Diverted by a Name: Jacquetta

Image via Amazon.com

I am currently reading a historical fiction novel based on English royalty in the 1400s. The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory is the story of a woman who became a critical piece in what would be called the War of the Roses. Names in novels are always of interest to me, as are English royalty names, and in this book it is the main character's name that had me diverted. She was the mother of Elizabeth Woodville, queen consort to King Edward IV: Jacquetta of Luxembourg.

According to Behind the Name, Jacquetta is the British female diminutive of Jacques, which is the French form of Jacob or James. Other diminutives are Jacqueline (English and French) and Jacquette (French). While Jacqueline has been the favored version in the States, Jacquetta had been consistently recorded by the SSA from 1916 through 2002. The most Jacquettas were born in 1988 (55). Jacqueline is also declining in usage lately, but with the emergence of Etta as a given name and nickname, Jacquetta could be a fresh choice.

Behind the Name also lists Bine and Coba as alternatives to Jacquetta from other languages. Bine (ranked #79 in Slovenia) is Danish and short for Jacobine. Since Jacobine is pronounced yah-ko-BEE-nuh, I would think Bine is pronounced BEE-nuh. Coba is Dutch and short for Jacoba (ranked #341 in the Netherlands). And since Jacoba is pronounced yah-KO-bah, I would think Coba is pronounced KO-bah. There is also the Italian version, Giachetta, which is pronounced jah-KET-tah and is the female diminutive of Giacomo (James).

Another interesting note about the title character: Jacquetta of Luxembourg and her husband Richard Woodville, 1st Earl of Rivers, had 14 children. Their names were Elizabeth, Lewis, Anne, Anthony, Mary, Jacquetta, John, Richard, Martha, Eleanor, Lionel, Margaret, Edward, and Catherine.

What do you think of Jacquetta?

A Case for the Letter: M - Girls

Photo by NestingMagpie via Flickr

After going through the popular M boy names, the girls will take a little more time! There were 30 M boy names that reached the Top 200 in the decades since the 1880s. There are 75 M girl names in that same category. Let's get to it!



Some observations/questions:

• Only three names have been consistently on top since the 1880s: Margaret, Maria, and Mary.
• Several names dropped off the chart after making a jump in the previous decade: Mallory, Marcella, Marianne, Marsha, Meredith and Muriel.
  
• The only name that fell out of the Top 200 and return after several decades is Madeline.
• There are quite a few spelling variations of popular names included in the Top 200: Mabel/Mable, Mackenzie/Makenzie/Mckenzie, Madeline/Madelyn, Mae/May, Makayla/Michaela/Mikayla, Mamie/Mayme, Marcia/Marsha, Maria/Mariah, Marian/Marion, Marianne/Maryann, Marisa/Marissa, Mathilda/Matilda, Maud/Maude, Meagan/Megan/Meghan, Michele/Michelle, Mollie/Molly.
• Mollie and Molly are the only variations that appeared in completely different decades. Mollie was the favored spelling in the late 1800s, while Molly is the favored spelling now.
• There are also quite a few names that made an appearance in one decade only (not counting the 1880s or 2000s since we don't know if they appeared previously or will reappear yet): Mandy, Marisa, Maryann, Melody, Mercedes, Michaela, Mindy, and Myrna. 
• Michaela entered with the highest popularity of its pronunciation in the 1990s (141) and then dropped off in the 2000s, while its spelling variations rose in popularity from the 1990s to the 2000s: Makayla (156 to 46) and Mikayla (169 to 139). 
• The chart allows for some interesting visuals. For instance, you can obviously see the Mel- names enter in the 1950s: Melanie, Melinda, Melissa; with Melody added temporarily in the 1960s. Melinda has since dropped out of the Top 200, but Melanie and Melissa are still going strong. 
• A similar visual with Megan: Megan entered in the 1970s and variations Meagan and Meghan entered in the 1980s. While Megan is still on the chart, the variations both fell off after the 1990s.
• And finally, the ever-puzzling fall of Mary and, to a lesser extent, Margaret. Mary was at the top of the top for almost 100 years (and probably longer if records from pre-1880s were kept) and has fallen gradually since the 1960s. Margaret was near the top for about 60 years and has taken a fall since the 1940s, with a temporary gain in the 1980s, and could very well fall out of the Top 200 in the next decade or two. Maybe it’s not too puzzling if you consider over-use as a reason to seek out variety, but to hold the top for so long, Mary is a name to be respected and possibly renewed.

Which of these Top 200 names is your favorite? Can you think of any other M names that could enter the cart in the 2010s? Do you have any other observations?

Rank and Title Names

Insignia of General of the Army (1944-1981) via Wikipedia

Some parents want to give their child a name with strength and authority. Or maybe they have a relative that they would love to honor, but his/her given name is not to their liking, so they honor the relative's job or status. Whatever the reason, parents have chosen to name their child a name with certain prestige and punch when they choose to go with a rank or title name.  

