvy, so it is not surprising that cross-dressing plays a big part in the plot. The countess Olivia falls in love with a woman named Viola (an anagram of Oliva, while Olivia is an anagram of I, Viola) believing her to be a man named Cesario. The joke in Shakespeare’s day, when only males were permitted on stage, was that the role of Viola was played by a boy pretending to be a woman pretending to be man.

Olivia is such a stunning beauty that Viola’s twin brother Sebastian marries her virtually on sight, in an almost dreamlike state, while she thinks he is “Cesario”. They both marry under false pretences, but it is less illegal than Olivia marrying Viola. It’s a comedy, so everything works out.

The name Olivia was too good not be used by other writers, so a character named Olivia is in William Wycherley’s 1676 play The Plain Dealer, cleverly utilising a similar plot to Twelfth Night. In Oliver Goldsmith’s 1766 novel The Vicar of Wakefield, Olivia is the vicar’s strikingly beautiful daughter. In an impetuous rush of passion, she is tricked into a fake marriage with a womanising squire; luckily, it turns out the squire himself was tricked and the marriage is real.

A real marriage to an evil womaniser doesn’t sound like much of a happy ending for Olivia, but it’s happier than not being married at all, it seems. Arresting beauty and dodgy weddings seem the hallmark of the literary Olivia.

Olivia has been in use as an English name since the 17th century, and became more common in the 19th. An early famous namesake was the English socialite Olivia Devenish, who married Thomas Raffles, the vice-governor of Java.

Olivia Miss Newton-John emigrated to Australia from Britain in the 1950s, and during the 1960s was a regular on Australian radio and television before becoming a successful country-pop singer overseas. The name Olivia first appeared on the Top 100 in 1978 at #64, the same year that Olivia starred as Sandy in the hit musical film Grease.

The name Olivia was only on the Top 100 sporadically in the 1980s, never getting any higher than its initial position (Newton-John’s “sexy” image in this decade probably wasn’t a help). It began rising in the 1990s after Olivia’s career quietened down and she put away the spandex, shooting up to #46 in 1990. By 1998 it was in the Top 10 at #5, and it peaked at #1 in 2005, and then again in 2014.

Currently Olivia is #2 nationally, #2 in New South Wales, #1 in Victoria, #2 in Queensland, #3 in South Australia, #1 in Western Australia, #26 in Tasmania, #6 in the Northern Territory, and #4 in the Australian Capital Territory.

In the US, the name Olivia has charted consistently in the Top 1000 since the 19th century, rarely leaving the Top 500. It has been in the Top 100 since the 1990s, and is currently at its peak position of #2. In the UK it has been in the Top 100 since the 1990s, and peaked at #1 in 2008-2010. It is currently #2. Olivia is also #2 in New Zealand, and is popular across the English-speaking world as well as East and West Europe, and Scandinavia. Olivia is a name that travels very well.

Coincidentally or not, the rise and stability of Olivia looks similar to the trajectory of the name Oliver, which is now at #1 – in fact, the two names were #1 together in 2014. Olivia’s success may have helped her twin sister Olive rise through the ranks, for this retro charmer began zooming up the charts in the 2000s, and is now in the Top 100.

Other famous namesakes include Hollywood star Olivia de Havilland; author Olivia Manning; George Harrison’s widow, Olivia Harrison; and actresses Olivia Wilde and Olivia Williams. Although there are many fictional Olivias, one of the most famous is the adorable pig from the children’s book and TV series, named after the author’s niece (I’ve noticed many baby Olivias seem to get toy pigs as gifts).

Lovely Olivia has become one of our modern classics, currently at the peak of its success and still stable after 17 years in the Top 10. I think, like that other Shakespearean coinage Jessica, it will be with us for some time to come.

POLL RESULT
Olivia scored an approval rating of 89%, making it the most popular girl’s name of 2012 in this category. 35% of people thought the name Olivia was okay, while only 4% hated it.

(Picture shows old olive trees in Albania).

Less Commonly Used Girls Names

03 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 20 Comments

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Abby Sandel, alphanumeric names, Arabic names, Baby Name Wizard, Bonds Baby Search, celebrity baby names, Celtic names, created names, english names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, French names, Greek names, hebrew names, Italian names, locational names, Mer de Noms, modern names, mythological names, name data, name history, name meaning, name popularity, Nameberry, Names from the Dustbin, nicknames, popular culture, pseudonyms, rare names, Scottish names, Semitic names, Shakespearean names, stage names, surname names, The Nameberry Nine, Turkish names, unisex names, vocabulary names

When all the name data for the most popular names was released, there were also several articles which looked at some of the names closer to the bottom of the popularity lists than the top. Dorcas at Names from the Dustbin calls these names Bottom of the Barrel – not meaning that they are necessarily of poor quality, but just low in the rankings.

Most names at the bottom of the lists are just re-spellings of common names, or short forms of names that are usually kept as nicknames rather than a full name. However, if you sift through these, there’s some interesting finds at the “bottom of the barrel”, and even some neglected gems.

These names are from the popularity charts of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and Tasmania. Nearly all of them are taken from the very rarest names in their state.

Adeline

This is a pet form of the French name Adele; the French pronunciation is a-de-LEEN, but the English is AD-uh-line. The name is well known from the American ballad Sweet Adeline, which was a standard for Australian folk band, The Seekers. There’s also the piece, Ballade pour Adeline, written for the composer’s baby girl, which I had to thump out tunelessly with my chubby fingers during many a childhood music lesson. However, Adeline has got considerably cooler since then; Kasey Chambers has a song called Adeline, Green Day’s Adeline Records handles indie rock bands, and Elliot Smith released his own darker version of Sweet Adeline. I read at Abby’s Nameberry Nine that Simon Helberg from The Big Bang Theory welcomed a daughter named Adeline last month, making it an up-to-the minute celebrity baby name. Adeline has never been on the Top 100; it was #162 for the 1900s, and then sank until it was out of regular use by the 1940s. Today it fits in well with Adelaide, Addison, Madison and Madeline; however it may be difficult for short form Addie to stand out amongst the sea of Maddies and Abbies.

Allegra

Allegra means “cheerful, lively” in Italian, related to the musical term allegro, and has a long history as a celebrity baby name. Romantic poet Lord Byron re-named his illegitimate daughter Clara Allegra Byron (called by her middle name, and originally named Alba by her mother). Despite poor little Allegras’s life being brief and marked by neglect, the name seems to have been an apt one, because she was described as a vivacious child. Her story didn’t stop American poet Henry Longfellow from using it as his daughter’s middle name; in his poem The Children’s Hour, he describes her as “laughing Allegra”. The American inventor and designer, Buckminster Fuller, also gave this name to his daughter. Allegra Versace is the daughter of Italian designer Donatella Versace, and Allegra Kurer is the daughter of British radio host Vanessa Feltz. In Australia, news presenter Jessica Rowe chose it for her eldest daughter in 2007, and last year it was chosen for the daughter of Emmy Kubainski. Frothy and elegant, with a positive meaning, this fashionable favourite would also make a good Italian heritage choice.

Bonnie

Bonnie is taken from the Scottish word bonnie, meaning “pretty, beautiful”; it’s derived from the French bon, meaning “good”. Bonnie has been used as a personal name since the 19^th century, and was even sometimes given to boys, but received a huge boost when it was used in Margaret Mitchell’s popular romance, Gone with the Wind. Bonnie Blue Butler is the daughter of Scarlett and Rhett, and receives her name because she has eyes the colour of the Bonnie Blue Flag – the banner of the Confederate States in the American Civil War. British rocker Billy Idol, who sang Rebel Yell, named his daughter Bonnie Blue, and we had a Bonnie Blue competing in the Bonds Baby Search. Another famous Bonnie is Bonnie Parker, one half of notorious crime duo Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie has been on the charts almost continuously, albeit in rare use in the 1950s and ’60s. It had a peak in the 1920s at #172, then peaked again in the 1990s at #157; it’s currently climbing in the mid-100s in New South Wales, but is obviously rarer in other states. It’s a sweet old-fashioned name which is also linked to rebellion, giving it a spunkier image.

Cleopatra

This Greek name means “glory of the father”, and is almost impossible for us to disassociate from the famous Queen of Egypt. From a dangerously inbred family of Macedonian Greek origin, she ruled Egypt alongside her father, and then her brothers (who were also her husbands), but then seized control and reigned alone for many years. She was able to align herself with Rome as both ally and lover to both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, but after Mark Antony’s death, is said to have poisoned herself before she could be captured and humiliated. According to tradition, she killed herself with an asp. Her story captured the imagination of William Shakespeare, who based his play Antony and Cleopatra on the last part of her life, and her story has been made into several films, including the lavishly dreadful one starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Cleopatra is always depicted as a woman of great beauty, although early traditions suggest her attractiveness was based more on enormous charm and sex appeal. This ancient, glamorous name carries a lot of weight, but with short form Cleo becoming fashionable, some parents may wish for a long form of the name.

