Potentially Hyphenated Names Used for Boys in the US

Have you ever met someone with a double-barreled first name? Two first names strung together by a hyphen? It happens often enough to be a thing, but yet it is still somewhat rare depending on where you live.

There could be a number of reasons why parents would opt for a hyphenated name. Perhaps they couldn't narrow down their favorites and decided to use them all. Perhaps they'd like to honor two people in one name. Or maybe they just like how the two names sound together. Hyphenated names do get used often, even here in the US, however none of them have managed to get enough births per year to rank all that high. The majority of the names on this list have less than 20 births per year.

Since the SSA's data doesn't account for any hyphens and writes it all as one name, it is impossible to know how these names are truly intended to be written. Perhaps the name was meant to be written as one, or maybe the child received two first names rather than a first and a middle.

There could be some that were written with spaces. For example, it is unlikely that Juandedios or Angeldejesus are one word or hyphenated, but that's how it came up in the data. These are probably listed as Juan de Dios and Angel de Jesus in the "first name box".

Again, the data isn't clear. These could be one name. These could be hyphenated. Or these could be spaced as two+ first-names.  Also, I probably missed quite a few of the more foreign ones, but I included a few of them below that seemed most intuitive. Here is what I compiled:

John-Paul  (164 births)

Abdul-Aziz (97 births)
John-Luke (46 births)
John-Michael (35 births)
Abdul-Malik (31 births)
John-David (27 births)
King-James (20 births)
Jesse-James (19 births)
Muhammad-Ali (16 births)
John-Thomas (15 births)
Abdul-Kareem (14 births)
John-Anthony (13 births)
John-Henry (13 births)
John-Patrick (13 births)
King-David (13 births)
John-Carlo (12 births)
John-Carlos (12 births)
Jon-Paul (12 births)
Marc-Anthony (12 births)
Mark-Anthony (11 births)
Michael-Anthony (10 births)
Abdul-Karim (9 births)
Ethan-James (9 births)
Jay-Mason (9 births)
John-Mark (9 births)
John-Robert (9 births)
Jon-Luke (9 births)
Sir-Charles (9 births)
Jay-Anthony (8 births)
John-Daniel (8 births)
John-William (8 births)
Jon-Carlo (8 births)
Jon-Carlos (8 births)
Sean-Patrick (8 births)
Aiden-James (8 births)
James-Michael (7 births)
Joe-Anthony (7 births)
John-Ryan (7 births)
Jon-Michael (7 births)
Joshua-James (7 births)
King-Michael (7 births)
King-Solomon (7 births)
Liam-Gabriel (7 births)
Liam-James (7 births)
Liam-Matthew (7 births)
Liam-Michael (7 births)
Chris-Angel (6 births)
Elijah-James (6 births)
James-Ryan (6 births)
John-Joseph (6 births)
King-Charles (6 births)
King-Elijah (6 births)
Michael-Gabriel (6 births)
Sean-Michael (6 births)
Tyler-James (6 births)
Andrew-James (5 births)
Billy-Joe (5 births)
Carter-James (5 births)
Christian-James (5 births)
Christopher-John (5 births)
David-James (5 births)
Jacob-Anthony (5 births)
James-Dean (5 births)
James-Patrick (5 births)
John-Gabriel (5 births)
John-Wesley (5 births)
Jon-David (5 births)
King-Anthony (5 births)
King-Joseph (5 births)
Lee-Andrew (5 births)
Liam-Alexander (5 births)
Matthew-James (5 births)
Noah-Gabriel (5 births)
Paul-Anthony (5 births)
Prince-Charles (5 births)
Ryan-Paul (5 births)
Sir-William (5 births)

Latin Combination names (Spanish, Italian, even French):
These could be one name. These could be hyphenated. Or these could be spaced as two first names. It is hard to tell from the data. How do you imagine the following names would be written?

