Quebec's 2011 Names
I just saw that Quebec has posted its 2011 name rankings. The data are collected based on the names indicated by the parents on applications for child assistance payment. Unlike the US listings, this list includes every name given to at least one child, so there are quite a few noteworthy ones that show up, particularly in the double-barrelled selections! There are 17,142 entries in total.
Quebec has a very interesting mix of names due to the preponderance of French, along with a variety of distinct ethnic groups. Here is a very very small sample of the more out-there names. I've mostly left out names that are interesting in English but that have clear cultural origins. There are so many great entries but I can't possibly read them all tonight. I recommend glancing through the full list, but if you are not inclined to do that, the beginning is very interesting, too, because it shows that even though Quebec borders the US, there are some similarities and a lot of differences when it comes to baby naming.
- Corhalie-Karenta
- Chiraz-Alissar
- Creesha-Sage
- Danyka-Maude
- Divine Avandra
- Tchecesse
- Wideberlyne
- Wincy Faith
- Ycialyanna
- Zully Elvira
- Zephaniah Sarina
- Hantz Wesbert
- Etua Aniikkaalik
- Ferwin Clarence
- Hatlens-Sebastien
- Kirsten Johnny
- Vanexcel (missing a hyphen or space?)
- Tionatathe
- Ritchley-Francis
- A whole lotta boys with Jr or Junior written as part of the given name
- and my personal favourite: Condoleezza-Chanel
Fri, 04/27/2012 - 2:30am
Replies
All I can say is wow! My children really would be the only ones in their class with their given name if these are the kinds of things the rest of the class has. I'd also hate to be the teacher because I can't pronounce half of these.
Wow! I haven't gotten through the entire list - it does get a bit overwhelming after a while - but this is a real treasure trove. Thanks for posting! Anyone who enjoys French names should check out the link and savor the lesser-known-in-English gems, and anyone interested in multiculturalism in general should find it fascinating to see the balance of names from French-speaking, English-speaking and other cultures.
Just a few things that jumped out at me:
- Boys' names ending in -ic (and spelling variations therof): Loic, Emeric, Mederick, Ludovic, Yannick and Maverick (including some very interesting spelling variations of the last) - I wonder if some of these might have cross-over potential for popularity in the U.S.
- Several hyphenated girls' names that I assume must have specific cultural references since the individual pieces are not extremely popular: Kelly-Ann and Sarah-Maude high on the list, and a little further down Lea-Kim and Audrey-Anne (all with myriad spelling variations)
- Laurence as a girls' name ranked very high. This is my father's name, and while I was aware that the French male version is Laurent, meaning Laurence should be a female name in French, I've never heard of or met any female Laurences. The high ranking is also interesting to me since the other Laur- names and -ence names don't seem especially popular. Again, I wonder if there's a particular cultural reference that keeps this name a favorite. The only thing I can think of is what we call the St. Lawrence Seaway in English, and that doesn't seem a likely inspiration.
- Many names that I think of as extremely common or familiar are ranked very low - for example, only two Anns were born, and there are equal numbers (1 each) of classic Virginia and exotic Vassilissa!
- Plenty of creative spellings, perhaps amplified by the challenge of trying to make the name sound the same, or at least still pleasant or not counter-intuitive, in both French and English. I was particularly struck by the proliferation of spellings for names transliterated from Arabic, Hebrew and Sanskrit, beyond what I notice here in the U.S.
- There are quite a few completely unfamiliar names for me. A few of them I'm guessing are from First Nations languages, and I'm curious to know more about them.
Altogether, the list has brought home how very little I know about this part of North America. I do love Quebecois music though, so maybe it's time to visit and do some exploring!
- kalmia (posting not logged in, since my comments seem to be vanishing on their way to moderation - this is my third try to respond, but hopefully having bumped the thread to the top of the page, your link will get some more attention!)
I know a female Laurence (pronounced lor-AHNS). She mostly goes by Lauren among her English-speaking friends.
I agree, Karyn: Condoleezza-Chanel is a gem! It's quite a tribute to Dr. Rice, don't you think?
What an amazing list! Thanks for sharing.
Kalmia (and Karyn) - I can't help with many of these, but Etua Aniikkaalik is almost certainly Inuit or Innu (from the northern most and northeastern parts of Quebec), while Tionatathe looks more like one of the languages spoken in the south and west of the province (Algonkian, but that's a huge family of languages). If there's someone who knows more than me, I'd like to know about these ones!
Tchecesse might sound a bit like Je-sess or Jessessa, but that's as much as I've got :)
Laurence sounds very similar to the highly popular Florence, so I think it's related to the 'aure' or 'or' sound (and the 'ence'), rather than Laura et al.-- Coralie (#21), Laurie (#41), and Aurelie (#46).
Maude is #76, but is coming down from about 20 years as a highly popular name, so I think the combos with Maude are a reflection of that. Audrey is #86, Kelly #118, and Anne #139, but I do agree that there are plenty of combos more popular than the base name. All I can think of is that Quebec seems quite enamored of the three-syllable name at the moment, hence Kelly-Ann over the other options.