Interesting Name Facts with Julie Hackett

The use of flower names for girls in the English-speaking world can be traced back to the Romantic period of the 18th and 19th centuries, which brought about a renewed interest in nature and its beauty.

The delicacy and vibrancy of flowers became symbols of female grace and beauty. This cultural shift towards appreciating the  beauty of nature influenced the emerging popularity of flower names for girls during this time.

By the Victorian era (1837-1901), there was a fascination with Floriography ("the language of flowers").  Flowers were assigned specific meanings, and young people would use them to communicate forbidden feelings and emotions through floral arrangements and bouquets. Think of Floriography as a primitive form of Snapchat.

By the turn of the 20th century,...

River - as a personal name - is gender-neutral in America. It is currently ranked #105 for boys and #150 for girls. It's been in circulation since the early 20th century, but it really took off in the 1990s (for boys) and then from 2010 onward for girls.

The premature death of 23-year-old actor River Phoenix in October 1993 is what caught people's attention. The name was suddenly all over the news. It hit the Top 1000 list of boy names for the first time in 1994, after jumping an astounding 730 positions up the charts...

Did you know that William Shakespeare is credited with adding literally hundreds of new words to the English language? In many cases, he turned nouns into verbs (like gossip, elbow and friend) he added the "un-" prefix (unaware, undress, unreal), he put words together (bedroom, lackluster) or created funny descriptors "green-eyed" (jealousy) and "wild-goose chase" (a hopeless quest).⁣

Back in the day - around the 11th century - as the concentration of given names grew denser, the monarchy needed a way to distinguish among the many Johns, Roberts and Williams in a village - so that he could tax them properly. So, men were given identifiers, one of which was their occupation. That way, everyone knew who John (the) Baker vs. John (the) Miller.

Martin Luther King, Jr. would have turned 92 years old this year. Let's take a look at the name Martin, one part warrior, one part saint.