Gianluca (158 births)
Miguel-Angel (110 births)
Juan-Carlos (89 births)
Juan-Pablo (87 births)
Jose-Luis (86 births)
Jean-Carlos (75 births)
Michelangelo (74 births)
Jeancarlo (48 births)
Michaelangelo (42 births)
Jose-Manuel (35 births)
Luis-Angel (35 births)
Giancarlos (34 births)
Jose-Angel (33 births)
Juan-Diego (28 births)
Juan-Jose (28 births)
Gianmarco (26 births)
Jose-Maria (23 births)
Jose-Miguel (22 births)
Gianfranco (21 births)
Jean-Paul (21 births)
Jose-Antonio (21 births)
Jean-Pierre (18 births)
Juan-Manuel (16 births)
Marco-Antonio (16 births)
Juan-Antonio (14 births)
Gianlucas (11 births)
Jose-Carlos (10 births)
Jose-Juan (10 births)
Juan de Dios (10 births)
Angel-Gabriel (9 births)
Gianlucca (9 births)
Juan-Angel (9 births)
Juan-Daniel (9 births)
Juan-David (8 births)
Luis-Antonio (8 births)
Gianluigi (7 births)
Jiancarlo (7 births)
Jose-Julian (7 births)
Juan-Luis (7 births)
Luis-Fernando (7 births)
Angel de Jesus (6 births)
Carlos-Daniel (6 births)
Jorge-Luis (6 births)
Jose de Jesus (6 births)
Juan-Andres (6 births)
Luis-Daniel (6 births)
Luis-Enrique (6 births)
Luis-Mario (6 births)
Don-Juan (5 births)
Giankarlo (5 births)
Gianmichael (5 births)
Jose-Daniel (5 births)
Luis-Carlos (5 births)
Luis-Manuel (5 births)
Victor-Hugo (5 births)
Victor-Manuel (5 births)

I suspect that many of these are double first names rather than actually hyphenated, but since we can't know for sure, they have been included here.  Which do you like? Are there any that you think do not flow well together?

Stay tuned for the list of potentially hyphenated girls' names. It is SO much longer than this list!

The Latinate Boys of 2014: Spanish, Italian and Portuguese Names in the Top 1000

Leonardo da Vinci

There is a very large Latin presence in the United States these days. Did you know that there are several Spanish, Italian and Portuguese names for boys that rank within the Top 1000 most popular names?

My favorite of the bunch is listed as the "Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Leonard" on Behind the Name. Leonardo fits all three origin categories with ease and yet it is familiar enough to English ears that it could be considered for American boys who do not have Latin origins. The part-Italian Leonardo DiCaprio has helped make the name more mainstream in America. Interestingly, his name was chosen when his pregnant mother felt him kick for the first time while his parents were viewing a painting by Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo isn't the only name that works across all three of these cultures though.  Below are all of the Latinate names and their popularity rank for the year 2014 in the US.

Let's take a look at the first half of the Top 1000 first:

Angel #67                                         Jose #76 Juan #98 Luis #99 Mateo #106 Jesus #111 Leonardo  #114 Santiago #115 Carlos #117 Giovanni #125 Diego #129 Antonio #139 Miguel #146 Alejandro #157 Luca #185 Jorge #207 Javier #216 Andres #222 Lorenzo #227 Francisco #232 Emiliano #254 Ricardo #256 Eduardo #261 Fernando #263 Manuel #265 Josue #269 Mario #270 Cristian #273 Cesar #279

Emilio #280 Cruz #290 Rafael #293 Sergio #307 Marco #308 Angelo #315 Fabian #325 Joaquin #326 Romeo #341 Roberto #343 Maximiliano #344 Pedro #354 Enzo #369 Adan #373 Matteo #375 Thiago #390 Esteban #392 Pablo #396 Armando #400 Gerardo #402 Marcos #404 Enrique #414 Raul #423 Leonel #430 Hugo #438 Julio #452 Jaime #468 Gustavo #482 Rodrigo #488

Within the Top 500, there are many very handsome, strong and stylish names for boys. Even though these are all of Spanish, Italian or Portuguese origin, some are no doubt given to boys who do not have those ancestries. For example, I could see a blond, blue-eyed boy sporting the names Luca, Cruz or Hugo these days.  It would be inaccurate to claim that all of these Latinate names belong only to those with the corresponding heritage. Do you know anyone with these names?

