Ka-ching! Money-Themed Baby Names

Something I’ve noticed while perusing the United States extended data is the prevalence of baby names related to money. This makes a lot of sense to me – money pervades our lives so thoroughly that whether we’re trying to earn it, spend it, or save it, it’s everywhere! People name children after their values all the time, so it’s no wonder that money-themed baby names are so popular.

Currency:

Florin – Hasn’t appeared in SSA data since 2003. The florin was a popular medieval European currency.

Lira – 30 girls; currency of Italy (pre-Euro) and Turkey. Pronounced “lee-ruh.”

Mark – #195; Germany (pre-Euro).

Naira – 57 girls; Nigeria.

Quetzal – 5 boys; Guatemala. The Resplendent Quetzal is that country’s national bird and monetary namesake.

Rand – 11 girls and 21 boys; South Africa. Most people will probably think of Sen. Rand Paul before they think about South African money.

Sterling – #458; United Kingdom (Pounds Sterling). The TV series Archer saved this name from obscurity in the U.S.

Yuan – 7 girls, 8 boys; China.

Yen – 7 girls; Japan.

Zaire – #783; Zaïre. This currency is now defunct, plus the country changed its name to Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1997. The name spiked that year, interestingly enough.

Physical Money:

Cash – #253. This most popular of monetary baby names took off after Johnny Cash died, though I can’t tell whether this name is meant more as a throwback to country music or, well, cash. Cash has led to derivations like Cashton (135 boys) and Cashlynn (11 girls). The name Cassius has various alternate spellings that include “cash,” but they may be phonetic and unrelated to the name Cash itself.

Denarius – 7 boys; Ancient Roman coin. Denarius Moore played with the Oakland Raiders from 2011 to 2014.

Dinero – 19 boys. Dinero is the Spanish word for money.

Penny – #693. Penny returned to the top 1000 in 2013, the same year that Penelope entered the top 100 for the first time.

Silver – 50 girls; 12 boys. Don’t be that person who names a child Sterling Silver.

Tuppence – A corruption of “two-pence,” this is a strictly (albeit rare) British name. Agatha Christie had a character called Tuppence (whose name was really Prudence).  Another potential namesake is actress Tuppence Middleton.

Wealth:

Fortune – 11 girls, 5 boys.

Prosperity – 6 girls.

Rich – 17 boys. Using Rich as a formal name might seem conceited if you’re going for a monetary name theme, so put Richard on the birth certificate instead and use Rich as a nickname.

Wealthy – Hasn’t appeared since 1941.

Worth – 12 boys.

Money-Inspired:

Araminta – Last appeared in 2015. Use this in reference to “mints,” or places where money is produced.

Crown – 6 boys; can refer to any currencies (especially Scandinavian) whose name translates to “crown” or “crowns.”

Damoney – 7 boys.

Dinara – 5 girls; in reference to the “dinar,” a currency mostly used in countries whose land previously belonged to the Ottoman Empire. Dinara itself seems to have been a (more ancient) coin, and the word dinar ultimately derives from the Latin denarius.

Florence – 246 girls; In reference to the medieval Florin.

Florian – 18 boys; also in reference to the Florin. Florian is a very popular baby name in Austria.

Frank – #353; Swiss Franc, along with the pre-Euro Belgian Franc.

Franklin – #423; $100 or Franc.

Hamilton – 97 boys; $10/1st secretary of the Treasury.

Millicent – 119 girls. It contains ‘cent,’ doesn’t it?

Monique – #923; “Money” for short.

Ruby – #71. As in “ruble” (Russia) or “rupee” (India), though I guess one can pay in rubies!

Vincent – #104; see Millicent.

Personally, I think the name Jackson (#17) should be avoided if naming a child after money. On the other hand, Centurion could be a fun way of incorporating “cent!”

Thoughts:

I didn’t always like this name theme, but I appreciate it more and more as I grow older. There’s something to be said about naming children in the hopes that they’ll be successful, prosperous, and blessed with good fortune. I don’t recommend naming a child to flash your family’s perceived riches (that would be tacky), but I don’t think many people are doing that. If you’re a coin-collector, money-themed names are especially cool choices!

What do you think about money-themed baby names? Are there any you would add to this list? Let me know!