Elif

This Turkish name is after Alif, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, and has connotations of “tall and slender”, as if the person is shaped like the letter, which is a long vertical line. It is pronounced ay-LEEF. You probably recall that Natalie Portman had a son named Aleph last year; Aleph is the Hebrew form of the same letter. The meaning of the letter goes back to the West Semitic word for “ox”, as the cuneiform originally represented the shape of an ox’s head. In Arabic, the word is connected via folk etymology to the word for “coy, tamed”, giving it a subtly demure feeling. It’s a common girl’s name in Turkey, and there are several Turkish celebrities with this name. There’s also a town in Turkey called Elif. I’m not sure a non-Turkish person would ever use it, but it’s certainly an attractive name that is easy enough for an English-speaker to understand and pronounce, once they’ve learned how it’s said.

Harlow

This name is inspired by Jean Harlow, a Hollywood superstar of the 1930s. With her platinum hair and vampish image, she was the forerunner to many blonde bombshells of the movies. Despite her beauty and success, Harlow’s life contained much tragedy, and she died of kidney failure while only in her twenties. Harlow took her mother’s maiden name as her stage name; her birth name was Harlean Carpenter. The surname Harlow is from several places in England. Harlow in Yorkshire means “hill of rocks” in Old English, while the meaning of Harlow in Essex is disputed. One theory is that it means “army hill”, with the idea being that local landmark Mulberry Hill was a meeting place for the local people. Another is that it means “temple mound”, as there is an Iron Age burial mound in the area which later had a Roman temple built on the site. Harlow is a unisex name, but more common for girls; the name came to public attention when Nicole Richie named her daughter Harlow in 2008. There were 20 babies named Harlow in Queensland last year, up from 12 the year before. Although numbers are still low, that’s a significant jump.

Pixie

This name is after the small mythological being of English folklore, tales of which come from Cornwall and Devon. They are usually depicted as small sprites who could be mischievous, but were often helpful to humans. A famous Australian with this name was the prolific illustrator and artist Pixie O’Harris (aunt of singer-artist Rolf Harris). Her real name was Rhona Olive Harris, but when she migrated to Australia from Wales she changed her name to Pixie because she was nicknamed “the Welsh pixie” on the boat over. A printer’s error changed her name from Pixie O. Harris to Pixie O’Harris, and she stuck with it as her pseudonym. Last year, businesswoman Roxy Jacenko named her new baby Pixie-Rose. I think some people will find the name Pixie adorably cute, and others impossibly twee; it’s bound to get some interesting reactions, and does have the fashionable X in it.

Sippie

The only person I know of named Sippie is the blues singer Sippie Wallace, who was born Beulah Thomas. Her career spanned seven decades, and although she found fame as a young woman in the 1920s, she was rediscovered in the 1960s and ’70s and was a big influence on Bonnie Raitt, who went on tour with her. Her album Sippie won the Blues Album of the Year in 1983, so her comeback was a definite success. The name Sippie is one that she gained in childhood because the gap in her teeth meant that she had to “sip” all her food and drink. Coincidentally, there is a place on the Gold Coast called Sippy Downs; its name is a corruption of an Aboriginal word meaning “winged creatures”, and interpreted as meaning “birds”. As Sippie Wallace was billed as “The Texas Nightingale”, I find this juxtaposition very charming. Sippie is an unusual name, but what a wonderful namesake. This would be very suitable for a family who loves music, especially jazz and blues.

Torah

In Australia, this name is well known as belonging to snowboarder Torah Bright, who won gold at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Her parents named her after the Torah, which is the Jewish word for the first five books of the Old Testament. The word is from the Hebrew, meaning “teaching, instruction”, however, Torah Bright’s mother believed that it meant “bearer of a great message”. Torah Bright is a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormon), and lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. There was slight disbelief at this name on The Baby Name Wizard, with a couple of people feeling that it seemed rather offensive, or at least strange. Torah’s name was reported on in Washington Jewish Week; there was no mention of it being offensive to Jews, but they did appear to find it slightly amusing. Like calling your child Bible or Gospel, many will find this name a head-scratcher. It would be given in honour of our Olympic champion, but the religious ramifications may be lost on some people. The fact that it sounds as if it could be short for Victoria is probably a help.

Zahlia

This name is pronounced ZAH-lee-uh, and as far as I’m aware, it’s a modern invention. It seems to be an elaboration of the name Zali; Zali Steggall is Australia’s most internationally successful alpine skier (now retired). Her name has proven a great success here, and spawned many variants, such as Zarly, Zahlee, Zalie etc. It’s unclear where the Stegalls got the name Zali from, and to the best of my knowledge, it’s made up. Zahlia does well in Australia, because it sounds rather exotic, while also being similar to popular names such as Zara and Tahlia (it even looks like a combination of those names). Despite being listed as a rare name, I have seen some parents dismiss Zahlia as being “too common”; perhaps it’s not rare enough to seem “unique”, or perhaps the many variants and sound-alike names make it appear to be one of the pack.

(Picture is from one of the posters for the 1963 movie Cleopatra)

Popular Names for Girls

29 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 29 Comments

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acronyms, Appellation Mountain, band names, Biblical names, celebrity baby names, created names, english names, Etruscan names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, flower names, French names, gemstone names, germanic names, Greek names, Italian names, Latin names, Linda Rosenkrantz, locational names, mythological names, name data, name history, name meaning, name popularity, name trends, Nameberry, nature names, nicknames, Norman names, popular culture, popular names, retro names, royal names, Shakespearean names, ship names, tribal names, vocabulary names

In honour of the name data being released, I thought I’d do lists of the most popular names in Australia for last year. I admit this was something of a last-minute decision, but it seemed like a good opportunity to cover some of the best-loved names.

People often ask how popular names got to be popular. I’m not sure there’s really a good answer to that – clearly people like the sound of them, and they fit in with current trends. Yet there must be many names, equally as nice-sounding and trend-friendly, that lurk around the 200s and don’t seem as if they are going anywhere much.

Although I cannot tell you what events caused these names to become popular, I can tell you some of the events which accompanied their rise. I’m definitely not trying to say that they were the cause of a name’s popularity, just that they coincide with it (and really sometimes it seems more than merely coincidental). Feel free to add other events you can think of, or any theories of your own!

Note: I’ve used data from New South Wales, but it must be broadly accurate for the rest of the nation too.

Lily

Lily seems to have begun as a pet form of Lilian, but must soon have become thought of as a flower name. The lily is sacred to the Virgin Mary, and Jesus urged his followers to “consider the lilies of the field” as a model in trusting Divine Providence. Lily has been almost continuously in the charts, only dropping out during the 1960s. It began rising in the 1980s – a decade when Princess Lily was the main female character in fantasy film Legend, and when Phil Collins and Kevin Costner welcomed daughters named Lily. A Top 100 name in the 1990s, it continued climbing, as Kate Beckinsale welcomed a daughter named Lily, while Johnny Depp named his baby girl Lily-Rose. By the early 2000s, Lily was already a Top 20 name, and during this decade, Lilly was the main character’s best friend in The Princess Diaries movie, Lily Potter was Harry’s mum in the Harry Potter movies, and pop singer Lily Allen released her first hit. Last year Lily was the most popular name for girls, once combined with the spelling Lilly. Delicate and pure, yet with several spunky namesakes, pretty Lily became a favourite.

Ruby

Ruby is named after the precious gemstone, whose name from Latin simply means “red”. Retro Ruby was popular during the 1900s, then dropped out completely during the 1960s and ’70s, despite being a popular name in songs; notably Ruby Tuesday and Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town. It began rising in the 1980s, as comedienne Ruby Wax barged her way onto our TV screens, and singer Rod Stewart welcomed a daughter named Ruby. The name climbed steeply during the 1990s, and turned up in more songs: Ruby Soho by Rancid, Thru’ the Eyes of Ruby, by The Smashing Pumpkins, and Ruby Wednesday by Eskimo Joe. By the early 2000s, Ruby was a Top 50 name, and by the late 2000s, it was Top 20. During this decade, the song Ruby was a hit for The Kaiser Chiefs, Renee Zellweger played Ruby in the movie Cold Mountain, and Ruby Buckton was a free spirited teen on popular soap, Home and Away. Charlotte Church, Tobey Maguire, and Harry Kewell all welcomed daughters named Ruby. Last year it was #2 for girls, once combined with the spelling Rubi. Flaunting Ruby sparkles, and is a name worth singing about.