Here are the names in the second half of the Top 1000 chart in the US for 2014:

Matias #503                                     Alberto #513 Gianni #515 Arturo #518 Alfredo #524 Alonzo #525 Arlo #539 Isaias #547 Neymar #548 Luciano #568 Ezequiel #569 Mauricio #577 Matthias #580 Mathias #582 Salvador #600 Lucian #608 Alessandro #623 Santino #632 Aldo #645 Ramon #647 Ernesto #651 Carmelo #653 Tomas #658 Guillermo #678 Alonso #708 Felipe #713 Lucca #740 Marcelo #741 Vicente #744 Aron #745

Ulises #749 Jadiel #756 Valentino #765 Giovani #769 Rogelio #780 Leandro #784 Vincenzo #812 Franco #817 Giancarlo #823 Alfonso #849 Jairo #865 Crisiano #872 Agustin #879 Rey #884 Santana #887 Ramiro #890 Salvatore #899 Rolando #905 Santos #909 Jovani #920 Maximo #921 Alvaro #922 Jovanni #943 Rodolfo #945 Eliseo #952 Camilo #962 Efrain #963 Deangelo #968 Giovanny #969 Dario #971 Osvaldo #989

While most of these names are still very handsome, strong and stylish, they are also a bit more on the unusual side than the names at the top of the charts.  The one name that stands out in this bunch is Arlo. It is a Spanish name but it has been climbing the charts rapidly in the last couple years which indicates that more than just Spanish boys are being given the name. Do you have any favorites in this bunch?

Unless I missed any, that makes 119 Spanish, Italian or Portuguese names for boys within the Top 1000! Which names do you love, which are you not keen on?

Luciana

To round out Italian Week, let's take a look at a lovely Italian girl name: Luciana.

This name not only has Italian usage, but also Spanish, Portuguese and Ancient Roman.  It is the feminine form of the Latin Lucianus which is a Roman family name. It is derived from Lucius which comes from the Latin word lux meaning "light".

For girls, names like Lucia, Lucilla, Lucetta, Lucinda, Lucienne and Lucy are all related to Luciana. Male variations include Luciano, Lucianus, Lucius, Lucio and Lucian.  Of these, Lucia is hot in Spain.

Luciana has a couple different pronunciations. The Italians say loo-CHAH-nah and the Spanish will say loo-THYAH-nah or loo-SYAH-nah. You'll probably hear the last one most in the US.

In the US, Luciana has occasionally been used since 1897. It was very sporadic and with only a handful of births per year until there was a sudden boost from 1974-1977.  1976 was the biggest year with 317 births and a ranking of #546.

Luciana has only ranked in the Top 1000 from 1974-1976 and from 2006 -2013.  Most recently, there were 572 births in 2013 for a ranking of #515. This is the most the name has ever been used!  With Lucy being an appealing nickname, Lucia (#241) and Luciana will probably continue to gain usage in the near future.

What do you think of the lovely Luciana? Do you prefer Lucia or just Lucy instead?  What would you name her siblings? What middle names might you give her? Here are a few ideas:

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Alessandra, Bianca, Constance, Graciela, Magdalena, Noelle, Serena
Brothers: Antonio, Constantine, Leonardo, Matteo, Raul, Teodoro, Victor

Middle Name Ideas:
Luciana Claire
Luciana Pearl
Luciana Rose
Luciana Violet

As a Middle Name:
Ada Luciana
Emma Luciana
Maren Luciana
Vivian Luciana

World-Wide Wednesday: Italian Baby Names

Family is very important in Italy. So much so that there has been a very strong custom in place for how parents are expected to name their children.

