Boys answer to Boston and Kingston. How ’bout this German capital?
Thanks to Gillian for suggesting Berlin as our Baby Name of the Day.
Berlin is the capital of Germany, and has been ever since shortly after the Cold War-era wall came tumbling down in 1989. It’s also the biggest city in Germany, and it is relatively young.
While some capital cities are also business, there’s a certain romance to Berlin. Part of that is the Wall, but that’s not all:
- 1932 Best Picture winner Grand Hotel was set in Berlin.
- Cabaret is also set in Berlin, with the rise of the Nazis creating an undercurrent of tension throughout the story. It’s based on Goodbye to Berlin, a novella by Christopher Isherwood based on his experiences living in 1930s Berlin.
- The epic David Bowie single “Heroes” was recorded in West Berlin in 1977, with its image of lovers in the shadow of the Berlin Wall.
There’s also Irving Berlin, born Israel Baline in Russia in the 1880s. He came to the US as a child, and while he had no access to education, he quickly realized that his voice was his best shot at earning a living. First he sang for his supper, then he took to songwriting. “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” was a smash in 1911, and the rest is history.
All of this makes for an international city with quite a bit of flair for a child’s name, but what does Berlin mean? The bear is a symbol of the city, and it is tempting to link bär – bear – to Berlin. But that’s folk etymology, compounded by a twelfth-century ruler known as Albrecht der Bär. The truth is murkier, but chances are that Berlin comes from an extinct West Slavic language and their word berl – swamp. Plenty of other places names were also derived from the now-defunct tongue, better known as Polabian.
Bear names for boys have quite a history, so it is easy to understand why baby name books would favor the ursine association. And regardless of how it started, the bear is certainly a symbol of the city.
But before you embrace Berlin as a boy’s name with the right blend of German heritage, animal magnetism, and unexpected style, there is one caution. We have spotted a handful of girls wearing the name, often respelled to Berlyn.
The numbers from 2010 are as follows:
- 90 girls named Berlin, plus 47 Berlyns and 31 more namedBerlynn.
- Just six boys received the name in 2010 – though he did chart in the US Top 1000 once, back in 1916. The likely explanation? That’s the year the Olympics would have been held in Berlin, but were cancelled due to the outbreak of World War I. Or maybe it had to do with the continuing popularity of Irving B, or both. Either way, 42 boys received the name that year.
This is a city with story to spare, and a very appealing sound, too. As parents continue to search for the next Brooklyn or London, mark Berlin as one to watch.
There was baby announcement for a Berlin in the paper last year and all I could think was, “But Berlin is so ugly…”
On the other hand Berlin was also a New Wave band in the 80’s… “Take My Breath Away”, was on the Top Gun soundtrack and it makes me feel nostalgic for 8th grade.
“Take my breath away” was first in my mind (after the city).
It’s OK as a name. The respelling of Berlyn and Berlynn both do not agree with my stomach. None of the respelled names do 🙂
But my husband is part Jewish and his grandparents and aunts and uncles and their children are all Orthodox Jews so I’d feel really uncomfortable bringing a baby Berlin into the family. Also, his grandparents are holocaust survivors. Bad association, so..
I’ve been to Berlin, and it’s certainly rich in history. It does rather remind me of the supposed Jam doughnut gaffe made by J.F.K – Ich bin ein Berliner.
An interesting example of where the associations of a name far outweight its actual original murky — and swampy — meaning!
Beryl is greatish, but omg Berlin, Kingston, & Boston all seem pretty clunky to my ear….but the worst of this type is Brooklyn, trendy & unimaginative. Sorry to be so harsh! Please ignore me if you love any of these.
There’s a little boy Berlin in our neighborhood. It’s not a name I can embrace. I can see it being on Team Pink thanks to the Beryl connection.
It’s a lovely city with a varied history, but I hear Berlin and I automatically start thinking about “A Woman in Berlin,” a memoir from the Russian occupation of the city just as the second World War ended. Rape is a major theme, to understate. Berlin still has that sort of militaristic aura to it. I know Brooklyn has a mixed image as an area as well, but it’s more name-y to me, though I’m not a huge fan, just because it is also a mix of two names, Brook and Lyn. I don’t love London either, but I think it still works better than Berlin in terms of not being quite so reminiscent of major military events, though now I wonder if little kids named London ever get blitz jokes. Or great fire jokes.
Berlin sounds like a male name to me. For that sound on a girl, I’d far prefer the jewel name Beryl.
Then again, I’m not much for place names on children (though I did name my dog Rio.)
I love the Roland variation Orlando, but between it’s place name status and Orlando Bloom, I would probably go with Orion instead.
ITS place name status. Sorry.
Rhona Mitra played Berlin in The Life of David Gale.
I have a working fluency in German, so if I met a littler Berlin I would have to stop myself calling him or her BEAR-leen, which is sort of an approximation as to how you say it auf Deutsch (I was also taught German by a Bavarian, so my way could be more exaggerated.) It doesn’t seem namey when said like that. Also, Irving Berlin was the first person I thought of and now I can’t shake the association.