Chloe

Chloe means “young green shoot” in Greek, and was one of the epithets of the earth goddess Demeter. From early on, it was a favoured literary name; Chloe is the heroine of the pastoral romance Daphne and Chloe, by the Ancient Greek writer Longus. The name was also considered suitable for use by the Puritans, because Chloe is an early Christian mentioned in the New Testament. Chloe first appeared on the charts in the 1970s; a decade when an arty French film, re-titled Chloe in the Afternoon, was released to English-speaking audiences. Chloe stormed up the charts and was Top 100 by the 1980s. During this decade, actress Candice Bergen and singer Olivia Newton-John both welcomed daughters named Chloe, and Chloe Jones was one of the characters in long-running soap, A Country Practice. By the 1990s it was Top 20, and Logie-winning actress Kristy Wright played the tragically troubled Chloe Richards on popular soap, Home and Away. Chloe was Top 5 by the early 2000s; it reached #1 in 2006. Fresh and spring-like, Chloe has been recommended at Appellation Mountain, and Linda Rosenkrantz from Nameberry named her daughter Chloe – some serious name-guru approval.

Mia

Mia seems to have become popularly known through actress Mia Farrow, the daughter of Australian film director John Farrow, and Irish actress Maureen O’Sullivan. Mia is short for Ms Farrow’s real name, Maria. Mia first appeared on the charts in the 1960s, after Mia Farrow began her career, but rose in popularity very gradually. An interesting link with another name on the list is that Princess Lily in Legend was played by actress Mia Sara; is it a coincidence that both names began climbing at the same time? It started making significant gains in the 1990s, a decade when Uma Thurman played Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction. Although not yet Top 100 in the 1990s, by the early 2000s it was already Top 20. In this decade, we met Amelia “Mia” Thermopolis, heroine of The Princess Diaries movie, and Mia Toretto from The Fast and the Furious films. It was chosen as the name for their daughter by actress Bec Cartwright and tennis champion Lleyton Hewitt. Top 10 by the late 2000s, it reached #1 in 2008. Simple and cute, Mia has another Australian connection – it is an acronym for Made in Australia.

Olivia

Olivia is a name invented by William Shakespeare for a character in Twelfth Night. Olivia is a beautiful noble lady in mourning for her brother; through an amusing misunderstanding, she falls in love with a woman named Viola disguised as a man. Through another amusing misunderstanding, she marries Viola’s twin brother Sebastian by mistake, but fortunately he is so much like his sister in looks and personality that she is happy with the outcome. Famous Olivias include actress Olivia de Havilland and Olivia Arias, the widow of Beatle George Harrison. Olivia first appeared on the charts in the 1960s, just as singer Olivia Newton-John began her career, and rose steadily. Her popularity took off in the 1980s (perhaps by coincidence, the era when Ms Newton-John enjoyed her greatest success), and by the 1990s she was already a Top 20 name. During the 1990s, Denzel Washington and Lance Armstrong welcomed daughters named Olivia. In the early 2000s, Mariska Hargitay was playing Olivia Benson on Law and Order: SVU, and by 2005 Olivia had reached #1. Shakespeare had a knack with names, and this one is elegant; I picked it to be the Jessica of our time, and equally resilient.

Isabella

Isabella is a Latinate form of the name Isabel; it was a favourite amongst European royalty from the Middle Ages onwards. Isabella is a stock character in the Italian commedia dell’arte, the flirtatious and alluring female lover that men make fools of themselves over. She is named in honour of the actress, playwright and poet Isabella Andreini, who became famous in the role. Isabella has been on the charts almost continuously, although her last time in the Top 100 was in the 1900s. She dropped out completely during the 1950s, and then again in the 1970s. She made a recovery in the 1980s just as Italian actress Isabella Rosselini became internationally known, and then skyrocketed. Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise adopted a daughter in the early 1990s and named her Isabella, and the name was comfortably Top 50 for that decade. When Stephenie Meyer’s novel Twilight was published in 2005, its heroine named Isabella “Bella” Swan, Isabella was already #7; Isabella reached #1 in 2009, the year after the Twilight film was released. Ornate and ultra-feminine, it is an Australian royal baby name, as Prince Frederik and Princess Mary of Denmark named their first daughter Isabella.

Charlotte

Charlotte is a French feminine form of Charles; a common name amongst European royalty, it was introduced to Britain in the 17^th century by the Hanoverians. The Charlotte was one of the ships of the First Fleet, who reached Australia in 1788. Charlotte has been almost continuously on the charts, only disappearing in the 1950s. She began climbing gradually in the 1960s, a decade when English actress Charlotte Rampling’s film career began. The name grew steeply in the 1980s, a decade in which Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood, played by Kelly McGillis, is the love interest to Tom Cruise’s Maverick in the movie Top Gun. It made the Top 100 by the 1990s, when actress Sigourney Weaver welcomed a daughter named Charlotte, and when the band Good Charlotte began their career. It was Top 20 in the early 2000s, while we got to know the romantically optimistic Charlotte York in Sex and the City, played by Kristin Davis; by the end of the decade it was Top 10, as as singer Charlotte Church progressed her career from classical to pop. Sophisticated yet sensible, with the option of a tomboy nickname, Charlotte has yet to make #1.

Sophie

Sophie is the French form of Sophia; the name was used in several European royal families. Sophie first entered the charts in the 1950s, and through steady growth, made the Top 100 by the 1980s. It was during this decade that William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice was made into a film; Meryl Streep won an Oscar for her performance as Zofia “Sophie” Zawistowski, the beautiful Polish immigrant with a tragic secret. The same year the film came out, Roald Dahl‘s book, The Big Friendly Giant was published; the heroine is called Sophie, named after Roald Dahl’s grand-daughter (later fashion model Sophie Dahl). During the 1990s Sophie took off, and was a Top 20 name during that decade. It was during the ’90s that the best-selling novel, Sophie’s World, was published, and actress Sophie Lee and singer-actress Sophie Monk both began their careers this decade. At the end of the 1990s, Sophie Rhys-Jones joined the British Royal Family when she married Prince Edward. Sophie was Top 10 by the early 2000s, and many are tipping sweet and simple Sophie to become the #1 name within the next few years.

Sienna

Sienna is the English name for the Italian city of Siena,in Tuscany. As a word, it refers to a type of clay used to make oil paints, and a shade of yellow-brown, after the hue of said clay. The city’s name comes from the Etruscan tribe who originally inhabited the area, the Saina, but the Romans derived it from the Latin for “old” (the same Latin root which gives us the word senile). Sienna first entered the charts in the 1980s, and climbed steeply during the ’90s. I think the name suited the aspirational nature of that era. Italy was very “big”; pizza was becoming a mainstream food, and the adults around me were guzzling Chianti and buying time-shares in Tuscan villas. British model-actress Sienna Miller is not responsible for the name’s popularity, because it had been climbing for some time, but can it be purely coincidental that it first joined the NSW Top 100 in 2002, the year after Ms Miller’s career began? From that point, its climb was so vertiginous that it was Top 10 by 2006. Smooth, modern Sienna seems certain to go higher still.

Ella

Ella is the Norman form of the Germanic name Alia, a short form of names with the element ali, meaning “other”. However, it can also be used as a short form for Eleanor, Ellen, Elizabeth or any name starting with El, and also the many names ending with -ella. It’s hard not to connect this name with jazz great, Ella Fitzgerald. Ella has been on the charts almost continuously, with her last time in the Top 100 in the 1900-10s. She was soon in rare use, although she only disappeared completely during the 1960s. She climbed slowly during the 1980s, and steeply during the 1990s. It was during the ’90s that Ella got a new singing namesake – Ella Hooper from rock band Killing Heidi. Ella was Top 20 by the early 2000s. She received several boosts around this time, for the movie Ella Enchanted was released, a re-telling of the Cinderella story. Warren Beatty, John Travolta, Mark Wahlberg and Ben Stiller all welcomed daughters named Ella, giving the name a distinct celebrity flavour. Top 5 in the second half of last decade, Ella feels as if she may have peaked, and is possibly on her way down again.

(Picture shows Princess Lily and unicorn, from Ridley Scott’s 1985 cult fantasy film Legend)

Iridessa and Bambam: Created Names from the Bonds Baby Search

03 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by A.O. in Baby Contests

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Australian Aboriginal names, car names, created names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, Indian names, Latin names, popular culture, Shakespearean names

Obviously all names are created at some point, but these are ones whose origins seem easier to spot than most, or which were created for a specific purpose, or for a person who later became famous.

GIRLS

Alinta (an Aboriginal name meaning “fire”, used by a power company as their name)

Chevelle (a make of car)

Chevi (from Chevy, a make of car)

Cordelia (seems to have been created by Shakespeare for King Lear, from older sources)

Evangeline (said to have been created by Longfellow in his poem of the same name, from Greek)

Haidee (created by Byron in his poem Don Juan, probably from Greek)

Iridessa (one of the Disney Fairies in the Tinkberbell films; based on the word iridescent?)

Jovie (a character from the movie Elf; based on the word jovial?)