• The first male is named after his paternal grandfather.
• The second male is named after his maternal grandfather.
• The first female is named after her paternal grandmother.
• The second female is named after her maternal grandmother.

Any further children would then be named either for their parents, for a favorite aunt or uncle, for a saint, or for a deceased relative. There are always exceptions to this custom but this is typically the pattern that has been traditionally in use. If there was a child who died at a young age, for instance the first born son Emilio, his name would probably be reused for the next boy that was born in order to honor his paternal grandfather Emilio again.

Sometimes if the first born was a girl, they'd use a female variation of the paternal grandfather's name. The pattern wasn't always followed in the exact same way from family to family. This makes predicting ancestry records a bit more complicated than you may expect.

These traditions could be confusing when more than one of a man's sons named their first born sons after him. Then you'd have cousins with the same name. This happened frequently so to distinguish the boys from one another, nicknames were used. In some small towns where naming traditions are still upheld, the nickname trend is still in use. These nicknames tend to come from some kind of personal characteristic among other things.

If the above traditions weren't followed for some reason, you could probably bet money that the children all had a saint's name, especially if the family was Italian Catholic.

The majority of typical male Italian names end in -o but there are some that also end in -e, -a or -i like Salvatore, Luca or Giovanni. If it ever ends with a consonant, the origin is probably foreign such as Cristian or Oscar. Female names mostly end with -a but there are also some that end with -e or -i.  Often, names will have a diminutive ending on them such as -ino/-ina, -etto/-etta, -ello/-ella, or -uccio/-uccia. Many male names have the prefix Gian- (John) or Pier- (Peter) in names like Gianluca or Giancarlo and Pierpaolo or Pierangelo. The feminine name Maria was also occasionally given to boys like Gianmaria or Anton Maria.

Over time, the most common given names have been the following:

• For males: Marco, Giuseppe, Antonio, Luca, Alessandro, Giovanni, Roberto, Andrea, Stefano, Francesco, Mario, Luigi.
• For females: Anna, Maria, Sara, Laura, Valentina, Giulia, Rosa, Giuseppina, Angela, Giovanna.

Modern Italian names may have roots that come from ancient Latin names, but they tend to not be entirely equivalent. Most Latin-based origins such as Italian, Spanish, and French will have some correlation, of course, but there tends to be a big stylistic difference between names viewed as Italian and names considered Latin or Roman. Ancient Romans had a limited inventory of given names that they used so very few modern Italian names are actually derived directly from the classical Roman names.

As far as surnames go, Italians actually have the largest collection of surnames in the world. There are over 350,000 surnames in use. Men in ancient Rome began to inherit a specific surname around the year 1450. In 1564, it became mandatory to register baptismal names and marriages in parishes.

A very large amount of Italian surnames end with the letter -i. This is said to have started as a medieval habit of identifying a whole family by pluralizing their name with the letter -i on the end. Even if the family name was Ormanno, they were known as the Ormanni. So Lorenzo from the Ormanno family would be known as Lorenzo degli Ormanni which means "Lorenzo of the Ormannos". Eventually, the possessive portion of the name phrase that was used to identify someone ("of the") was dropped. They just remained pluralized: Lorenzo of the Ormannos was just Lorenzo Ormanni.  Many of these family names were originally rather patronymic indicating ancestry through the paternal line such as Francesco de Bernardo meaning "Francis the son of Bernard". He would later just be known as Francesco Bernardi.

Some surnames originated as place names. People would only have first names and they'd be known by where they lived, whether it was a town, a geographical marker like a mountain or some other landmark like a tower. For example, the Rosa who lived in the town of Vinci would eventually be named Rosa da Vinci. Sometimes, ancestors' occupations determined a surname: Contadino which means "farmer" or Marin which means "sea" and indicates a fisherman. Other times, physical characteristics gave rise to surnames: Rossi comes from rosso which means "redhead".  Occasionally, you'll find an Italian family surname that has preserved its Medieval Latin form such as De Laurentiis.

