Christmassy Names
With Christmas in a week; I thought I'd add to the Christmas spirit and write an article on Christmassy names.
I will be using the birth records between 1837 and 2006 to give some statistics.
Noel, this is quite a common name (compared to the other names below) with many variants. It derives from the French word for Christmas day, noël, and can be given as either a male name or a female name. Doing a general search of the birth records show 292,642 results. The two most common versions: Noel was ranked 434th in 2013 for boys names with 93 births and Noelle 1400th for girls names with 23 births. Noel Edmonds is an example of someone with this name.
Angel, this name can be given to both boys and girls, but is more common as a girls name. It originally comes from the Greek name meaning messenger. A general search shows that 243,431 results for births. For girls it was ranked 177th with 299 births and 1339th for boys with 18 births.
Rudolf, one of Santa's reindeer, can have the alternate spelling Rudolph. It comes from German meaning Famous Wolf, from 'rod' meaning fame and 'olf' meaning wolf. The general search shows 8,051 results. It is a boys name and can also be a surname. Rudolf was given as a name to 3 boys last year and came in ranked 4685. Rudolph didn't have enough births to be counted last year. The last time that variation was counted was in 2008 when 3 babies were called it.
Starr, this name originates from the word star, which The Three Wise Men followed to get to Jesus. The General search shows 1,005 births. It is a girls name that was ranked 1864th with 15 births.
Balthazar, this name has many variations. It is linked with Christmas as one of The Three Wise Men was called this. It means master/lord protects the king. The general search results show 192 births. Again there wasn't enough births for it to be counted last year. However in 2012, 3 babies were called Balthazar coming in ranked 4085th.
That concludes this week's article and I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas.
Published: 18 December 2014
I will be using the birth records between 1837 and 2006 to give some statistics.
Noel, this is quite a common name (compared to the other names below) with many variants. It derives from the French word for Christmas day, noël, and can be given as either a male name or a female name. Doing a general search of the birth records show 292,642 results. The two most common versions: Noel was ranked 434th in 2013 for boys names with 93 births and Noelle 1400th for girls names with 23 births. Noel Edmonds is an example of someone with this name.
Angel, this name can be given to both boys and girls, but is more common as a girls name. It originally comes from the Greek name meaning messenger. A general search shows that 243,431 results for births. For girls it was ranked 177th with 299 births and 1339th for boys with 18 births.
Rudolf, one of Santa's reindeer, can have the alternate spelling Rudolph. It comes from German meaning Famous Wolf, from 'rod' meaning fame and 'olf' meaning wolf. The general search shows 8,051 results. It is a boys name and can also be a surname. Rudolf was given as a name to 3 boys last year and came in ranked 4685. Rudolph didn't have enough births to be counted last year. The last time that variation was counted was in 2008 when 3 babies were called it.
Starr, this name originates from the word star, which The Three Wise Men followed to get to Jesus. The General search shows 1,005 births. It is a girls name that was ranked 1864th with 15 births.
Balthazar, this name has many variations. It is linked with Christmas as one of The Three Wise Men was called this. It means master/lord protects the king. The general search results show 192 births. Again there wasn't enough births for it to be counted last year. However in 2012, 3 babies were called Balthazar coming in ranked 4085th.
That concludes this week's article and I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas.
Published: 18 December 2014
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The stats from this article are from Genes Reunited's Birth Records and England & Wales Baby Names.
*Note - No copyright infringement was intended. If there is a breach in copyright contact me through the 'Contact' section so it can be removed. All photos are Copyright © 2014 Harry Clarke. All Rights Reserved. The photo on the 'Home' page for this article is courtesy of C Togan.
*Note - No copyright infringement was intended. If there is a breach in copyright contact me through the 'Contact' section so it can be removed. All photos are Copyright © 2014 Harry Clarke. All Rights Reserved. The photo on the 'Home' page for this article is courtesy of C Togan.