Juliet (created by Shakespeare for Romeo and Juliet; an Anglicisation of Giulietta)

Katara (a character from Avatar: The Last Airbender TV show; the word for an Indian dagger)

Lorna (created by R.D. Blackmore for his novel Lorna Doone; perhaps from a Scottish place name)

Lyra (created by Philip Pullman for the His Dark Materials series, from the constellation)

Miranda (created by Shakespeare for The Tempest, from Latin)

Mahalia (singer Mahala Jackson put an i in her name to become Mahalia Jackson)

Mavis (created by Marie Corelli for The Sorrows of Satan; old name for a song thrush)

Miakoda (touted as a Native American name, but actually from an obscure 1970s sci-fi novel)

Miette (often used in French cinema and from The Sleeping Ballet ballet; means “crumb, morsel”)

Miley (nickname of actress Destiny Cyrus, based on the word smiley)

Nessa (an angelic character mentioned in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings)

Perdita (created by Shakespeare for The Winter’s Tale, from Latin)

Pollyanna (perhaps created by Eleanor H. Portman for her novel of the same name)

Scout (nickname of Jean Finch, the narrator of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird)

Shara (a place name in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time fantasy series).

Solara (a make of car)

Talaara (a character from World of Warcraft role-playing game)

Talitha (taken from an Aramaic phrase in the New Testament, meaning “little girl)

Tandia (seemingly created by Bryce Courtenay for his novel of the same name; an African surname)

Vanessa (created by Jonathan Swift for his poem Cadmus and Vanessa, based on a friend’s name)

Zali (ski-er Zali’s Steggall’s name seems to be a created name, possibly from a Slavic place name)

BOYS

Arda (the name given to Earth in Tolkien’s fantasy world)

Aslan (the name of the Christ-like Lion in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series)

Atreju (original German name for Atreyu from The Neverending Story)

Bam (nickname of skateboarder Brandon Margera, from the onomatopoeic word)

Bambam (a character from The Flintstones cartoon; onomatopoeic)

Caeulum (the Latin word for “sky, heavens”)

Che (nickname of revolutionary Ernesto Guevara; slang for “mate, buddy, pal”)

Dorian (used as a name by Oscar Wilde for The Portrait of Dorian Gray, from Greek)

Dre (nickname of radio personality André “Doctor Dré” Brown, short for his first name)

Jaylen (based on Jalen; basketballer Jalen Rose’s name is James + Leonard)

Jharral (based on Jharal; NRL player Jharal Yow Yeh’s name is the initials of the men in his family)

Kailo (from a Proto-Indian-European word meaning “whole, healthy”)

Keanu (seemingly created by the parents of actor Keanu Reeves)

Neo (main character from The Matrix movies, Latin for “new”)

Reiv (character from the Fire Emblem video games)

Rohan (a place name in Tolkien’s fantasy world)

Sonova (a combination of the Latin words for sound and new)

Stryder (Strider is the alias of Aragorn in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings)

Thorion (character from the comic book Thorion of the New Asgods)

Tynnan (a species in the Star Wars franchise)

Girls Names From the Top 100 of the 1900s

25 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

Anglo-Saxon names, Arabic names, classic names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, flower names, gemstone names, germanic names, Google, honouring, Italian names, K.M. Sheard, Latin names, locational names, mythological names, name data, name history, name meaning, name popularity, name trends, nature names, nicknames, Old English names, Old French names, Old Norse names, plant names, popular names, retro names, royal names, saints names, Shakespearean names, Victorian names

There have been many Googled requests for names from the 1900s, so this is my selection of ten girls names that were Top 100 in the 1900s which I think are usable today. I’ve tried to get a balance between names which are currently rising in popularity, and those which haven’t charted for many decades. All the data comes from New South Wales – the only state which has made public its data kept since Federation.

Amelia

A variant of Amalia, the Latinised form of Germanic Amala, a pet form of any name beginning with Amal-, and meaning “work”. This was one of the many names introduced to Britain by the Hanoverians; part of its easy acceptance was that it was considered a variant of the unrelated Emilia, and indeed Princess Amelia of Hanover was called Emily in everyday life. In the 1900s, Amelia was #95, and it had left the Top 100 by the following decade. It has been on the rankings almost continuously, dropping out in the 1940s and ’50s. Rejoining in the the 1960s, it grew steadily in popularity, until it was in the Top 100 by the 1990s. It’s currently stable at #10. Famous Australians named Amelia include Amelia Best, who was one of the first women elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly, and opera singer Amelia Farrugia. Amelia was under-appreciated for many years, but is now extremely popular, with a host of nicknames such as Amy, Melia, Millie, Mia and Lia. Pretty and unpretentious, it has a ready-to-wear quality that makes it a handy choice.

Bessie

A short form of the name Elizabeth, in use since the 16^th century. The name Bessie was #78 in the 1900s, and grew in popularity during the 1910s. It took a nosedive in the 1920s, left the Top 100, and hasn’t been in the rankings since the 1940s. Famous Australians named Bessie include portrait painter Bessie Davidson, who was celebrated in France in the pre-war era, and Bessie Guthrie, a designer of the 1920s who was an ardent feminist and early proponent of solar energy and ecological balance. She founded the Viking publishing house, and in later life was a crusader for the rights of abused children, before finally, in old age, being able to join a movement of feminist political protest she had waited all her life for. Bessie is such a sweet yet spunky name for a girl, and one I saw recently mentioned as having been given to a baby in 2011. I think it’s one which is ready to shed its “old lady” image and be used once more.

Edith

Based on the Old English name Eadgyð, meaning “rich war”, this was popular amongst Anglo-Saxon royalty; Saint Edith was the illegitimate daughter of King Edgar the Peaceful, and Edith of Wessex was the wife of King Edward the Confessor. Unlike many Anglo-Saxon names, it remained in use after the Norman Conquest, and didn’t fall out of favour until the 16^th century. It was revived in the 19^th century by the Victorians. The most famous Australian with this name was Edith Cowan, the social campaigner and first woman elected to parliament; she was part of the group which helped give women the vote in 1899 (her picture is now on the $50 note). The name Edith was #16 in the 1900s, and remained Top 100 until the 1940s, leaving the rankings in the 1970s. Very recently, it has had a revival, and is now increasing in popularity in the 500s. Strong, patriotic, and still aristocratic-sounding, it’s fast becoming a fashionable favourite. The short form Edie seems to be even more popular.

Ida

This name was introduced to England by the Normans; it may come from the Old Norse word for “work”, or be related to the Norse goddess of youth, Iðunn. Folklorist Jakob Grimm theorised that her name may come from idis, a divine female being in Germanic mythology, meaning “respected woman”. Ida died out in the Middle Ages, but was revived in the 19^th century. This may have been partly inspired by Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem on female education, The Princess, where the heroine is named Ida. Gilbert and Sullivan parodied the poem in their operetta, Princess Ida. Tennyson probably took the name from Mount Ida; there is one in Crete and one near ancient Troy, and both were sacred to the Mother Goddess Rhea or Cybele. According to K.M. Sheard, the name is from the Greek for “woodland”. Ida was #42 in the 1900s and fell rapidly, leaving the Top 100 in the 1920s. It hasn’t been on the charts since the 1950s. Ida Standley was a pioneering schoolteacher in Central Australia. Ida is similar to popular names such as Ivy, Eva and Ava; it can also be used as a form of the Irish name Ita.

Leila

This variant of the Arabic name Layla was introduced to English-speakers by Lord Byron, who used it in his poems The Giaour and Don Juan. In Don Juan, Leila is a little Turkish girl rescued and adopted by the hero; in The Giaour, Leila is a member of a Turkish harem who falls in love with a non-Muslim, and is punished for adultery by being sent to a watery grave (vampires also get a mention). As such, it seems exotic, romantic, Gothic, and literary. Leila was barely Top 100 in the 1900s at #99, but has remained in continuous use, although very rare in the 1950s and ’60s. It’s never managed to join the Top 100 since, but has been climbing sharply since the 1990s, and is currently only just outside it in the very low 100s. Famous Leilas include Leila Hayes, who was in soap opera Sons and Daughters, and Leila Mackinnon, Channel 9 journalist. Leila fits perfectly with current related favourites Layla and Lila, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was back in the Top 100 soon. Pronunciations vary, and as far as I’m aware, LAY-luh, LY-la and LEE-la are all considered correct.

