About Names: Dr. Cleveland Evans on the name “Luke”

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his May 4th column, he discusses the name “Luke”.

Since 1979 fans of “Star Wars” have celebrated May 4, punning “May the fourth” with catch phrase “May the Force be with you.” Though it’s now usually called “Star Wars Day,” earlier it was often “Luke Skywalker Day” after the young hero (played by Mark Hamill) who battles the evil empire in a galaxy far, far away.

Luke’s the English form of Greek Loukas, meaning “man from Lucania.” Lucania was a region in-between the “toe” and “boot” of the Italian peninsula. “Lucania” derives from an ancient Oscan word for “light” or “sunrise”, being east of the original Oscan homeland.

Saint Luke, a physician who traveled with the Apostle Paul, wrote both the New Testament’s Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles. 28 churches in medieval England were dedicated to him, and in 1379 the name Luke ranked 34th for Englishmen.

The 1850 United States census found 4,552 Lukes, while the 1851 British census found 7,639, when the two countries had similar total populations. Some American Protestants may have avoided Luke because it was well-used by Catholic immigrants. 16.6% of 1850’s Lukes were Irish-born.

When Social Security’s yearly baby name lists start in 1880, Luke ranked 252nd. Its use slowly fell, bottoming out at 597th in 1942.

About Names: Dr. Cleveland Evans on the Top Baby Names of 2024

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his May 18th column, he discusses the top baby names of 2024.

Sophia, Liam, and Noah continued their reign as top baby names in 2024, while the Hawaiian derived “Ailany” had one of the biggest and most mysterious booms ever.

On May 9, the Social Security Administration released the United States’ top baby names of 2024.

On SSA’s lists, Liam and Olivia have been No. 1 since 2019.

SSA counts every spelling separately. I add together spellings pronounced the same, creating lists I think show popularity more accurately.

When alternative spellings like Jaxon were added, Jackson was first on my list from 2013 through 2020. Jackson’s now swiftly declining, ranking only fifth in 2024. Liam, Noah, and Oliver are the top three on both my “combined spellings” list and Social Security’s single spelling version.

Liam rose 6.7% and Noah 7.4% last year, despite the total number of births only increasing 0.3%.

Noah’s an international star. Latest figures show it’s No. 1 in Australia, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and both French and English speaking Canada. Noah is also among the top ten in Austria, Denmark, England, France, Ireland, Lithuania, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. One wonders if young parents are unconsciously preparing sons to deal with climate change caused floods.

The latter seven of my 2024 boys top ten were Mateo, Jackson, Luca, Lucas, Elijah, Theodore and James. Theodore rose 8.5% to replace Aiden. Aiden, No. 1 between 2006 and 2012, dropped to 13th.

About Names: Dr. Cleveland Evans on the name “June”

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his June 1st column, he discusses the name “June”.

“June is bustin’ out all over,” and rising as a baby name, too.

June’s derived from Latin Junius, originally the fourth and later the sixth month on the Roman calendar. It’s named after Juno, Rome’s patron goddess. Juno probably meant “young one,” related to the word “junior.” Rare English surname June is from French “jeune (young).”

The index to 1850’s census includes 57 male and 661 female Junes. Most of the former were probably either instances of the rare surname being turned into a given name, or of June used as a nickname for Junius, a Roman clan name brought back during the early 19th century Classical Revival. 688 men were listed as Junius in 1850.

Most of the female Junes in 1850’s index are probably mistakes. It’s difficult to distinguish June from Jane or Irene in old handwriting, and the great majority of 1850’s Junes turn out to really be Jane or Irene when other records are consulted.

Some 19th century slaveholders named slaves of both sexes after months. The oldest woman I’ve found in the 1850 census really named June was June McAfee, a Black woman in Jeffersonville, Indiana, born in Virginia in 1773. In 1870, the first census after emancipation, 437 of the 713 male Junes and 466 of the 1,933 female Junes were Black.

The first non-Black female June I’m sure of was Ohio-born June Rose Colby (1856-1941). Her parents Lewis and Celestia liked creative botanical names. Her older sister and brother were Vine and Branch. Her first name was inspired by her June 4 birthday.

