Is your name Jeremy? Do you live in (or near) Boston? If so, you can attend a Kentucky Derby party for free tomorrow afternoon. The Sporting Club — a bar located at Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport — is hosting its 3rd annual Kentucky Derby party from 3 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 4. This year, to honor the racehorse “Lucky Jeremy,” who has a 500-1 odds of winning the top prize in U.S. horse racing, any person with the name Jeremy can enter free of charge and be treated like a VIP with complimentary food, The Sporting Club said. People who are not named Jeremy can buy tickets online (while t ..read more

Shelby Lynne album According to the U.S. baby name data, usage of the name Shelby increased sharply among baby girls (and moderately among baby boys) from 1989 to 1991: Girls named Shelby Boys named Shelby 1992 9,396 [rank: 34th] 453 [rank: 474th] 1991 10,219† [rank: 33rd] 524† [rank: 427th] 1990 3,517 [rank: 100th] 354 [rank: 525th] 1989 1,203 [rank: 229th] 205 [rank: 694th] 1988 881 [rank: 284th] 184 [rank: 691st] †Peak usage That surge of over 6,700 baby girls from 1990 to 1991 was the biggest raw-number increase of the year. (The next-biggest jump was made by Mariah.) Here ..read more

Flag of Poland Last year, the European country of Poland welcomed approximately 272,000 babies. What were the most popular names among all these babies? Zofia and Nikodem. Here are Poland’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023: Girl names Zofia, 4,968 baby girls Zuzanna, 4,800 Laura, 4,602 Hanna, 4,565 Maja, 4,461 Julia, 4,254 Oliwia, 3,846 Pola, 3,692 Alicja, 3,593 Maria, 3,137 Lena, 2,966 Antonina, 2,912 Emilia, 2,785 Amelia, 2,759 Klara, 2,660 Michalina, 2,644 Iga, 2,563 Liliana, 2,561 Wiktoria, 2,531 Helena, 2,511 Marcelina, 2,351 Gabriela, 1,883 Aleksandra, 1,878 Nela, 1,768 Ko ..read more

LaBradford Smith The long name Labradford, which first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1987, saw its highest usage in the late ’80s and early ’90s: 1993: unlisted 1992: 7 baby boys named Labradford 1991: 18 baby boys named Labradford 1990: 17 baby boys named Labradford 1989: 13 baby boys named Labradford 1988: 14 baby boys named Labradford 5 born in Kentucky specifically 1987: 5 baby boys named Labradford [debut] 1986: unlisted Where did it come from? College basketball player LaBradford Smith. From 1987 to 1991, the Texas native attended the University of Louisville, where he “wou ..read more

Henry Ossawa Tanner Henry Ossawa Tanner, who was born in Pittsburgh in 1859, became the first African-American artist to achieve international recognition. Where did the painter’s unusual middle name come from? His parents, Benjamin and Sarah Tanner, coined it to commemorate the 1856 Battle of Osawatomie, during which white abolitionist John Brown tried to defend the Kansas town of Osawatomie from pro-slavery “border ruffians.” John Brown’s heroic struggle symbolized for black people their quest for freedom. Thus, for Benjamin and Sarah, Ossawa embodied the hope for emancipation. The town’s ..read more

Oveta Culp Hobby (c. 1953) According to the U.S. baby name data, the rare name Oveta saw its highest usage during the 1950s: 1955: 11 baby girls named Oveta 1954: 12 baby girls named Oveta 1953: 14 baby girls named Oveta (peak usage) 1952: 7 baby girls named Oveta 1951: unlisted Why? My guess is Texas-born government official Oveta (pronounced oh-VEE-tuh) Culp Hobby. In April of 1953, she was appointed by Dwight Eisenhower as the first secretary of the newly formed U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. This made Oveta the second woman to hold a U.S. Cabinet position. (The first ..read more

Flag of the United Kingdom Last year, the country of Scotland — which covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain — welcomed nearly 46,000 babies. What were the most popular names among these babies? Isla and Luca. Here are Scotland’s top 50+ girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2023: Girl names Isla, 274 baby girls Olivia, 266 Freya, 254 Emily, 232 Amelia, 225 Ella, 213 Charlotte, 210 Millie, 206 Grace, 205 Ava, 203 Lily, 201 Aria, 190 Sophie, 189 Orla, 173 Maisie, 166 Sophia, 164 Rosie, 155 Ivy, 149 Evie, 146 Lucy, 141 Sofia, 140 Harper, 139 Willow, 138 Bonnie, 128 Jessica, 123 ..read more

The solar eclipse as seen from Dallas, Texas Alicia Alvarez of Fort Worth, Texas, gave birth to a baby girl on April 8, 2024 — more than a week ahead of her due date, and about a half an hour before the start of the solar eclipse. As it happens, she and her husband Carlos have a four-year-old daughter, Luna Laura, whose first name means “moon” in Spanish. So, for their second daughter, they were already considering the celestially themed first name Sol (Spanish for “sun”). Alicia said: “I loved how the sun and the moon sounded together. I was like, ‘Oh, that’s [a] perfect name.’ And then just ..read more

Commercial for Zena Jeans If you look at the popularity graph for the baby name Zena, you’ll see two conspicuous increases in usage: the first in the 1960s (thanks to an actress named Zina), the second in the 1990s (thanks to a warrior princess named Xena). It’s slightly harder to see that Zena doubled in usage from 1979 to 1980, and sustained that elevated usage for several years: 1983: 47 baby girls named Zena 1982: 58 baby girls named Zena 1981: 54 baby girls named Zena 1980: 51 baby girls named Zena 1979: 24 baby girls named Zena 1978: 28 baby girls named Zena 1977: 24 baby girls named Ze ..read more

Flag of California Sonoma County is the northernmost county in the San Francisco Bay Area region. Last year, Sonoma welcomed 4,463 babies. What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Mateo. Here are Sonoma’s top 50 girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2023: Girl names Olivia, 20 baby girls Camila, 19 (tie) Mia, 19 (tie) Emily, 16 (3-way tie) Mila, 16 (3-way tie) Sophia, 16 (3-way tie) Aurora, 15 (4-way tie) Isabella, 15 (4-way tie) Sofia, 15 (4-way tie) Violet, 15 (4-way tie) Ava, 14 (3-way tie) Gianna, 14 (3-way tie) Isla, 14 (3-way tie) Charlotte, 13 (4-way tie) Emma, 13 ..read more