Louisa

A Latinate feminine form of Louis, this was another name introduced to Britain in the 18^th century by the Hanoverian royal family. The most famous woman named Louisa from Australian history is undoubtedly Louisa Lawson, the mother of national poet, Henry Lawson. A poet and publisher in her own right, Louisa was also a leading feminist who was called The Mother of Suffrage in New South Wales, and helped bring women in her state the vote. It is generally believed that she is the prototype for all the kind, capable, and hard-working country women who appear in Henry Lawson’s stories. Louisa manages to be a classic, remaining constantly on the charts, while being underused, for it has not been Top 100 since the 1900s, when it was #79. It’s currently around the #500 mark. You really can’t go wrong with Louisa – it’s never been in vogue, yet never been out of style either, so it doesn’t sound old-fashioned. It’s pretty and sensible, and honours one of Australia’s heroines. Nicknames can range from brisk Lou, to cutesy Lulu, and anything in between.

Maud

This is another form of Matilda. The Old Germanic Mahtild became Maheud in Old French, and Anglicised as Maud. Matilda was thus the Latin and written form of the name, while Maud was the way the name was said aloud. For example, Matilda of England, the first female ruler of the English kingdom (her reign was brief), was known as Maud in everyday life. Although the name may remind you of the word maudlin, that is actually from the name Madeline (its original pronunciation). Maud became rare at the end of the Middle Ages, but was another old name which Alfred, Lord Tennyson helped revive, due to his tragic and enigmatic love poem, Maud. Maud McCarthy was a nurse who served with distinction during the Boer War and World War I, receiving several medals. Maud was #94 in the 1900s, and slipped off the Top 100 the following decade. It hasn’t charted since the 1930s. It’s a genuine antique, and if you are determined on Maddie as a pet name, Maud would make a far more distinguished “proper name” than Madison.

Myrtle

Myrtles are graceful, fragrant flowering evergreen bushes, which in ancient times were sacred to Aphrodite or Venus, the goddess of love. Perhaps because of this, they are traditionally included in wedding bouquets; they are always used at weddings amongst the British royal family, a custom began by Queen Victoria. Myrtle has been used as a name since the 19^th century, when other flower and plant names became the fashion. A famous person with this name is Myrtle White, who wrote books describing her life on a remote outback station. Myrtle was #47 in the 1900s, and had left the Top 100 by the 1930s. It hasn’t charted since the 1950s. I added Myrtle to the list, not only because we have myrtle species native to Australia, but because Baz Luhrman’s remake of The Great Gatsby will be released soon. There is a character named Myrtle in it, and this may give the name a new image than that of Moaning Myrtle from the Harry Potter books and films.

Pearl

Pearls are produced by molluscs such as oysters and mussels; they are essentially calcium carbonate or limestone in crystalline form. Ones occurring naturally in the wild are very rare, so that they are considered extremely valuable gemstones. Pearl became used as a name in the 19^th century, when other gemstone names became fashionable. It probably also had religious connotations, because pearls are mentioned in the Bible, and Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to “a pearl of great price”. Australia still has a significant pearling industry in Broome, Western Australia. A famous Australian with this name is Pearl Gibbs, an Aboriginal leader and activist who focused on women’s and children’s rights. Pearl was #87 in the 1900s, and left the Top 100 the following decade. It did not chart in the 1960s and ’70s, but staged a comeback in the 1980s, and has been climbing precipitously in recent years. It’s currently in the mid 200s, and this name from the sea still has plenty of lustre. It’s similar to the more popular Ruby, but seems more delicate and lady-like.

Sylvia

A variant of the Latin Silvia, meaning “of the woods”. The mother of the legendary Romulus and Remus was called Rhea Silvia (Rhea of the woods), because it was supposedly in the woods that she was seduced by the god Mars. Saint Silvia was the mother of Pope Gregory the Great, famous for her great piety; according to her portrait made during her lifetime, she was beautiful with large blue eyes. A common name in Italy, Silvia was introduced to England by Shakespeare, in his play The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Famous Australians with this name include Sylvia Harper, a tennis champion of the 1920s, and Sylvia Breamer, who was a Hollywood actress from the silent film era. Sylvia is a classic which has never left the charts. It was #58 in the 1900s, and didn’t leave the Top 100 until the 1950s. It hit its lowest point in the early 2000s, and is currently gently rising in the 500s. It’s lovely seeing this pretty name gaining in use; it almost seems like a nature name, because of its woodsy meaning and silvery bell-like sound.

(Photo used is of a bride in 1906; image is held by Culture Victoria)

Famous Names: Sebastian and Jenson

21 Wednesday Mar 2012

Posted by A.O. in Famous Names

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Disney names, english names, fictional namesakes, Google, honouring, Latin names Greek names, locational names, Mer de Noms, name history, name meaning, name popularity, nicknames, popular names, pseudonyms, royal names, saints names, Shakespearean names, surname names, UK popularity

The Australian Grand Prix was held in Melbourne on the weekend, and before the event there was plenty of buzz in the media around German Sebastian Vettel, and British Jenson Button. These glamorous visitors from Europe always get a lot of attention, for both are handsome and charming; Vettel amusing and slightly mysterious, Button affable and quietly confident. In the end, Button opened the F1 season with a victory, winning comfortably against Vettel with a 2.2 second margin. It is his third Australian Grand Prix victory. (Picture has Vettel on the left in black).

I thought we’d take a look at the names of both these Formula One champions, because Sebastian and Jenson are Googled often to reach my blog, and so far I haven’t added any requested boys names to the Featured Names list, while I’ve been quite conscientious about adding the girls.

Sebastian is from the Latin name Sebastianus, which means “from Sebaste”. There were several places called Sebaste, because it is the Greek form of Augusta, named in honour of the Emperor Augustus. His adopted name meant “great, majestic, venerable”. There are towns in modern-day Turkey and Palestine with this name (or a version of it), still with ancient Roman ruins which can be visited.

The name became well known because of Saint Sebastian, a 3^rd century Roman soldier originally from southern France. Skilled at converting people, according to legend he was shot through with arrows, yet did not die, so had to be martyred twice. He became popular in the Middle Ages because he was said to protect people from the plague, and also began to be depicted as a beautiful, semi-nude young man. (In early pictures, he looks like an ordinary bearded fully-clothed saint).

The name was popular amongst Continental royalty and nobility, and still retains a slightly upper-class image. Sebastian is Viola’s twin brother in Shakespeare’s gender-switching romantic comedy, Twelfth Night. Lord Sebastian Flyte is one of the main characters in Evelyn Waugh’s novel, Brideshead Revisited; beautiful and rather fey, the TV series and film makes it clear Sebastian is homosexual, although this is left ambiguous in the novel. Indeed, Saint Sebastian himself is considered a gay icon (for pretty flimsy reasons), and the name was a code for homosexuality; Oscar Wilde’s pseudonym was Sebastian Melmoth. So far, so androgynous.

However, the name got a watery overhaul when the name Sebastian was given to a Jamaican lobster in the Disney film, The Little Mermaid. Sebastian is a court composer, and a good friend and adviser to Ariel, the mermaid of the title. A Rastafarian who can lay down a reggae beat, he has given the name a new level of cool. The choice of his name seems like a deliberate reference to another famous composer: Johann Sebastian Bach. Incidentally, Sebastian is the lobster’s surname – his first name is Horatio (maybe after the American composer, Horatio Parker).

Sebastian first entered the charts in the 1960s and began steadily climbing, to become Top 100 by the 2000s. At #38 it still seems to be gaining in popularity – an elegant name that belongs to many people’s favourite Disney character.

Jenson is a lot more straightforward. It’s a surname which is basically a form of Johnson, being based on the name Jens, a short form of Johannes. According to Lou at Mer de Noms (rather a Jenson Button fan), the name Jenson has edged itself into the UK Top 100, and its growing popularity can be attributed almost solely to Mr Button himself. As to how he got his name, he was named after a family friend, Erling Jensen (father of F1 driver Steven Jensen). The spelling was altered so that it didn’t reference Jensen Motors, who made British sports cars until the 1970s.

It’s an attractive name, and one I think we’d be using in spades if Jenson Button was Australian. As it is, it’s one many parents are at least putting on their lists, although my personal feeling is that Jensen is slightly more popular, thanks to handsome American actor Jensen Ackles, from Supernatural. As I’ve said before, with female Jennifer become less popular, it gives male names starting with Jen- more of a chance.

When I try to decide which name I like best, Sebastian or Jenson, I find myself in private debate. If I take the side of Sebastian, it seems more sophisticated than Jenson, complex and multi-syllabled, romantic and princely. On the other hand, if I take the side of Jenson, it seems more laddish and chipper, down-to-earth and unpretentious, with oodles of cheeky British charm.

So I am content to say these are both very nice names, and I won’t force them to compete against each other in some Baby Name Grand Prix. When it comes to nicknames for them, I think of Seb and Bastian, and Jens and Sonny, respectively.

MYTH: Very Popular Names Should be Avoided, Because in Thirty Years They Will Sound Dated and Embarassing

18 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by A.O. in Baby Name Mythbusters

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

classic names, name popularity, name predictions, name trends, nicknames, popular names, retro names, Shakespearean names

Along with all the articles on popular names that came out with the 2011 name data, there were several which warned parents not to give their baby a name from the Top 10 , because in thirty years it will sound old and frumpy.

