As the aftermath of 2005's Hurricane Katrina wore on, a flurry of newspaper articles speculated on the storm's likely effect on the name Katrina. Most presumed the name would instantly plummet out of use. According to writers in Fall 2005: "that name will never be the same," "it probably will not make the list of most popular baby names for 2005," and indeed, "Katrinas might want to go by Kate now."
The readers of this site were of the same opinion. In my "Baby Name Pool" contest, only one entrant picked Katrina as a rising name while 18 picked it to fall hard.
It was a natural presumption, but history pointed otherwise. It happens that a month before the storm hit, I wrote a piece on the impact of hurricanes on baby names. The conclusion? Storms are much more likely to boost their given names than sink them. If a name is stylish, the media exposure more than outweighs the negative associations.
Katrina set up to be the ultimate test of this positive naming power. The scope of the destruction and suffering that the storm left behind shook the whole country. Yet the number of baby Katrinas did rise, up 11% to its highest level since 2000. Keep in mind that the hurricane hit on August 29, leaving only four month's worth of babies to be affected. That 11% increase most likely represents a major surge of Autumn Katrinas.
Surprising? Think of it this way: without the storm, only 1 out of every 2000 girls would have been named Katrina. Suppose that all the parents who intended to choose the name changed their minds because of the storm. That still left every single parent-to-be in America reading, speaking and thinking about the name Katrina. It only takes a tiny fraction of them choosing the name to make the overall effect positive.
Comments
I think the topic is interesting. Katrina was a name that I liked, and hearing it more and more it definitely grew on me, but all I could think of was the destruction.
But the fact that the name rose in popularity didn't really suprise me at all, after all, I'm an '83 Alicia.
Interesting. Another semi-hurricane-related thought for you: the name Kanye fell 401 places, from 488 to 889. It's now the fastest fall in one year for boys, according to Behind the Name (http://www.behindthename.com/top/lists/us.php).
Would you attribute this to the infamous "George Bush doesn't care about black people" quote or simply the fact that he didn't have as smashing a year musically in 2005 as he did in 2004? Or would you guess a different reason?
George Bush? What?
I'd attribute it to Kanye West and his gigantic ego.
One of my granddaughters was named Catrina in 1989 (after her mother Catherine). During Hurricane Katrina coverage this year, I asked Catrina how she felt about that hurricane being named Katrina too. Her reply: she felt bad about the hurricane, but thought it was "cool" to hear her name in the news every day. I think Catrina/Katrina is a natural to climb the baby name charts because of its similarity to Caitlin, which has been so popular.
"George Bush? What?
I'd attribute it to Kanye West and his gigantic ego."
Christina, Kanye West gained a great deal of notoriety (for bad or good--IMO good, but then, I'm a liberal) for saying "George Bush doesn't care about black people" on national television just after Hurricane Katrina.
I know Kanye's the one who caused the name to go up the charts so quickly. What I'm wondering if it's simply the fact that he didn't have the same amazing year in music that he did in 2004, or if it could be connected to his big moment on NBC last September.
Argh--it'd be beautiful if I could correctly construct a sentence this afternoon. That final sentence ought to be:
"What I'm wondering the name's sudden drop can be explained simply by the fact that he didn't have the same amazing year in music that he did in 2004, or if it could be connected to his big moment on NBC last September."
Behind the Name.com doesn't mention how it calculates the "biggest drop in popularity". If it's just counting how many places a name fell in the top-1000 list, that could be misleading, as it measures neither the absolute nor the relative actual drop in usage.
Katrina was on AOL's list of top 5 popular baby names according to social security for several weeks after Katrina.
About Katrina, I think the big leap could come next year when the babies conceived as a result of the storm are born.
As for Kanye, I suspect that not many people considering the name for their children were George Bush fans to begin with, so I doubt that had an effect on the name's popularity. I think that since the name is unusual, when Kanye West first broke onto the national scene, people thought, "Wow, what a cool and different name." Now the name is closely identified with a particular celebrity and is thus passe. Who wants to admit to naming his or her child FOR a celebrity?
Talking of Katrina, I came across an article in a magazine discussing the plight of children affected by Hurricane Katrina. These particular children were African-American girls and rejoiced in the names of Tylea, Terrishyn, Fredaija,and Jonetta. Being from the UK, this type of naming is new to me, but my (American) husband assures me that made- up names like these are very popular in the African-American community. Any ideas why?
Valerie: There's a fascinating (but brief) history of African-American naming patterns in "Beyond Jason and Jennifer. Hopefully you can find it at your local library.
Valerie - I would say the African-American community have commonly created their own names to have something of their own. Since their ancestors came here involuntarily, I'm sure many African-Americans may not know what exact country their ancestors came from. So unlike, for instance, an American of Irish descent who might choose Bridget or Aidan for their child, to honor their ancestry, some African-Americans don't have that option so they create new names that sound to them to be more "black".
I may be wrong but that is how I interpret it.
Thanks Laurie and Evie- fascinating!
My names Katrina, and I got a bit of trouble for that after Hurricane Katrina, nonetheless, i still like my name.
My name is Katrina too and before the hurricane I had to spell my name all the time.... after the hurricane people actually shuttered when I told them my name! It's a pretty name though, but I go by Katie and have since birth. I was named in 1974 and I think after my grandmother Katherine.
I hope it comes more popular. I do like my name. When i was in infant and junior school ages 4-11yrs old. I only ever met two Katrina's and one of them was in my class. Over the years since it has become popular and i am hearing it used on tv a lot more. If it was not my name i would consider it for my childs names, but as it is my name i dont fancy having 2 Katrina's in the family. If you like the name then have it.I got into trouble about hurricane Katrina too.
I'm currently in High School, and my name is Katrina. When the hurrican hit people just made fun of me a lot and I like my name. My question would be why do the give Hurricanes names like mine. I mean I consider myself a nice person, and such a violent hurricane has my name.
It's also kind of sad when people ask me how to spell my name especially at starbucks.
ha
My name is Katrina. I have always loved my name. I would not consider changing my name or going by anything else. I think it is a pretty name.
I'm surprised that people actually got trouble for having the name Katrina as a result of the hurricane. Maybe it's because I'm in Canada, but I think only once had someone ever made any connection between my name and the hurricane. I love my name and I think I've come to like it even more after all the media coverage of the hurricane.
My name is Katrina and Im 14, I was considering re-Namine myself but I would just take the name my children will be called: (Kaitlynn,Kaley,Kymberliee,Keira&Kelsi)
Still trying to figure out the search option. I see that some of the references to the name I looked for for my son and daughter-in-law DID come up, but certainly not all of them. I wonder why???
i'm a Katrina too and around the time of the hurricane ppl joked that i was brutal and mean. i don't know it didn't bother me but i don't know why ppl were joking about such a destructive storm...
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