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Help[Opinions] Navy and Remi as girl's names in Utah
I'm asking this in Opinions because I believe more people read it than "Facts"--
I am updating an article on LDS names I wrote for a professor at Brigham Young University several years ago. One thing I do for that is look at names which are much more popular in Utah than Colorado. Colorado is the state bordering Utah with the lowest % of LDS members, so I figure it's a good contrast to separate out specifically LDS influences from genernal "Western US" trends.
Two girls' names which are way more popular in Utah than Colorado in 2021 were Remi and Navy. I am trying to figure out where the idea of giving these to girls originally came from. On this site Remi is just given as a male name, an alternate spelling of Remy. I don't know if as a female name it is just a transfer from the male name or has a separate origin. Through Google I find there was is a singer named Remi Wolf who was a contestant on "American Idol" in 2014. There is a YouTube woman chef named Remi Cruz who has 5 million followers. And there is a TikTok "influencer" named Remi Bader who seems to be an activist for the obese. Would any of these be especially popular with LDS parents for some reason?
Navy is way overpopular in Utah -- 84 born there in 2021 while only 7 were born in Colorado. It's really hard to track down the origins of a name on Google when it is also a common word like "navy". So far all I've found is that a country singer named Jason Aldean named his daughter Navy when she was born in February 2014.
Do you all know of any other possible pop culture reasons for these two names to have hit it big with LDS (Mormon) parents? Or is it just that they are prime examples of "different but not too different" sounding names (Remi being a shift from Emily, Emma, and Rylee and Navy a shift from Ava, Nevaeh, etc.) being picked up quicker in LDS culture, which seems to be particularly on the lookout for "new" baby names?
By the way, often Utah is a sort of early warning system for new fashions -- Brittany as well as Jayden and Kayden seems to have started out there, for example -- so there's a good chance a decade from now Remi and Navy will be in the top 50 all over the USA.
I am updating an article on LDS names I wrote for a professor at Brigham Young University several years ago. One thing I do for that is look at names which are much more popular in Utah than Colorado. Colorado is the state bordering Utah with the lowest % of LDS members, so I figure it's a good contrast to separate out specifically LDS influences from genernal "Western US" trends.
Two girls' names which are way more popular in Utah than Colorado in 2021 were Remi and Navy. I am trying to figure out where the idea of giving these to girls originally came from. On this site Remi is just given as a male name, an alternate spelling of Remy. I don't know if as a female name it is just a transfer from the male name or has a separate origin. Through Google I find there was is a singer named Remi Wolf who was a contestant on "American Idol" in 2014. There is a YouTube woman chef named Remi Cruz who has 5 million followers. And there is a TikTok "influencer" named Remi Bader who seems to be an activist for the obese. Would any of these be especially popular with LDS parents for some reason?
Navy is way overpopular in Utah -- 84 born there in 2021 while only 7 were born in Colorado. It's really hard to track down the origins of a name on Google when it is also a common word like "navy". So far all I've found is that a country singer named Jason Aldean named his daughter Navy when she was born in February 2014.
Do you all know of any other possible pop culture reasons for these two names to have hit it big with LDS (Mormon) parents? Or is it just that they are prime examples of "different but not too different" sounding names (Remi being a shift from Emily, Emma, and Rylee and Navy a shift from Ava, Nevaeh, etc.) being picked up quicker in LDS culture, which seems to be particularly on the lookout for "new" baby names?
By the way, often Utah is a sort of early warning system for new fashions -- Brittany as well as Jayden and Kayden seems to have started out there, for example -- so there's a good chance a decade from now Remi and Navy will be in the top 50 all over the USA.
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I also notice Oakley is more trendy there.
Why…
Why…
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Interesting! Thank you for sharing. I don't care for either name but I will be keeping my eye on Utah's naming trends.
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I’m not a fan of the name Navy at all. One of my favorite colors is navy blue. I also think it would be sweet if one/more of the parents are/were in the US Navy. However, I genuinely don’t care for it as a name. If it were me, I’d probably use Nevaeh, Nova, or Avery instead of Navy.
I kind of like Remi. I think Remi sounds kind of cute.
I kind of like Remi. I think Remi sounds kind of cute.
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Navy I dislike a lot. It’s just way too reminiscent of the military and I find navy to be kind of a bland color, unlike Violet or Carmine that have spunk. It also reminds me of belly buttons and oranges.
Remi I kind of like. I’d expect a girl named this to be really nice.
I’m kind of surprised this is trendy tbh because of Ratatouille. Most millennial parents I’d assume have seen the movie at some point and would associate the name with the rat. That’s where I first heard it, at least. Not a bad name though.
Remi I kind of like. I’d expect a girl named this to be really nice.