I don’t know why they all decided thirty years was the point at which this would occur – I would have thought by the age of thirty, you would be too mature to care if you had a fashionable name or not anyway. Seriously, if you are over the age of thirty, and thinking ZOMG my name is like totally lame and uncool now! all I can tell you is Get a grip! You’re not in high school any more. Also, nobody has used ZOMG since 2007.

Of course, it’s kind of silly, because if everyone stopped using the Top 10 names because they were too popular, then they wouldn’t be Top 10 any more, ten other names would be. The only way you can avoid some names being at the top of the popularity lists is to have a law that each name can only be used once per year. In which case, pity the kids born in December, who will be named Farqui-Neemehoor or Exmayhemaliah.

However, putting that rather obvious objection aside, I decided to take a look at the Top 10 of 1982, to see if those names really had dated as badly as the Commodore 64, Bucks Fizz, and puffed shoulders, or were still going strong, like Angelina Jolie, environmental activism, and deely bobbers.

GIRLS

1. Sarah: Classic name which has never left the rankings. Has been Top 100 since the 1960s. Currently gently declining at #31.

2. Rebecca: Almost continually in the rankings, only dropping off in the 1930s. Was Top 100 from the 1960s until the late 2000s. Currently gently declining in the mid 100s.

3. Melissa: Has charted since the 1950s, and was Top 100 from the 1960s to the 2000s. Currently stable in the mid-300s.

4. Jessica: Has charted since the 1960s, and was Top 10 by the 1980s. It kept climbing, and became the #1 name of the 1990s. Currently stable at #20.

5. Nicole: Has charted since the 1950s, and was Top 100 from the 1960s until the late 2000s. Currently stable in the low 200s.

6. Lauren: Has charted since the 1940s, and was Top 10 by the 1980s. It continued to climb, and peaked in the 1990s. Lauren has only just left the Top 100, and is probably in the very low 100s.

7. Michelle: Has charted since the 1940s, and was Top 100 from the 1950s to the 2000s. Currently stable in the mid-100s.

8. Kate: Ranked in the 1900s, but dropped off the charts from the 1930s to the 1950s. Was Top 100 from the 1970s until the very end of the 2000s. Currently stable in the low 100s; however I believe this name is not finished, and may rejoin the Top 100.

9. Emma: Almost continuously in the rankings, only dropping off in the 1940s. Has been Top 100 since the 1970s. Currently #17 and on a slight rise.

10. Lisa: Has charted since the 1940s, and was Top 100 from the 1960s to the 2000s. Currently declining in the mid-500s.

BOYS

1. Michael: Solid classic that’s never left the Top 100, and was Top 10 from 1940 to the 2000s. Currently stable at #35.

2. Mathew: Classic name that has never left the rankings, and has been Top 100 since the 1950s. Currently gently declining at #32.

3. Andrew: Solid classic that’s never left the Top 100, and was Top 10 from the 1960s to the 1990s. Currently stable at #70.

4. David: Solid classic that’s never left the Top 100, and was Top 10 from the 1940s to the 1990s. Currently stable at #78.

5. Daniel: Solid classic that’s never left the Top 100, and was Top 10 from the 1970s to the late 2000s. Currently gently declining at #24.

6. Christopher: Classic name that has never left the rankings. It was Top 100 in the 1900s, and returned to it in the 1940s. Currently stable at #84.

7. Benjamin: Classic name that has never left the rankings, and has been Top 100 since the 1970s. Currently on a decline at #11.

8. James: Solid, enduring classic that has never left the Top 20. It was Top 10 from the 1900s to the 1940s, and then again from the 1980s to the late 2000s. Currently on a slight decline at #12.

9. Mark: Classic name that has never left the rankings, and was Top 100 from the 1940s to the late 2000s. Currently stable in the low 200s.

10. Luke: Has charted since the 1940s, and been Top 100 since the 1970s. Currently declining at #33.

From the girls’ list, three of them are still in the Top 100, and from the boys’ list nine of them are still Top 100. Of the names that have left the Top 100, most of them are stable, rather than becoming ever less popular. Michelle and Nicole may not sound the freshest, but the 100s and 200s are not the dim backwoods of the popularity charts (they are where where Mary and Clara live). Melissa and Lisa are probably the most dated-sounding of the names, but they are on the charts, which means that parents are still using them. Based on the data above, I think that’s pretty much a BUSTED.

However, another theory I’ve seen on baby name forums is that the names of thirty years ago have become so firmly entrenched that they now seem a little … well, boring. This idea does have some merit, because although names such as Emma and Andrew are absolutely great, and nobody will criticise you for using them, nobody is going to say, “Oh what a stunningly beautiful and unusual name; I’m sure there’s a fascinating story behind your choice of it,” either. Which is fine, not everyone wants their child’s name to be a constant source of comments and questions. But I’d be edging towards a PLAUSIBLE on that one.

So where will our current Top 10 be in thirty years? Some would say it’s foolish to speculate, but on the basis that the best predictor of the future is the past, I’ll have a stab at it. That’s how I do my footy tipping anyway.

The average time that a popular girl’s name spent in the Top 100 was 46 years, which means about half the girls’ names from the current Top 10 are contenders for staying in the Top 100 until 2042. Of the names from 1982 which have lasted, Sarah and Emma had a long history of being on the charts, while Jessica was still gaining in popularity. Based on that, I’d say classics Charlotte and Amelia have the best chance for being stayers, while another Shakespearean coinage, Olivia, could keep going and going.

Chloe, Isabella and Sophie seem as if they will at the very least remain relatively stable in the 100s, like Rebecca, Michelle and Lauren. I’m picking Ava to be the Nicole of our times (200s), and Sienna to be another Melissa (300s). Because Lisa was the least successful name, and a cute nickname form of a longer name, perhaps Mia will also not fare so well long term. Ruby and Kate are retro names that have gone in and out of fashion, and I think both are quite unpredictable.

As far as the boys names go, chances are that 90% of them will still be in the Top 100 by 2042. I’m picking Joshua to be the name that doesn’t go the distance, as it is currently in the same decline that Mark was in 1982. Two of the names from 1982, Benjamin and James, are barely outside the Top 10 today, and I would back Ethan and Lucas as the most likely to mimic that success.

Results are unscientific and for entertainment purposes only. Baby Name Mythbusters is not affiliated with the television show, “Mythbusters”.

Names of Convicts on the Second Fleet

22 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 8 Comments

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The Second Fleet arrived in Sydney in June 1790, and proved something of a disaster. The colony founded by the First Fleet was already struggling and in the grip of starvation, and the Second Fleet was sent partly to aid them with further supplies. The first ship to arrive was the Lady Juliana, which contained female convicts. It took such a leisurely route that although it left months before the other ships, it arrived only a couple of weeks before them.

The convicts on the Lady Juliana provided Australia with its first sex scandal, because the women and ship’s crew consorted freely together, some of the women sold themselves for money or alcohol, and whenever the ship made a port of call, the women entertained men from other ships. Several gave birth on the ship, and many were pregnant by the time they reached Australia.

The women were well treated on board, but on arriving in Sydney, the Lady Juliana was called “a floating brothel”, and its female occupants “damned whores”. A cargo of more than 200 women when provisions were wanted, the ladies couldn’t have been more unwelcome.

Worse was to follow. While the First Fleet had been an effort of the British government, and generally well-organised, the Second had been handed over to private contractors. They had little concern for the convicts’ welfare, and although only a small number died on the first voyage (the unfortunate Ishmael Colman being the exception rather than the rule), the mortality rate on the second was 40%. The ship carrying the majority of the supplies, such as livestock, hit an iceberg en route and was wrecked.

When the remaining convicts reached Sydney, the colonists were horrified to see that the new batch was in terrible condition – starved, filthy, sick with scurvy, covered in lice, and bearing the marks of cruelty on their emaciated bodies. Instead of being the saviours of the colony, the people of the Second Fleet were instead a great drain on its resources. A Third Fleet had to be sent (amazingly, they chose to use the same private contractors again).

More than 165 000 convicts were sent to Australia over eighty years. This is a tiny number compared to the number of free settlers. For many years, convict ancestry was something of which people were deeply ashamed, and it was hidden from the family histories. These days, people are proud of their convict ancestors, and there’s a wealth of information available to them.

