Saint Who? Part II--Surnames, Titles

While doing my post on unexpected saints' names a while back, I noticed some fun name possibilities with their surnames/titles. There are many Marian names that came about this way, but it's much rarer with other saints. However, at least one has made it into everyday American usage: Xavier, from Saint Francis Xavier.

• Agira (ah-JEE-rah)--from St. Philip of Agira, patron saint of U.S. Army Special Forces.
• Amasea (ah-MAH-see-ah)--home of a few saints, notably Theodore of Amasea, patron of soldiers and for the recovery of lost items.
• Aosta (ah-OH-stah)--home of two saints: Gratus of Aosta & Ursus of Aosta.
• Avila (AH-vee-lah, AV-il-ah)--home of several saints, most notably Teresa of Ávila.
• Bosco (BOHS-koh)--from St. John Bosco, patron of apprentices, laborers, students, and youths.
• Cabrini (kah-BREE-nee)--from St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, patroness of immigrants & hospital administrators.
• Cascia (KAH-shah)--from St. Rita de Cascia, patroness of desperate & impossible causes, against sickness & wounds.
• Cyrene (sye-REE-nee)--home of two saints: Simon of Cyrene & Lucius of Cyrene.
• Ely (EE-lee)--home of three saints: Ermenilda of Ely, Etheldreda of Ely, & Seaxburh of Ely.
• Evreux (AYV-reoo)--from St. Maximus of Évreux, patron against drought
• Genoa (JEN-oh-ah)--home of many saints, most notably Catherine of Genoa, patroness of brides, difficult marriages, & victims of unfaithfulness.
• Imola (EE-moh-lah)--from St. Cassian of Imola, patron of schoolteachers & clerks.
• Kildare (kil-DAYR, kil-DAH-rah)--from St. Brigit Kildare, patron of Ireland, and many, many other things.
• Lellis (LEL-lis)--from St. Camillus de Lellis, patron of physicians, hospitals, and the sick.
• Lunel (loo-NEL)--from St. Gerard de Lunel, patron of epileptics, against headaches.
• Marillac (mah-ree-AK)--from St. Louise de Marillac, patroness of social workers & widows.
• Merici (meh-REE-chee)--from St. Angela Merici, patroness of the sick, handicapped, and orphaned.
• Merida (MEHR-ee-dah)--from St. Eulalia of Mérida, patroness of widows & runaways.
• Milan (mee-LAHN)--home of many saints, notably Ambrose of Milan, patron of students, beekeepers, and chandlers.
• Mineo (min-EH-oh)--from St. Agrippina of Mineo, patroness againts infections, diseases, and storms.
• Myra (MYE-rah, MEE-rah, MEU-rah)--home of St. Nicholas (yep. Ol' Saint Nick).
• Nicomedia (nee-koh-MED-yah)--home of a few saints, most notably Juliana of Nicomedia, patroness against sickness
• Ravenna (rah-VEH-nah)--from St. Apollinaris of Ravenna, patron against epilepsy & gout.
• Savio (SAHV-yoh)--from St. Dominic Savio, patron of young boys, choirs, and juvenile delinquents.
• Trier (TREE-ehr)--home to many saints, most notably Eucharius of Trier, patron against plague.
• Verona (veh-ROH-nah)--from St. Zeno of Verona, patron of newborns and fishermen
• Vianney (vee-AHN-nay, vee-AN-nay)--from St. John Mary Vianney, patron of priests and many Midwestern dioceses.

