Oh yeah...
Indiana Jones or Indiana state? Male or female? Indiana is definitely a unisex name. Due to the heavy influence of Indiana Jones, most parents will choose this as a boy's name, but like the name India, the similarity to Diana, and the -ana ending, some parents choose it as a girl's name. Casey Affleck and Summer Phoenix chose this name for their baby, as well as Ethan Hawke, and Indiana Rose Evans is an Australian singer and actress.
Indiana means "from India" in Latin and "land of Indians" in English, dating to the 1760's and referring to the Native Americans who lived in North America before settlers arrived. Indiana Jones was actually Henry Walton Jones, Jr. and was nicknamed Indiana after the family dog. There was also the controversial (for 1831) novel titled Indiana by George Sand, a pseudonym for Amandine Aurore Dupin. Then there's the Indy 500 and "indie" bands and movies.
Indiana only ranked on the top 1000 for a few years, and each year it only ranked for girls. It went down from #604 in 1880 to #877 a year later. It came back at #897 in 1887 and went down to #989 a year later. Then its last appearance was in 1893 at #986. Now, in 2011, there were 42 baby boys named Indiana and 54 girls named Indiana. As far as nicknames go, in 2011 8 parents preferred to name their sons Indie and 16 Indy, while 56 parents chose Indie for their baby girls, 13 chose just Indi for their baby girls, and 15 chose to spell their girl's name Indy. In 2010 there were 34 girls named Indiana and 17 boys. As far as nicknames go, there were 8 boys named Indie and 12 Indy, then 7 girls named Indee, 7 Indi, 35 Indie and 19 Indy.
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Indiana means "from India" in Latin and "land of Indians" in English, dating to the 1760's and referring to the Native Americans who lived in North America before settlers arrived. Indiana Jones was actually Henry Walton Jones, Jr. and was nicknamed Indiana after the family dog. There was also the controversial (for 1831) novel titled Indiana by George Sand, a pseudonym for Amandine Aurore Dupin. Then there's the Indy 500 and "indie" bands and movies.
Indiana only ranked on the top 1000 for a few years, and each year it only ranked for girls. It went down from #604 in 1880 to #877 a year later. It came back at #897 in 1887 and went down to #989 a year later. Then its last appearance was in 1893 at #986. Now, in 2011, there were 42 baby boys named Indiana and 54 girls named Indiana. As far as nicknames go, in 2011 8 parents preferred to name their sons Indie and 16 Indy, while 56 parents chose Indie for their baby girls, 13 chose just Indi for their baby girls, and 15 chose to spell their girl's name Indy. In 2010 there were 34 girls named Indiana and 17 boys. As far as nicknames go, there were 8 boys named Indie and 12 Indy, then 7 girls named Indee, 7 Indi, 35 Indie and 19 Indy.
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In Australia, Indiana is almost purely girl, although occasionally I have seen Indy or Indie for a boy.
ReplyDeleteThe first person with the name I can find in the records was born in England, near Birmingham in 1768, before the state of Indiana was founded.
She may have been named after the country of India, which was at that time part of the British Empire and a major part of British culture (and still is).
Oh I forgot to say it's a Top 100 girl's name and climbing rapidly, currently #78.
ReplyDeleteI named my son Indy.
ReplyDeleteHe is fiercely independent, born on the 4th of july, and his father hails from Indiana.
Couldn't suit him any better. :-)
We r gonna get him a hat & whip, he'll be set. :-)