WOMEN

Dorcas (Talbot)

At the age of 39, Dorcas was convicted at the Old Bailey of stealing sixty yards of material from a shop, and sentenced to seven years transportation. Dorcas was sent to the penal colony on Norfolk Island, a place of untold horror and abject misery. In 1804 she married John Hatcher, who had arrived on the First Fleet. She died on Norfolk Island in 1811. The name Dorcas is a Greek translation of the Aramaic name Tabitha, meaning “gazelle”. In the New Testament, Dorcas (or Tabitha) was one of the disciples of Jesus; the Bible makes her seem important, and she may have been a leader in the early church. It is said that she was a widow who did charitable works, and Dorcas Aid International is an organisation which raises money for the poor and needy. Dorcas is regarded as a saint in some denominations. Often used in fiction, Dorcas is a shepherdess in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. She has also given her name to a species of gazelle – the dorcas gazelle, meaning “gazelle gazelle”.

Isabella (Manson, aka Isabella Smith)

At the age of 28, Isabella was convicted at the Old Bailey for stealing clothes and sentenced to 7 years transportation; she seemed to have a male partner, but took full responsibility for the crime. She married John Rowe in Sydney in 1790. John had arrived on the First Fleet, and there was a scheme of marrying off the “best” Second Fleet convict women to the “best” remaining First Fleet men and giving them farmland to work. John and Isabella ran a farm together without much success, and had three children named John, Joseph and Sarah, and possibly another named Mary. They have many living descendants. Isabella died a widow in Gosford in 1847. The name Isabella is the Latinate form of Isabel, a medieval Provencal form of Elizabeth. It was commonly used by royalty, and is the name of Princess Mary of Denmark’s eldest daughter. Isabella has been on the charts since 1900, dropping from it in the 1950s and ’70s. In 1900 it was #75, and today it is #1; its big jump in popularity occurred in the 1990s, although rising since the 1980s. Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise naming their daughter Isabella in 1992 may have assisted.

Phoebe (Williams)

At the age of 41, Phoebe was convicted at the Old Bailey of stealing 5 yards of cloth and sentenced to seven years transportation. She married Edward MacLean, a First Fleeter, in 1790, and they ran a farm together in Parramatta. Edward died in 1794 and Phoebe died in Parramatta in 1798. The name Phoebe is from the Greek for “bright, shining”. In mythology, Phoebe is one of the Titans, a moon goddess who was the grandmother of Artemis; her name was given to one of the moons of Saturn. Phoebe was also one of Artemis’ titles, and there are several Phoebes in legend, including an Amazon, and the sister of the beautiful Helen of Troy. In the New Testament, Phoebe was a deacon in the early church regarded as a saint by several denominations. It was used by Shakespeare for another of his shepherdesses in As You Like It. Phoebe was #148 in the 1900s and by the 1930s was off the charts altogether. It made a comeback in the 1960s, and climbed at such a rate that it was in the Top 100 by the 2000s. It is maintaining its position around the #50 mark.

Rosamond (Dale, aka Rosina Dale, aka Mary Woods)

At the age of 22, Rosamond was convicted at the court in Lincoln, and sentenced to seven years transportation. She married James Davis from the First Fleet, and they were sent to the penal colony on Norfolk Island, where she died. The name Rosamond is a variant of Rosamund, a Germanic name meaning “horse protection” which was introduced to England by the Normans. From early on, the name was associated with the Latin phrases rosa munda (“pure rose”) and rosa mundi (“rose of the world”), referring to the Virgin Mary. Rosa mundi was transferred from the cult of the goddess Isis who was worshipped throughout the Roman Empire; roses were sacred to her, as they became for Mary as well. There is a heritage rose called the Rosa Mundi which has existed since the 1500s. One of the old Gallica roses, it has red and white striped petals.

Violetta (Atkins)

Violetta was a servant. She was convicted of stealing from her employer at the Old Bailey and sentenced to seven years transportation. I think Violetta must have either died on the voyage, or soon after her arrival in Sydney. Violetta is the Italian form of Violet. Violetta Valéry is the main character in Verdi’s 1853 opera La Traviata, based on the play adapted from the novel La Dame aux camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils. It’s a romantic and emotionally wrought tale of a courtesan who finds true love, but tragically dies of tuberculosis.

MEN

Ephraim (Lindsay)

Ephraim was convicted by the court in Northampton and sentenced to seven years transportation. In the Old Testament, Ephraim was a son of Joseph, born during his years in Egypt. Ephraim’s mother was a priest’s daughter named Asenath; their marriage was arranged by the Pharaoh. A Christian story is that she converted from paganism to the worship of Yahweh; it’s a fanciful tale involving an angel and some magical bees. According to Jewish tradition, she was actually Joseph’s half-niece, conceived in rape. How she got to Egypt involves yet another angel who leaves her under a bush wearing a necklace inscribed with an explanation of her origins; the priest finds and adopts her. You can see there is some discomfort with the idea of Joseph’s bloodline being “besmirched” by an Egyptian. Ephraim can be pronounced several ways, including EE-free-im and EE-fruhm. It seems like a good alternative to popular Ethan.

Janus (Everard)

Janus was convicted at the Middlesex Guild Hall and sentenced to transportation for life. Janus was the Roman god of beginnings, and thus all points of transition, such as gates and doors. He is famously depicted as having two faces, to indicate that he looks forward to the future and backward to the past simultaneously – a rather neat visualisation of the flow of time, which Janus oversees. The Latin name for “door”, janua, is named after him, and thus doorkeepers and caretakers of building are sometimes known as janitors. Janus was an important deity, and when the Roman calendar was regulated, the first month of the year was called Januarius in his honour. We still start the year off in January, making Janus suited to this month.

Ormond (Burcham)

Ormond was convicted of stealing five bushels of barley and sentenced to death by the court of Norfolk. This was commuted to seven years transportation. Ormond is an Irish surname named after the ancient Irish kingdom in Munster. It simply means “east Munster”, and was a hereditary title within the Irish aristocracy. It may also have become (perhaps deliberately) confused with the Irish surname O’Ruadh, meaning “son of the red one”. Francis Ormond was a philanthropist who founded the college which later became the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, as well as endowing Ormond College at the University of Melbourne. There is a 6^th century French abbot named Saint Ormond, however, this is an Anglicisation of Armand, the French form of Herman.

Traverse (Spileye)

Traverse was convicted of attempting to steal five dozen tallow candles by the court in Nottingham and sentenced to seven years transportation. This may be a Puritan virtue name, very interesting if so, because they are rarely found in Australia compared to the United States. As the word traverse means to travel, it could refer to pilgrimage, or the soul’s journey through life, or perhaps even the Israelites traversing the desert for forty years. However, I can’t help wondering if it is just a variant of the surname Travers, coming from the French for “to cross”; it was an occupational name for someone who collected tolls at crossing places such as city gates and river fords. There is a Puritan connection with this surname, because Walter Travers was an English Puritan theologian.

Uriel (Barrah, aka Uziel Baruch)

Uriel was a Jewish butcher with a long history of being convicted for debt and theft, although he had also been a constable. His wife’s name was Judith. He was convicted of theft by the Old Bailey and sentenced to seven years transportation. He was originally going to be sent to a penal colony in Africa, an idea the British tried which didn’t work out, so he was sent to Australia instead. When he completed his sentence he returned to England; a relative seems to have taken over his butcher shop during his absence. Uriel is one of the archangels in Jewish and Christian tradition; he isn’t mentioned in the scriptures. He is given several interesting roles, one of which is to guard the gates of Eden with a flaming sword so that none living may enter; he is said to have buried Adam and Abel there. In Jewish mystical tradition, he is called the Angel of Poetry. Uriel appears several times in literature, including Milton’s Paradise Lost. His name means “light of God”.

Names of Convicts on the First Fleet

15 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 31 Comments

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It is Australia Day next week, and so my name lists for January are names of convicts from the First and Second Fleets.

Convicts were the prisoners who filled overcrowded British prisons in the 18^th and early 19^th centuries. Because the death penalty was applied even to what we would consider minor offences, people were sent to prison for what we would consider to be misdemeanours, such as petty theft, or not crimes at all, such as being in debt.

Many convicts were disposed of by sending them to the colonies as cheap labour – nearly always North America – until the term is now understood as those prisoners sent to the colonies. The American War of Independence putting an end to America as a colony, another place had to be thought up to send convicts, and the east coast of Australia seemed a likely spot.

The First Fleet sailed from Portsmouth, Hampshire on May 13 1787, and consisted of eleven ships, led by Captain Arthur Phillips. Aboard were around 1487 people, including 778 convicts (192 women, 586 men). They travelled 24 000 km (15 000 miles) across the sea for 252 days.

On January 26 1788, the ships sailed into Port Jackson, which Phillips called “the finest harbour in the world” – an opinion many have shared since. They anchored in a sheltered place they called Sydney Cove, after British Home Secretary, Lord Sydney.

Life was very difficult in the new colony, and punishments could be extremely harsh. Convicts were basically slaves, mostly used on public works, but also assigned to individuals as a personal labour force.

The names of the convicts were those common in Britain in the 18^th century, with names from the Bible being often used. Rather than cover historically famous convicts, I chose people for their names, giving a rather random selection of ordinary people and their unremarkable fates.