Now, as for modern baby names, here are the current Top 10 names per gender in Italy:

Girls                                                 1 Sofia 2 Giulia 3 Giorgia 4 Martina 5 Emma 6 Aurora 7 Sara 8 Chiara 9 Gaia 10 Alice

Boys 1 Francesco 2 Alessandro 3 Andrea 4 Lorenzo 5 Matteo 6 Mattia 7 Gabriele 8 Leonardo 9 Riccardo 10 Davide

What do you think of these Italian baby names? For an even more extensive list of traditional name ideas, be sure to look at Behind The Name's wonderful list.

[Note:] As far as I know, I am not Italian. I have never had the pleasure of visiting Italy and I unfortunately have never learned the language. If any of this information is incorrect or lacking, please let me know so corrections can be made. 

Source | Source | Source | Source 

Lorenzo

Welcome to Italian week! On Wednesday, we'll look at Italian baby naming traditions, and Friday will bring a lovely girls name. Today, we're looking at the Italian boy name Lorenzo.

Lorenzo is actually both the Italian and Spanish form of the Latin Laurentius or Laurence. This name means "from Laurentum" which is a city in ancient Italy probably derived the Latin word laurus meaning "laurel".  

In history, Lorenzo de Medici was the ruler of Florence during the Renaissance. He was known as the Magnificent and was a patron of the arts. He actually employed great artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli and others. Click here to view other namesakes in history.

Lorenzo currently ranks #4 in Italy and short-form Enzo ranks at #4 in France.  Renzo is another nickname option or even Leo.

This name has always done fairly well in the US too! It is one of those exotic but not too exotic choices that parents love. Since 1880, Lorenzo has consistently ranked in the 200-400 range. As of 2013, it ranked at #237 representing 1,498 total male births.

What do you think of Lorenzo? Which nicknames would you use? What middle name might you pair with it? What would his siblings be named?  Here are a few ideas that I came up with:

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Cristina, Emilia, Isabella, Juliana, Marina, Sophia, Viviana
Brothers: Antonio, Dominic, Francisco, Julian, Luca, Reuben, Vincent

Middle Name Ideas:
Lorenzo Daniel
Lorenzo Elliott
Lorenzo Marcus
Lorenzo Raphael

As a Middle Name:
Felix Lorenzo
Nathan Lorenzo
Peter Lorenzo
Victor Lorenzo

Cara

The name Cara comes from an Italian word of endearment that means "beloved". In Latin, Cara means "friend" which is also true for the Irish Gaelic origination. However, the Spanish word cara means "face" and the word kara means "dark" in Turkey. On the Isle of Man, in traditional baby naming books, Cara referred to "a songster".

My name is Kara and I pronounce it CARE-uh. Most people that I meet initially say CAR-uh, though, which is something to ponder. Behind the Name gives three different pronunciations for Cara: KAHR-ə (English), KER-ə (English), KAH-rah (German).  Baby Names Hub has an extensive list of comments from ladies named Cara who have shared their experience with the name and its [mis]pronunciations. Many of them also mentioned how often this name can get confused for Sara, Tara, Clara, Karen or Carol. Keep that in mind if you are considering this name. Variants of this name include Kara and Karaugh; diminutives include Carina and Karyna. Cara can also be used as a short form of Caroline and Charlotte.

Cara has been used in the US since 1882 but it did not gain popularity until the 1950s. It boomed once the 1970s hit and it enjoyed the ride until it began declining again in 1994. Presently, Cara is down to just 402 births for the year 2012 which ranks the name at #695.

The name Kara wasn't used in the US until 1931 but it actually caught on a couple years earlier than Cara and has continued its popularity ride up until it finally began to decline in 2010. As of 2012, Kara is still ranked higher than Cara. Kara had 850 births and sits at #365.

Revision: As of 2016, Cara ranked at #807 with 350 births for the year. Kara ranked at #498 with 622 births. Right now, the K is the favored spelling. Do you pronounce these the same?