In 1886, June Rose Colby became the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in English literature at the University of Michigan. After 1892, she was a professor at Illinois State Normal University, and became a leader of Illinois’ women’s suffrage movement.

Though Colby published several books on literature, she didn’t help the name June spread since she used “J. Rose Colby” professionally.

About Names: Dr. Cleveland Evans on the name “Lionel”

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his March 9th column, he discusses the name “Lionel”.

Lionel Richie, born 1949, has been a judge on “American Idol” since 2018, which begins its 23rd season on March 9. Richie became famous singing with funk/soul group Commodores in the 1970s.
His duet of “Endless Love” with Diana Ross in 1980 is a top 20 bestselling single of all time. He’s sold more than 100 million records, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

Lionel’s a French diminutive of Leon, from Latin for “lion.” It became well known because of Sir Lionel, a cousin of Sir Lancelot introduced in anonymous Lancelot-Grail tales written in French in the 13th century. Lionel, a knight of the Round Table, was hero of a ballad in which he slays a huge wild boar.

King Edward III was a fan, role-playing the fictional Sir Lionel in Round Table tournaments. Edward’s second son Lionel, Duke of Clarence (1338-1368), was named after him.

Though never common, Lionel remained in regular use among English nobles. Lionel Sackville (1688-1765), created Duke of Dorset by George I in 1720, was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1730-1737 and 1750-1755.

Lionel Wafer (1640-1705) was a Welsh ship’s surgeon who lived with the Guna people of Panama in the 1680s, adopting their customs, including body paint and nose rings. His 1695 book about this adventure was popular across Europe.
“Lionel and Clarissa”, a 1748 comic opera by Isaac Bickerstaffe, in which Lionel and Clarissa overcome their fathers’ objections to their marriage, was popular for two centuries, with its repeated line “O what a night for love!” quoted by Willa Cather and others.

American author James Fenimore Cooper published novel “Lionel Lincoln” in 1825. There Lionel, a British major during the American Revolution, rejects his friends’ arguments and refuses to join the American cause, symbolizing Cooper’s view of corrupt English nobility.

The U.S. Census of 1850 found 111 Lionels, while Britain’s 1851 census included 590, when the two countries had similar size populations. Lionel’s lesser American use was linked to its “effete British aristocrat” image, reinforced by Cooper’s novel.
When Social Security’s yearly baby name lists begin in 1880, Lionel ranked 718th. It steadily rose, ranking 295th in 1934. It was probably helped by actor Lionel Barrymore (1878-1954), who won an Oscar for “A Free Soul” playing an alcoholic lawyer defending his daughter’s fiancé on a murder charge. Today, he’s remembered as Mr. Potter in “It’s A Wonderful Life” (1946).

Lionel, along with other names like Percy and Reginald with British upper-class images in America, appealed more to Black than White parents during the 20th century. Richie’s early career reinforced this, helping Lionel rise from 550th in 1979 to 387th in 1984.

About Names: Dr. Cleveland Evans on the name “Jude”

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his December 29th column, he discusses the name “Jude”.

Happy Birthday to W. P. Inman, Albus Dumbledore and Pius XIII!

British actor Jude Law turns 52 today. Oscar-nominated for playing Confederate veteran W. P. Inman in “Cold Mountain” (2003), he was wizard Dumbledore in “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” (2018) and “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” (2022). He played Pius XIII in HBO’s “The Young Pope” (2016) and “The New Pope” (2020) and now stars as FBI agent Terry Husk in “The Order,” which opened Dec. 6.

Jude is from the Hebrew name Yehudah, which means praise. In Genesis, Leah, Jacob’s first wife, names her fourth son Judah while praising God. The tribe of Judah later gave its name to the southern Hebrew kingdom after it split from Israel.

In English Bibles, Judah is the Old Testament form. In the New Testament, Judas (the Greek form) names several men, including two apostles — Judas Iscariot, Jesus’s betrayer, and a Judas mentioned in the gospels of Luke and John. Traditionally, he’s considered the same as Matthew and Mark’s Thaddeus.