[All convicts’ names can be found here. Information on convicts from the First Fleet Database].

WOMEN

Deborah (Elam/Ellam/Elias)

At the age of 20, Deborah was found guilty of stealing 36 shillings worth of clothing, and sentenced by the court in Chester to seven years transportation. She sailed to Australia on the Prince of Wales. She married a fellow convict and brought a complaint against him; it was judged to be “trivial” and she received 25 lashes in punishment. The couple had seven children and have many descendants. Deborah died in 1819, “universally respected by her numerous friends and acquaintances”. The name Deborah means “bee” in Hebrew, and in the Old Testament Deborah was a prophetess, judge, advisor and warrior. The Song of Deborah, which she is said to have composed, may be the earliest Hebrew poetry we know of. Deborah didn’t rank in Australia until the 1940s, and peaked in the 1960s at #12. It left the Top 100 in the 1980s and hasn’t ranked since the 1990s.

Dorothy (Handland aka Dorothy Gray)

Dorothy made her living as a dealer in old clothes. In her early 60s, she was found guilty of perjury at the Old Bailey and sentenced to 7 years transportation. She sailed to Australia on the Lady Penrhyn. Dorothy is believed to be the oldest convict, and despite her age, she survived the voyage and returned to England when she had completed her sentence. Dorothy is the English form of Dorothea, from the Greek meaning “gift of God”. There are three saints named Dorothea, one of whom we call Saint Dorothy. A legendary virgin martyr of the 4^th century, said to be of surpassing beauty, her cult spread across Europe in the Middle Ages. The name Dorothy was #2 in the 1900s and 1910s, and remained Top 100 until the 1950s. It has been unranked since the 1980s.

Flora (Lara/Larah, aka Laura Zarah)

Flora is thought to have been Jewish. She was found guilty of stealing a mahogany tea chest and money to the value of 5 shillings, and sentenced by the court in Westminster to seven years transportation. She sailed to Australia on the Prince of Wales. She was described in the court records as being of an evil disposition; she married in Australia and left the colony in 1801. Flora was the Roman goddess of spring, married to the west wind, Zephyr; her name is from the Latin for “flower”. Flora is the scientific term for all plant life. Flora was first used as a personal name in France, and it’s especially famous in Scotland, because of Jacobite heroine Flora MacDonald. Flora has never been Top 100 in Australia – it peaked at #112 in the 1900s, and left the charts in the 1950s.

Lydia (Munro, aka Letitia Munro)

At the age of 17 Lydia was found guilty of stealing material to the value of 20 shillings. She was sentenced to death by the court in Kingston-upon-Thames, which was later commuted to 14 years transportation. She sailed to Australia on the Prince of Wales. The convict records show that she was the victim of a sexual assault and attempted rape by another convict. She married, and she and her husband went to Tasmania where they raised a family of eleven children; they have numerous descendants. She died in 1856. Lydia of Thyatira is a character in the New Testament, regarded as the first convert to Christianity in Europe. She was a successful merchant who was baptised by St Paul and became a deacon in the early church; she is considered a saint by several denominations. Her Greek name is after the place name Lydia, an area of the ancient world now part of modern Turkey. Lydia has charted almost continually without ever hitting the Top 100. It peaked in the 1900s at #137, disappeared from the rankings in the 1930s and ’40s, and is currently #322.

Rachel (Earley/Early/HurleyHarley/Arrly)

At the age of 25 Rachel was found guilty of stealing tea and silk worth 3 shillings, and sentenced by the court in Reading to seven years transportation. She sailed to Australia on The Friendship, and spent time in irons onboard, for the twin crimes of “theft and dirtyness”. As a convict, she once received 10 lashes for not obeying orders. She married twice, and had a daughter, but was left by both husbands; she has living descendants. She died in Tasmania in 1842. In the Old Testament, Rachel was one of the wives of Jacob. Her name is Hebrew for “ewe”, perhaps with connotations of purity and submissiveness, although in the Bible Rachel did literally take care of her father’s sheep. Rachel is said to have been of overwhelming beauty, and Jacob loved her best of his wives. She was plagued by infertility issues, but managed to give birth to Joseph and Benjamin, her husband’s favourite children. Unfortunately, she died in childbirth, and her tomb is still a place of pilgrimage. The name Rachel has charted almost continually since 1900, dropping from the rankings during the 1940s. It peaked in the 1970s at #19, and is currently #118.

MEN

Barnaby (Denison/Dennison/Deneson)

At the age of 28 Barnaby was found guilty of “intent to rob”, and sentenced by the court in Bristol to seven years transportation. He sailed to Australia on the Alexander. According to the convict records, he was once sentenced to 50 lashes for “singing loudly at an improper time”, and became a night watchman. He died in 1811. The name Barnaby is a medieval English form of Barnabas. In the New Testament, Barnabas was a companion of St Paul and fellow missionary. His name was Joseph, but when he converted from Judaism to Christianity he was given the name Barnabas, which is a Greek form of Aramaic, and can be translated as “son of prophecy” or “son of encouragement”. There are many literary characters named Barnaby, most notably Dickens’ eponymous Barnaby Rudge.

Cooper (Handy/Handley/Henley)

Cooper made his living as a weaver. At the age of 33 he was found guilty of assault and highway robbery to the value of 20 shillings and sentenced to death by the court in Salisbury. This was commuted to seven years transportation, and he sailed to Australia on the Friendship. Cooper was held in a hulk at Dunkirk before he left, and at one point managed to escape during an uprising, but was recaptured. His report says that he behaved “remarkably well” otherwise. Not long after his arrival in Australia, Cooper was killed by Aborigines while gathering greens. Cooper is an English surname referring to someone who makes barrels as their occupation. Apart from being a popular name, Cooper is well known in Australia as the surname of the family who owns Cooper’s Brewery in South Australia. The name Cooper first joined the charts in the 1990s and peaked in 2009 at #4. It’s currently #7.

Ferdinand (Dowland/Dowlan/Doolan)

Ferdinand was a dustman. At the age of 32 he was found guilty of stealing a horse worth 30 shillings. He was sentenced to death at the Old Bailey, commuted to seven year’s transportation, and sailed to Australia on the Scarborough. He died in 1827. The name Ferdinand is from the Spanish form of a Germanic name meaning “daring journey”. Brought to Spain by the Visigoths, it was used amongst the royal houses of Spain and Portugal, and through them became common in the Hapsburg family, rulers of the Holy Roman Empire. One of its most famous namesakes is Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer whose expedition was the first to circumnavigate the globe (although Ferdinand himself did not survive the voyage). Ferdinand is also a character in Shakespeare’s play The Tempest; a prince who is shipwrecked on Propsero’s island, and falls in love with his daughter Miranda.

Ishmael (Colman)

At the age of 32 Ishmael was found guilty of stealing woollen blankets worth 14 shillings, and sentenced to seven years transportation by the court in Dorchester. Ishmael was held in a hulk at Dunkirk before sailing, where he was described as “decent and orderly”. He died after only 16 days at sea on the Charlotte; the report from the ship’s doctor says that his death was brought about through his long confinement before the trip, which had brought about “low spirits and debility”. Ishmael is a name from the Bible which is translated as “God has heard”. In the Old Testament, Ishmael was the son of Abraham and his wife’s handmaiden, Hagar; Ishmael and his mother are two Biblical characters who get a raw deal, being cast into the wilderness to fend for themselves and not receiving any inheritance from Abraham. According to tradition, he is the father of the Arabic people, and is considered such in Islam, Judaism and Christianity, although this isn’t historically accurate. The prophet Muhammad traced his bloodline from Ishmael, and he is one of the prophets of Islam. In literature, Ishmael is the brooding narrator of Herman Melville’s famous novel, Moby Dick.

Job (Hollister)

At the age of 21 Job was found guilty of stealing tobacco and sentenced to seven years transportation by the court in Gloucester. He sailed to Australia on the Alexander. When he completed his sentence, Job left the colony and migrated to Vancouver Island in Canada. Job is another Old Testament character who has a miserable time. A righteous man, God allows Satan to take away his wealth, his children and his health in an effort to tempt him to curse his Creator. He never does so, although he is aggrieved by the process, and spends a lot of time wondering why all these dreadful things keep happening to him. The story ends happily, with God rewarding him many times over, but with no reasonable explanation for his treatment. Although the tale bears all the hallmarks of an allegory on the human condition, Job is regarded as a prophet in Judaism and Islam, and is given a saint’s day in several Christian denominations. In line with the narrative, Job’s name is translated as “hated, persecuted”.

Image is of The First Fleet in Sydney Cove, January 27, 1788 by John Allcott (1938). Painting held by the National Library of Australia.

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Names of Convicts on the Second Fleet

Names of Convicts on the First Fleet