Welcome to the World, Messiah

By COLlive reporter

Messiah is coming… to the Labor and Delivery department near you.

The AP news agency combed through the annual list of popular baby names released by the U.S. Social Security Administration and found some interesting picks.

“King” and “Messiah” are among the fastest-rising baby names for American boys, it reported. The most popular name is Jacob, holding steady at the top for the 14th year in a row.

Next were Mason, Ethan, Noah and William. Daniel slipped out of the top 10 for the first time since 1998, to No. 11, AP said according to the list.

“You don’t get a lot of Messiahs,” was an interesting quote from Laura Wattenberg, author of “The Baby Name Wizard.” Messiah gained 246 spots, to No. 387. Wattenberg said Americans have long given their children “aggrandizing names.”

According to her website Babynamewizard.com, children named Mendel have a fair chance of a brother being named Chaim, Yisroel, Yosef and Zalman or a sister named Chaya, Faiga or Sarah.

And a related name to Mendel is Menachem. For famous real-life people with that name, it mentions: Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

While it does not have an entry for the name Mushka, it does rank Chaya as a name chosen 95 per 1,000,000 babies. Both names are often used by Lubavitchers, after Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson OBM, wife of the Rebbe.

In fact, the Jewish Forward newspaper has reported about the phenomena of 75 of the 120 girls in a grade of a Chabad school all being called Chaya Mushka.

For the full list of popular names, visit