The Biggest Losers (2012)

Which names are rising is undoubtedly more fun, but which names are on the decrease can be quite telling, too. And of course, parents of kids with these names are probably happy to see them becoming less popular. ;)

Biggest drops in rank (Top 500 only--let's face it, the higher they are, the more interesting the fall):

Boys:

1. Brayan  (#427 --> 499)
2. Jalen (#399 --> 470)
3. Trey  (#324 --> 393)
4. Amare (#426 --> 495)
5. Casey (#423 --> 486)
6. Payton (#397 --> 458)
7. Jakob (#335 --> 395)
8. Randy (#355 --> 413)
9. Jerry (#393 --> 447)
10. Jaylen (#206 --> 257)
11. Braylon (#233 --> 279)
12. Emanuel (#261 --> 306)
13. Devon  (#352 --> 397)
14. Reece (#440 --> 485)
15. Braden (#259 --> 303)
16. Raul (#359 ---> 402)
17. Mitchell (#420 --> 463)
18. Jimmy (#418 --> 460)
19. Jaden (#100 --> 140)
20. Corey (#312 --> 351)

Girls:

1. Dulce (#415 --> 574)
2. Mikaela (#452 --> 592)
3. Estrella (#433 --> 562)
4. Danna (#365 --> 490)
5. Audrina (#319 --> 440)
6. Cameron (#443 --> 553)
7. Kiera (#483 --> 590)
8. Savanna (#346 --> 447)
9. Tenley (#424 --> 520)
10. Paola (#479 --> 575)
11. Breanna (#308 --> 403)
12. Kendra (#293 --> 387)
13. Jasmin (#421 --> 515)
14. Kailyn (#399 --> 492)
15. Joselyn (#370 --> 461)
16. Kiley (#423 --> 513)
17. Jayden (#292 --> 380)
18. Liana (#463 --> 546)
19. Sasha (#373 --> 451)
20. Karen (#287 --> 353)

Whoa, Jay-names (and to a lesser extent other -ay-names) down for both genders!  Interesting. 

Biggest percentage decreases of 2012:

Boys:

1. Jacob (1% --> 0.94%)
2. Justin (0.35% --> 0.29%)
3. Tyler (0.44% --> 0.38%)
4. Christopher (0.64% --> 0.59%)
5. Joshua (0.68% --> 0.62%)
6. Anthony (0.7% --> 0.65%)
7. Hayden (0.23% --> 0.17%)
8. Daniel (0.75% --> 0.7%)
9. Jaden (0.19% --> 0.14%)
10. Jonathan (0.5% --> 0.46%)

Girls:

1. Chloe (0.57% --> 5%)
2. Alexis (0.34% --> 0.28%)
3. Addison (0.48% --> 0.42%)
4. Madison (0.64% --> 0.59%)
5. Alyssa (0.31% --> 0.26%)
6. Isabella (1.02%--> 0.99%)
7. Natalie (0.45% --> 0.41%)
8. Nevaeh (0.31% --> 0.28%)
9. Ashley (0.28% --> 0.24%)
10. Makayla (0.23% --> 0.19%)

Hmm, both Hayden & Jaden are on this list (and Jayden  is at #12). Could the -aidens really be on the way out? And classic boys' names (as in, perpetually common) continue to lose ground...

Biggest drops in relative frequency (how much more common they were in 2011):

Boys:

1. Jorden (1.53x)
2. Tremaine (1.44x)
3. Treyton (1.43x)
4. Jerimiah (1.42x)
5. Giovani (1.39x)
6. Lathan (1.39x)
7. Kenyon (1.38x)
8. Kyron (1.38x)
9. Bailey (1.37x)
10. Braedon (1.37x)
11. Yandel (1.36x)
12. Zachery (1.36x)
13. Jovany (1.36x)
14. Branden (1.35x)
15. Jordyn (1.35x)
16. Jaden (1.35x)
17. JohnPaul (1.33x)
18. Jakobe (1.33x)
19. Desean (1.33x)
20. Trevon (1.33x)

Girls:

1. Jaden (1.58x)
2. Dulce (1.49x)
3. Payten (1.47x)
4. Yamilet (1.45x)
5. Shaniya (1.43x)
6. Caleigh (1.41x)
7. Danna (1.4x)
8. Audrina (1.39x)
9. Tegan (1.38x)
10. Estrella (1.38x)
11. Jazmyn (1.37x)
12. Kiersten (1.37x)
13. Shania (1.37x)
14. Tianna (1.36x)
15. Naima (1.36x)
16. Ashton (1.36x)
17. Mikaela (1.35x)
18. Karley (1.34x)
19. Janiah (1.33x)
20. Jaiden (1.33x)

Wow. Overall, Jayden & spelling variants are easily the name decreasing the most, for both genders. Two different spellings for Michaela, Payton, Jordan, Jacob, Giovanni, and Jasmine, too. Hmmm....

