I wanted to add another data point to the discussion of the resurgence Odin and German culture from last week (https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/187900.html?thread=31467004#cmt31467004) as well as some general data points from looking at currently popular baby names in the USA.
Detailed current and historical baby name data in the USA is available through the Social Security website: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/
Focusing first on Odin and Norse culture becoming more prevalent—Odin has had a great surge of popularity as a name in recent years.
Odin entered the top 1000 names in 2008 and has been rising every year since then. It ranked in the top 350 names for boys born in the USA in 2021, with 999 American baby boys named Odin last year. Freya has been rising too, even faster. Freya first ranked in the top 1000 in 2013, and last year reached #152, with 1,853 girls born with the name. The Freyja spelling entered the top 1000 in 2019 and ranked #709 last year, with 402 girls given the name Freyja.
Surprisingly to me, Thor does not rank in the top 1000. (Loki doesn’t either!)
Broadening from the Germanic theme, I noticed some other notable or surprising deity/entity names in the top 1000 in the USA for 2021:
Boys:
Atlas (ranked #149) Adonis (#223) Orion (#314) Ares (#513) Titan (#741) Castiel (#809) Azrael (#837) Aries (#915) Azriel (#921) Osiris (#948) Azael (#949) (appears to be a version of Azazel) Cain (#956)
Girls:
Luna (#11) Athena (#98) Lilith (#268) Itzel (#561) Selene (#721) Persephone (#778) Artemis (#865) Mazikeen (#947, fictional but disturbing, so I had to include—she’s a demon in some TV show called Lucifer)
Picking a year at random to contrast, in 2001 the only boys’ names from the ones I listed above that ranked in the top 1000 were Adonis and Orion. The only girls’ names that ranked were Athena and Itzel (a Mexican goddess).
There’s definitely been a culture shift with powerful pagan god/goddess names gaining in prominence. Outcasts or controversial figures from the Bible or related lore are also appearing for the first time as common names (Cain, Lilith, Azrael).
I’m happy to see Luna, Athena, Freya, and so on gaining popularity. I find the Odin/Freya popularity fascinating.
But I do find it a little foreboding that two spellings for the god of war, two spellings for the angel of death, and several demons rank among the top 1000 names in the US for babies.
no subject
Detailed current and historical baby name data in the USA is available through the Social Security website: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/
Focusing first on Odin and Norse culture becoming more prevalent—Odin has had a great surge of popularity as a name in recent years.
Odin entered the top 1000 names in 2008 and has been rising every year since then. It ranked in the top 350 names for boys born in the USA in 2021, with 999 American baby boys named Odin last year. Freya has been rising too, even faster. Freya first ranked in the top 1000 in 2013, and last year reached #152, with 1,853 girls born with the name. The Freyja spelling entered the top 1000 in 2019 and ranked #709 last year, with 402 girls given the name Freyja.
Surprisingly to me, Thor does not rank in the top 1000. (Loki doesn’t either!)
Broadening from the Germanic theme, I noticed some other notable or surprising deity/entity names in the top 1000 in the USA for 2021:
Boys:
Atlas (ranked #149)
Adonis (#223)
Orion (#314)
Ares (#513)
Titan (#741)
Castiel (#809)
Azrael (#837)
Aries (#915)
Azriel (#921)
Osiris (#948)
Azael (#949) (appears to be a version of Azazel)
Cain (#956)
Girls:
Luna (#11)
Athena (#98)
Lilith (#268)
Itzel (#561)
Selene (#721)
Persephone (#778)
Artemis (#865)
Mazikeen (#947, fictional but disturbing, so I had to include—she’s a demon in some TV show called Lucifer)
Picking a year at random to contrast, in 2001 the only boys’ names from the ones I listed above that ranked in the top 1000 were Adonis and Orion. The only girls’ names that ranked were Athena and Itzel (a Mexican goddess).
There’s definitely been a culture shift with powerful pagan god/goddess names gaining in prominence. Outcasts or controversial figures from the Bible or related lore are also appearing for the first time as common names (Cain, Lilith, Azrael).
I’m happy to see Luna, Athena, Freya, and so on gaining popularity. I find the Odin/Freya popularity fascinating.
But I do find it a little foreboding that two spellings for the god of war, two spellings for the angel of death, and several demons rank among the top 1000 names in the US for babies.