Our intrepid and ever inventive friend Nephele now ventures back to the future and into the fantastic territory of Steampunk names.

Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that presents an alternative future or universe in which modern-day type inventions and conveniences are propelled by steam or inventive clockwork mechanisms.  Dirigible airships are also iconic to steampunk.

Although the steampunk movement emerged in the 1980s, there have also been novels, movies, and television series which are today identified as steampunk (or containing steampunk elements) that predate the actual coining of the term. 

The steampunk movement has inspired an entire subculture consisting of enthusiasts who meet at steampunk conventions and who tend to dress in fabulous fashions that meld a futuristic look with 19th century Victoriana.  Much of steampunk fashion incorporates goggles (the apparent badge of the Victorian scientist/adventurer).  Steampunk jewelry features clockwork motifs. 

The names in the following list include typical steampunk names (names which were in vogue during the latter half of the 19th century), character names appearing in popular works containing steampunk elements, and names of noted authors who have influenced the steampunk literary movement.

BOYS

• ALEKSANDAR – the young hero of Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan series.
• AMBROSE
• ARRONAX – from Professor Pierre Aronnax, a scientist in Jules Verne‘s, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
• ARTEMUS – after Artemus Gordon, secret agent partner to Jim West in the television series and movie, The Wild, Wild West.
• AUGUSTUS
• BARTHOLOMEW
• BERTRAM
• BLAYLOCK – a name honoring early steampunk author James P. Blaylock.
• BRISCO – the cowboy hero in the television series The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
• BYRON
• CORNELIUS
• CYRUS
• EMERSON
• GRANVILLE

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Yesterday, we looked at the girls’ names, and today, as promised, it’s the boys’ turn.  Again, we present the Top 10 baby names for every letter of the alphabet—from Anthony to Zecheriah—compiled by nameberry’s own Nephele.  (The U.S. Social Security Administration’s complete names lists spanning a 130-year period were used in the tabulation of these special statistics.)

And again, there are some listings you might find surprising: even more nickname names, with Billy and Bobby both among the ten most popular ‘B’ names, Willie  the Number 3 ‘W’ name, and twice as many Larrys as Lawrences.  Almost a dozen Latino names appear, but no José (blame the profusion of other popular J-boys for crowding it out); and four different spellings of Zachary make the list.  As compared with the girls’ statistics, there are more top names racking up much greater numbers, with several of the male classics being given to two, three, four and even five million boys over time.

Here, the full roster of  Top 10 names for each starting initial:

A

1. Anthony 1,335,664

2. Andrew 1,192,233

3. Alexander 542,038

4. Arthur 518,307

5. Aaron 515,997

6. Adam 507,633

7. Albert 481,705

8. Austin 357,449

9. Alan 326,687

10. Allen 259,359

B

1. Brian 1,142,501

2. Brandon 705,063

3. Benjamin 626,514

4. Billy 379,598

5. Bruce 376,645

6. Bryan 356,776

7. Bobby 310,269

8. Bradley 286,800

9. Bernard 197,528

10. Barry 179,089

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We often look at the name stats of the most popular girls’ names for a year, or even a decade, but sometimes it’s enlightening to take a longer view.  Our ever resourceful and creative contributor Nephele has taken on the task of tabulating what the highest numbers of names were given to babies for each letter of the alphabet over the 130 year-period from 1880 to 2009. (Whew!– 1,430,841 Lindas!  592,450 Pamelas!)

There are some interesting surprises– even taking into consideration how the percentages for top names has changed over the years—such as the fact that there have been twice as many Annas as Anns (ethnic impact), that Bertha tops Beatrice, that Ida squeaks past Isabella (though probably not for much longer), that half of the top K names relate to Katherine, and that Ashley is the second highest ‘A’ name over the whole period.  And of course, with lesser used letters, you’ll find some highly unusual choices on the list: 352 Uyens were enough to push their name into the Top 10.

So here, for your perusal, the Top 10 most popular girls’ names for every letter of the alphabet, followed by the total number given over that entire period.  Boys will follow tomorrow.

A

1. Anna 844,721

2. Ashley 810,539

3. Amanda 775,095

4. Amy 673,333

5. Angela 650,496

6. Alice 536,538

7. Ann 466,050

8. Andrea 407,937

9. Amber 361,061

10. Annie 341,551

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Nameberry’s own Nephele, known for her wonderfully clever and generous anagramming skills, has been studying the lower depths of the popularity list and gives us a report on some of the surprises she found there.

Now that the Social Security Administration has released its annual baby names listings beyond the top 1,000 (including all names that had at least five occurrences in any given year), names researchers can better track the influence of popular culture on our names.

For example, a girl’s name appearing in 2009 for the first time on the SSA lists is “Greidys” – with an astonishing count of 186 baby girls having been given that name in 2009.  Its variants “Greydis” and “Greidy” also appear for the first time on the 2009 list, again in the astonishing numbers of 100 and 25 occurrences respectively.

Another girl’s name appearing in 2009 for the first time on the SSA lists is “Chastelyn” with 150 occurrences.  Its variants “Shastelyn” and “Chastelin” also appear for the first time in 2009, with 34 and 33 occurrences respectively.

While we may expect new names to appear on the SSA lists each year, these new names generally don’t have more than a dozen occurrences, if even that.  Why are the names “Greidys” and “Chastelyn” (with their variants) suddenly so prominent in their first appearance on the SSA list?

Our Latin friends can answer that question easily enough.  These names shot to popularity with those who watch the Spanish television network Univision’s reality TV show called Nuestra Belleza Latina * (which translates into “Our Latin Beauty”).  The winning contestant in the show’s third season (2009) was a Latin beauty from Cuba, named Greidys Gil.  Another popular contestant was Chastelyn Rodriguez from Puerto Rico.  And thus were two new names embraced by American moms (or dads!) in search of baby names.

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Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) is a beloved children’s picture book author and illustrator whose stories have an enduring charm that will no doubt continue to delight readers well beyond our 21st century. 

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