What Does 'Change' Mean? (2012) Part III

Change in rankings is one way to gauge change in popularity, and it definitely has its advantages--easy to quantify & easy to understand. However, I find a change in percentage analysis a bit more interesting. It shows just how much more popular a name has gotten.

The biggest gains in usage in 2012 were:

Boys:

1. Liam (0.66% --> 0.83%)
2. Gael (0.034% --> 0.13%)
3. Brantley (0.079% --> 0.13%)
4. Jaxon (0.23% --> 0.31%)
5. Ethan (0.82% --> 0.87%)
6. Jace (0.18% --> 0.23%)
7. Eli (0.355% --> 0.40%)
8. Damian (0.043% --> 0.19%)
9. Henry (0.36% --> 0.40%)
10. Hudson (0.17% --> 0.21%)

Girls:

1. Harper (0.35% --> 0.37%)
2. Emma (0.97% --> 1.08%)
3. Paisley (0.08% --> 0.15%)
4. Aria (0.1% --> 0.17%)
5. Skylar (0.11% --> 0.17%)
6. Aubree (0.15% --> 0.21%)
7. Zoey (0.33% --> 0.39%)
8. Charlotte (0.33% --> 0.39%)
9. Avery (0.38% --> 0.43%)
10. Amelia (0.33% --> 0.37%)

The reason I prefer percentage-change analysis to rankings is that rankings sometimes aren't all that helpful. So Ethan went from #8 to #4 (which is pretty impressive a jump in the top 10, actually)--does that really mean it's that much more common this year than last? Well, no, not really. In 2011 about 8 in 1000 boys were named Ethan, and in 2012 that increased to about 9 in 1000. The top names are actually all very close to each other in usage. 

Which brings me to another fun exercise--relative frequency. While your chances of meeting a baby Ethan haven't really changed all that much, you may have noticed in the lists above that Gael's percentage nearly quadrupled. That's right, you're almost 4x more likely to meet a baby Gael than you were last year.

The biggest risers in relative frequency (only includes names in the Top 1500 for 2012):

Boys:

1. Damoni (5.5x)
2. Jayceon (4.3x)
3. Gael (4x)
4. Jionni (3.9x)
5. Trayvon (3.24x)
6. Brantlee (2.9x)
7. Major (2.83x)
8. Zayn (2.73x)
9. Brantley (2.6x)
10. Jase (2.5x)
11. Brently (2.33x)
12. Gionni (2.32x)
13. Damani (2.3x)
14. Messiah (2.1x)
15. Iker (2x)
16. King (1.97x)
17. Foster (1.96x)
18. Dakari (1.8x)
19. Neymar (1.78x)
20. Kyrie (1.77x)

Girls:

1. Cataleya (22.8x) [no, that is NOT a typo!]
2. Kataleya (19.3x)
3. Adley (5.8x)
4. Litzy (3.34x)
5. Sutton (3.3x)
6. Kenia (2.78x)
7. Batsheva (2.4x)
8. Blakely (2x)
9. Arya (1.96x)
10. Malaysia (1.95x)
11. Monroe (1.9x)
12. Itzayana (1.84x)
13. Zooey (1.8x)
14. Colette (1.8x)
15. Paisley (1.79x)
16. Rosie (1.7x)
17. Kenya (1.7x)
18. Ivory (1.65x)
19. Alyanna (1.65x)
20. Braylee (1.64x)

Gotta say, I have no idea where Damani & Damoni came from. Jionni/Gionni is a bit of a surprise, but a logical successor to Giovanni & its many forms. Brantley & Brentley continue their rise from last year. Could they be Top 100 material in a couple years?

I don't think anyone saw Cataleya coming. Adley, Sutton, Blakely, & Monroe are no surprise, following easily in the modern surnames-for-girls trend. Rosie & Colette are nice surprises.