The New Testament’s next-to-last book is the Epistle of Jude. Jude was originally the French form of Judas. In most other languages, the epistle is called Judas. English translations probably used “Jude” to assure readers it wasn’t written by Iscariot.

Because of that, in English the “Thaddeus” apostle is usually called Saint Jude, even though he’s Judas in the Bible. Traditionally, St. Jude was martyred in Persia alongside fellow apostle Simon the Zealot.

Jude was rare as an English boy’s name. After the Reformation, Jude was used a bit more as parents searched the Bible for names. The 1851 British census found 92 Judes, while the 1850 U.S. census included 125. Jude was more common among Puritan descendants in the North. Only seven of 1850’s Judes were born in the South.

Catholics and Anglicans pray to St. Jude for “hopeless cases,” reasoning since Jude’s name is close to “Judas,” he is prayed to rarely and so is the “saint of last resort.”

Comedian Danny Thomas prayed to St. Jude when starting his career, promising to establish a hospital if he had success. When Thomas became a television star through “Make Room for Daddy” (then “The Danny Thomas Show” starting with the fourth season, 1953-1964), he immediately began raising money to build St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Today it’s one of the world’s most famous charities.

Although the hospital opened in 1962, Jude first became a top 1,000 baby name in the United States in 1954 just after Thomas began promoting his plan.

In 1969 Jude jumped 69% to rank 669th. The Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” the No. 1 single of 1968, was responsible. Paul McCartney first titled the song “Hey Jules” after John Lennon’s son Julian.

Jude Law’s parents named him after both the song and Thomas Hardy’s famous novel “Jude the Obscure” (1895). Law’s career clearly revitalized Jude in the United States. Jude had fallen below the top 1,000 when Law’s first Oscar-nominated role as Dickie in “The Talented Mr. Ripley” (1999) made him famous.

The name has boomed in recent years, peaking at 151st in 2021 when 2,504 were born. It receded to 161st in 2023, perhaps because of competition from Judah, which ranked 176th that year. Jude and Judah are both helped by sounding like hugely popular Lucas, Luca and Luke.

With Law nearing grandfather age, Jude may fall further. However, it’ll be decades before the name Jude is again obscure.

About Names: Dr. Cleveland Evans on the name “Dexter”

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his December 15th column, he discusses the name “Dexter”.

“Dexter: Original Sin,” a prequel to Showtime’s hit series “Dexter” (2006-2013), about a serial killer who murders other murderers, premiered on Paramount+ with Showtime on Dec. 13. Patrick Gibson stars as young Dexter Morgan, with Michael C. Hall, star of “Dexter,” providing his “inner voice.”

Dexter is an English surname from Old English “deagestre.” This originally meant a woman who dyed cloth, but by 1200 was used for both men and women dyers.

By pure coincidence, “dexter” is also Latin for “right-handed” or “skillful.” Occasionally parents who knew Latin may have chosen Dexter because of that.

However, it’s clear the surname was the main source. Britain’s 1851 census included only 22 men with Dexter as a first name, while 1850’s United States census had 1,903, when total populations were about equal. Of those American Dexters, 564 were born in Massachusetts, 637 in the rest of New England, and 387 in New York, whose upstate was mostly settled by New Englanders.

Samuel Dexter (1761-1816) served as a representative and senator from Massachusetts before being named Secretary of War in 1800 and Secretary of the Treasury in 1801. Several of his relatives were prominent in Massachusetts or New York.

Timothy Dexter (1747-1806) of Newburyport, Massachusetts, was an uneducated man who married a rich widow and became extremely wealthy when Revolutionary War currency he bought when most thought it completely worthless was unexpectedly redeemed by the government at 1% of its face value. He faked his own death to see who’d show up to his funeral. His 1802 book “A Pickle for the Knowing Ones,” touting his unlikely success, was a bestseller despite having almost no punctuation. In the second edition, he included two pages printed with only punctuation marks, telling readers to insert them wherever they wanted.