The following were names given in 2011 in the United States. (All of these were given to boys, with the few pink exceptions.)

Military Ranks:
Captain (19)
Chief (8)
General (15)
Major (196)
Trooper (14)

Religious Leaders:
Bishop (162)
Caliph (8)
Chancellor (14)
Deacon (354)
Messiah (53, 368)
Priest (15)

Royal or Government Leaders:
Agent (5)
Baron (130)
Duke (146)
Earl (114)
Governor (5)
Judge (17)
Justice (544, 502)
King (722)
Knight (36)
Marquis (331)
Master (8)
Prince (544)
Princess (301)
Queen (50)
Sheriff (6)

Description of the monarch:
Majesty (26, 21)
Noble (91)
Royal (34, 147)
Royalty (27, 11)

Others:
Admiral
Chaplain
Colonel
Commissioner
Corporal
Count
Detective
Inspector
Lieutenant
Lord
Mayor
Senator
Viceroy

Do you see any issue in using these names? You Can't Call It "It"! has a great post and discussion in the comments about New Zealand banning certain names, including Baron, Bishop and Duke because of the confusion they may cause.

Which, if any, of these rank and title names would you use?

A Case for the Letter: M - Boys

Photo by Cynthia Del Giudice via Flickr

In my previous "Case for the Letter" posts, I went a little overboard with information. I really enjoyed the research for them though, and want to continue producing the results. I found that the most interesting findings, to me, were the historical changes in the names that started with the letter. So, I'm going to stick with that and leave the rest out... for now.

The following is a chart of M boy names that have ranked in the Top 200 in the decades from the 1880s through the 2000s. It is fascinating to see how the names have gone up and/or down throughout the decades, as well as which names disappeared and appeared.



Some observations/questions:

• Only three names have been consistently on top since the 1880s: Manuel, Martin and Michael (although Martin is threatening to drop).
• Several names dropped off the chart after making a jump in the previous decade: Marshall, Merle, Mike, and Mitchell. What happened to make them drop so rapidly?
• Several names dropped off the chart only to come back after a few decades: Mark, Matthew, Maurice (which dropped off again), and Max.
• Spelling variations of popular names temporarily charted in a few decades: Marc, Mathew, and Micheal.
• Max was a top name early on, and has made a reappearance recently, while Maxwell only recently showed up on top (and Maxwell ranks higher than Max).
• Will Malachi and Micah suffer Malik's fate and fall off the chart when the 2010s are over, or will they climb higher?
• Random thought... seeing Mack and Malachi next to each other makes me think that Mack could be a cute nickname for Malachi.

Which of these Top 200 names is your favorite? Can you think of any other M names that could enter the cart in the 2010s? Do you have any other observations?

The M girl names analysis will come in a few days.

Diverted by a Name: Honus

Photo via Wikipedia

Sorry... I'm on a baseball high. With the beginning of the season and then Jackie Robinson day, it's all around me right now. As I was perusing historical baseball names, I came across the best player in the dead-ball era besides Ty Cobb: Honus Wagner. I had heard of him before, but as a name lover, I was suddenly diverted. Where did Honus come from?

Johannes Peter Wagner was born in 1874 to German immigrants, Peter Johannes and Katheryn. He was called Hans as a child, but that turned into Honus, pronounced "HAH-nus". Honus is also a German term given to an awkward child, which Wagner was. Honus was also called Hans as well as John as an adult. Peter and Katheryn had nine children: Charles (Charley), Albert (Al or Butts), Louis (Ludwig or Luke), Honus, Caroline (Carrie) and William (Wilhelm?) are the only ones that survived.

Johannes is the German form of John. Pronounced "yo-HAH-nes", Johannes is one of MANY forms of John. Jan, Johan, Johann, Deshaun, Deshawn, Keshaun, Keshawn, Rashaun, Rashawn, Ioan, Ivan, Janko, Janek, Evan, Ian, Sean, Shane, Shaun, Shawn, Jean, Yanni, Yannis, Keoni, János, Eoin, Giovanni, Jonas are just some of the variants and versions of John in other languages.

Considering Honus Wagner's popularity in the early 1900s, I am a little surprised that there have not been any Honuses born as long as records have been kept. Maybe those who wanted to honor him used his full name instead of his nickname, or maybe there have been one or two throughout the years, just not enough to have been recorded by the SSA.

Other names of interest... Honus married Bessie Baine Smith and they had three daughters: Elva Katrina, who was stillborn; Betty Baine and Virginia Mae (Jennie). I'm wondering if Katrina was Katheryn's real name or if they used the German form of it to honor her. I also wonder if Mae was a family name, but I cannot find any further information. Elva is a new one to me. It could either be a variant of Alva or from the Gaelic name Ailbhe (pronounced AL-va).

What do you think of Honus? Do you have a favorite variant of John?

Thanks to Geni.com for biographical information and Behind the Name.