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Alexis, Emma, Hannah, Jenna, Leah, Nicole, Tessa
Brothers: Andrew, Brian, Colin, Eric, Luke, Ryan, Sean

Middle Name Ideas:
Cara Abigail
Cara Elizabeth
Cara Jane
Cara Michelle
Cara Selene
Cara Yvonne

Which name do you like more? What middle name would you pair with them?

Original Post: 1/24/14
Revised: 5/14/17

Leonora

Leonora is the Italian short form of the name Eleonora or Eleanor. It comes from the Occitan name Aliénor which comes from the Ancient Germanic name Aenor. Its meaning is unknown. Check out the family tree to see which other names are related!

With boys names like Leo, Leonard, Leonardo and Leonidas starting to gain more and more popularity, could this feminine "leo" name follow suit? She is not related to these leonine names but she does start with the same three letters. Even if Leo is more of a boy thing, Leonora could go by Leo if she's tomboyish. It could also be spelled Leanora to get the Lea nickname instead. But the adorable nickname Nora is always a great option! With Eleanor making strides, I don't see why Leonora couldn't follow!

In line with this week's post about operatic baby names, Leonora is a distinctive choice. She has appeared in three major operas! She was a heroine in both Beethoven's Fidelio and Verdi's Il Trovatore. There was also an opera titled Leonora by William Henry Fry, and a ballad by Gottfried August Burger called Lenore which is another form of Leonora.  Along with a few novels with this name as the title and a few characters in film, Leonora is a great historical and cultured name.

Source

This name ranked in the Top 1000 US Names from 1880-1943 but has since lost its luster. As of 2012, there were only 29 girls given this name which ranks it at #4880. Leonora would be a beautiful and unique choice for a modern baby girl!

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Antonia, Dorothea, Francesca, Gabriella, Josephina, Raphaela, Veronica
Brothers: Alessandro, Donovan, Florian, Giovanni, Maximilian, Richard, William

Middle Name Ideas: 
Leonora Camille
Leonora Celeste
Leonora Estelle
Leonora June
Leonora Sibyl

As a Middle Name:
Beatrice Leonora
Grace Leonora
Juno Leonora
Neve Leonora
Sylvie Leonora

What would you pair with this elegant name?

Top Baby Names from Switzerland in 2012

It is always fun to take a look at what kind of names are popular in other parts of the world. Sometimes, us American bloggers get so caught up writing about the Top US names that we forget to look around.

In 2012, there were 82,164 live births in Switzerland. 39,729 were girls and 42,435 were boys. Below are the top names for the babies born to parents who speak French, German and Italian but live within Switzerland.

It is so interesting that these names can come from one country and yet differ so greatly between the three languages. One thing is certain, they all tend to favor the "L" sound in many of these favorite names!  Take a look at the top 16 names for each language!

French-Speaking Switzerland:

Boys:
1. Gabriel
2. Luca
3. Thomas
4. Noah
5. Nathan
6. Lucas
7. Samuel
8. Theo

Girls:
1. Emma
2. Léa
3. Chloé
4. Zoé
5. Lara
6. Eva
7. Charlotte
8. Clara

German-Speaking Switzerland:

Boys:
1. Noah
2. Luca
3. David
4. Leon
5. Leandro
6. Nico
7. Levin
8. Julian

Girls:
1. Mia
2. Alina
3. Laura
4. Julia
5. Anna
6. Emma
7. Leonie
8. Lena

Italian-Speaking Switzerland:

Boys:
1. Gabriel
2. Alessandro
3. Leonardo
4. Matteo
5. Nathan
6. Samuele
7. Elia
8. Samuel

Girls:
1. Sofia
2. Alice
3. Emma
4. Elisa
5. Giulia
6. Martina
7. Giada
8. Giorgia

I think I would side with the French-Speaking list but they are all pretty great! Which do you like best?

Source | Source | Source