The politician and the rich eccentric together made Dexter a well-used first name in New England. In 1880, when Social Security’s name lists start, Dexter ranked 809th.

The Most Popular Baby Names

A new study by BabyCentre explores recent trends in baby naming.

US data suggests that the most popular baby names of 2024 so far are Noah and Olivia. Olivia has proved consistently popular in the US for some time, and has been among the top three female names since 2012. Interestingly, this is trend mirrored in much of the rest of the English-speaking word: Noah and Olivia are also the most popular baby names in both the UK and Canada (for the latest published data). Noah is also popular in Aotearoa, where the top female name is instead Charlotte. Australia, in contrast, is most fond of the names Oliver and Isla.

-T.K.A

About Names: Dr. Cleveland Evans on the name “Axel”

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his June 30th column, he discusses the name “Axel”.

Axel is back investigating crime in Beverly Hills on Wednesday.

“Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” premieres on Netflix on July 3. Thirty years after his last appearance, Detroit policeman Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) returns to California when conspirators threaten his daughter.

Axel’s derived from Hebrew Avshalom, “my father is peace.” Absalom in English Bibles and Absalon in Danish, it’s the name of a son of King David who leads a revolt against his father. During battle his long hair becomes entangled in a tree, allowing David’s general Joab to kill him.

Absalom was occasionally used in medieval Europe, sometimes as a nickname for a long-haired man. In Denmark, Absalon, bishop of Lund (1128-1201), was an advisor to King Valdemar I who led battles against Slavs and built a fortress where Copenhagen later developed. A famous equestrian statue of Absalon can be seen there today.

By 1400 Absalon shifted first to Axelen and then Axel in everyday Danish speech. The famous bishop himself was often called Axel. The name was popularized all over Scandinavia by Axel Pedersen Tott (c. 1375-1447), an advisor to Queen Margaret I when she’d unified Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Axel Oxenstierna (1583-1684) was Sweden’s ruling regent while Queen Christina was a child. Esaias Tegner’s romantic poem “Axel” (1822), where Swedish soldier Axel is saved by Russian girl Maria, who disguises herself as a Russian soldier to follow him and is herself killed in battle, cemented Axel’s popularity as a Swedish name.

Scandinavian immigrants brought Axel to America. The 1930 United States census found 15,195 Axels — 68% born in Sweden, Denmark or Norway.

Norwegian figure skater Axel Paulsen (1855-1938) publicized the name by inventing the “Axel jump” in 1882.

Enough Scandinavian-Americans named sons Axel for it to rank 336th in 1886. It then declined, leaving the top 1,000 in 1917. In 1982, only 25 American newborns were named Axel.

Axel had a slight rise after the first “Beverly Hills Cop” film appeared in 1984. The fame of Guns N’ Roses star Axl Rose (born William Rose Jr. in 1962) brought Axel back into the top 1,000 in 1989.

Axel grew slowly until suddenly skyrocketing 567% between 1999 and 2001. The cause? Mexican telenovela “DKDA: Sueños de juventud” (“DKDA: Dreams of youth”) which premiered in November 1999. There the teenage members of a rock band cope with sudden fame. One member, Axel Harris, (Patricio Borghetti) probably had a name inspired by Axl Rose. “DKDA” was a huge hit across Latin America, leading to the birth of thousands of Axels.

About Names: Dr. Cleveland Evans on the top Baby Names of 2023

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his May 19th column, he discusses the name the top Baby Names of 2023.

Sophia, Liam and Noah cemented their baby name popularity in 2023, while a soccer star and a country singer helped their names soar.

May 10 the Social Security Administration released the United States’ top baby names of 2023.

On SSA’s lists, Liam and Olivia have been No. 1 since 2019.

SSA counts every spelling separately. I add together spellings pronounced the same, creating lists I believe show popularity more accurately.

When alternative spellings like Jaxon were added, Jackson was first on my list from 2013 through 2020. Jackson’s now swiftly declining, only ranking fourth in 2023. Liam, Noah and Oliver are the top three on both my “combined spellings” list and Social Security’s single spelling version.