I’m kind of surprised this is trendy tbh because of Ratatouille. Most millennial parents I’d assume have seen the movie at some point and would associate the name with the rat. That’s where I first heard it, at least. Not a bad name though.
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I think Navy just kind of fits in with popular names (occupational, colorful, and wordy-political ones like Saylor, Violet, Liberty), plus sounds vaguely like Nevaeh, Ava, Avery, Ivy, Waverly, Evie, Nova. So yeah, "different but not too different".
Remi sounds like Remei, Rumi (Beyonce's daughter), Romy (popular in France), and also Remy was Olivia Wilde's character "Thirteen"s official name in the TV show House, but I'd guess it's mainly popular with people in Utah because of Remington plus possibly Remiel or Remedy. Remington is being used as unisex already, but Remi sounds more cute and ambiguous, with an added biblical connection.
Both of these names make me think of guns, to be honest, since Remington is ammunition, and Navy is a military branch.
I don't know enough about the demographics to guess why they wouldn't be comparably popular in Colorado, though, and I've never heard of the people you mentioned.
Remi sounds like Remei, Rumi (Beyonce's daughter), Romy (popular in France), and also Remy was Olivia Wilde's character "Thirteen"s official name in the TV show House, but I'd guess it's mainly popular with people in Utah because of Remington plus possibly Remiel or Remedy. Remington is being used as unisex already, but Remi sounds more cute and ambiguous, with an added biblical connection.
Both of these names make me think of guns, to be honest, since Remington is ammunition, and Navy is a military branch.
I don't know enough about the demographics to guess why they wouldn't be comparably popular in Colorado, though, and I've never heard of the people you mentioned.
This message was edited 8/1/2022, 10:43 PM
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In part, it's because of big families. My parents have six children, and each come from a family of seven children. That means I have 28 aunts and uncles and nearing 100 cousins. When that happens, it makes it harder to choose names that others already haven't chosen before. So the more "uncommon" names have appeal.
Also in Utah, there is a big push for naming children with a name that has significance to a family. The practice of giving children a name and a blessing in front of the whole congregation will invite questions of how the name was chosen. However, when you are in a big family where cousin X already took your favorite ancestral name, it could be perceived as "stealing" the name to use it again, not to mention confusing. Hence, taking a maiden name such as Remington or a grandfather's name and shortening it and making it feminine could be appealing to many. Also, Navy could be paying homage to the fact that a grandfather or other respected family figure served in the Navy.
Also, Utah is big on consumer culture. That leads people to feel pressure to be unique. I think that's the main driving factor for names that are uncommon elsewhere.
My two cents!
Also in Utah, there is a big push for naming children with a name that has significance to a family. The practice of giving children a name and a blessing in front of the whole congregation will invite questions of how the name was chosen. However, when you are in a big family where cousin X already took your favorite ancestral name, it could be perceived as "stealing" the name to use it again, not to mention confusing. Hence, taking a maiden name such as Remington or a grandfather's name and shortening it and making it feminine could be appealing to many. Also, Navy could be paying homage to the fact that a grandfather or other respected family figure served in the Navy.
Also, Utah is big on consumer culture. That leads people to feel pressure to be unique. I think that's the main driving factor for names that are uncommon elsewhere.
My two cents!
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Thanks for your reply! I am sure that the search for "new" names in Utah during modern times does have something to do with the large families. However, the idea that two COUSINS couldn't have children named after the same ancestor is itself part of modern "consumer culture." Back in the 19th century there are plenty of instances of first cousins having the same first name, often because they were named after the same grandparent, and people thought nothing of it. So the idea that two second cousins (which is what children of first cousins are to each other) shouldn't have the same name and that one cousin can "steal your favorite name" by using it first would not have computed to people back then, and I think that probably went for the LDS as well as other Americans in the 19th century. :)
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I have run across two Navis at different times, one was years ago. They were Hispanic and pronounced the name Nah-vee. If I had to guess I'd guess tentatively that it (Navi, anyway) might have originated from Natividad?
Also I once read a book where a Hispanic girl was named Usnavys (OOS-Nah-Vees?) by her father who was a US Navy sailor (and evidently a bit overly impressed with that fact. Good thing for her he wasn't an Air Force or Coast Guard man.)
I'm not really surprised that Remi is so popular in Utah; I'm a bit surprised it isn't more popular overall. It kind of fits in with Rayne and Riley and Demi and similar sounding names.
Also I once read a book where a Hispanic girl was named Usnavys (OOS-Nah-Vees?) by her father who was a US Navy sailor (and evidently a bit overly impressed with that fact. Good thing for her he wasn't an Air Force or Coast Guard man.)
I'm not really surprised that Remi is so popular in Utah; I'm a bit surprised it isn't more popular overall. It kind of fits in with Rayne and Riley and Demi and similar sounding names.
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