Liam rose 1.8% and Noah 2.2% last year, despite the total number of births declining 2.3%.

Liam and Noah are international hits. Both rank among the top 11 in Germany, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Quebec, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland and Argentina. Noah’s now No. 1 in England, Australia and New Zealand, where Liam had its heyday back in the 1990s.

After Jackson, the rest of my 2023 male top 10 were Mateo, Lucas, Elijah, Luca, James and Aiden. All were on the list in 2022, though Mateo, Lucas and Luca rose in rank.

Mateo increased 11.6%, fourth biggest percentage among the top 100. This Spanish form of Matthew is Liam and Noah’s counterpart in the Spanish-speaking world, ranking No. 1 in Chile and Argentina, and No. 2 in Mexico, Spain and Uruguay.

Thiago had the quickest rise among the top 100, soaring 28.3% from 112th to 84th. Thiago’s a Portuguese form of Santiago, “St. James” in Spanish. Much of Thiago’s popularity stems from international soccer star Thiago Alcântara, born 1991 in Italy to Brazilian parents. Like many soccer greats — including his father, Mazinho, who helped Brazil win 1994’s World Cup — Thiago is a one-name celebrity. He plays for Liverpool in England’s Premier League as well as the Spanish national team.

Another example of soccer fandom influencing baby names is that Kylian, French form of Irish saint’s name Cillian or Killian, is now the most common spelling for American newborns. Kylian Mbappé is captain of the French national team.

With Sofia and other spellings added, 19,836 Sophias arrived in 2023, 156 more than in 2022. Sophia’s been No. 1 since 2011. Traditional Spanish spelling Sofia accounted for 37% in 2022 and 38.5% in 2023.

The rest of the girls’ top 10 are Olivia, Emma, Amelia, Charlotte, Isabella, Mia, Evelyn, Camila and Eliana. Eliana nudged Ava out of the top 10. A saints’ name from a Roman family name meaning “sun,” Eliana’s also used in Israel, where it’s interpreted as Hebrew “God has answered.” Its sound fits in with other fashionable names like Isabella and Amelia.

Lainey was the fastest riser among the girls’ top 100, skyrocketing 91.4% to 55th from 140th. Lainey Wilson was the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year for 2023.

About Names: Dr. Cleveland Evans on the name “Stacy”

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his June 4th column, he discusses the name “Stacy”.

Remember private eye Mike Hammer on “The New Mike Hammer” (1984-1987)? “Papa” Ken Titus on the sitcom “Titus” (2000-2002)? Ed Pegram, Woody’s former business partner in Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” (2013)?

Stacy Keach, who played them all, was born Walter Stacy Keach Jr. 83 years ago today.

Stacy and Stacey are surnames derived from a short form of Eustace, the English form of the Latin Eustachius, combining the Greek Eustathios “well-built” and Eustachys “fruitful.”

Eustace was common in medieval England in honor of St. Eustace, a Roman general martyred after refusing to sacrifice to idols.

Stacy became an official first name when the custom of giving surnames as first names began around 1700. England’s 1851 census found 51 men with Stacy or Stacey as a first name.

The 1850 U.S. Census, first listing all free residents’ names, found 603 male Stacys and Staceys. There were 243 (40%) born in New Jersey, which then had 2.1% of the total population.

In the 17th century, Quakers in England wanted to find somewhere to practice their religion freely. In 1676, Mahlon Stacy (1638-1704), a wealthy Yorkshire Quaker, bought shares in the West Jersey settlement. He sold part to his brother Robert Stacy, who founded Burlington, New Jersey, in 1677.

In 1679, Mahlon Stacy settled on the Delaware’s east bank at what later became Trenton. Though today the fame of William Penn, granted the west bank as Pennsylvania in 1681, eclipses that of the Stacys, it’s clear in 1850 their memory was still honored in New Jersey.

As a female name, Stacy was either from Eustacia, feminine of Eustace, or Anastasia, a saint’s name from Greek “resurrection.”