Frozen Phenomenon: the name of Elsa, popular for the first time in the United States

The phenomenon of the movie 'Frozen' It seems to have no end. From the 'blockbuster' of the film to the undoubted success of his song 'Let it go' we go, now, to real life: the name of 'Elsa' has become popular for the first time in the history of the United States, a 'boom' of Elsas that is totally related to the film of these two sisters in the ice kingdom.

Thousands of 'Elsas' in the United States after 'Frozen'

In 2014 thousands of Elsas were born, making this name 286 more common in the North American country. That does not seem like much, since there are 285 names that are more repeated? It is possible, but we need a piece of information to know: as The New York Times explains, 'Elsa' had not entered the 'top 500' of common names since 1917, and its appearance is due, without doubt, the success of 'Frozen' in 2013.


It is curious, also, that the name of 'Anna', lElsa's sister and true heroine of the film, has not seen his popularity reappear at the same level. 'Anna' has always been a popular name in the United States, and after the movie its position in the country's ranking has hardly changed one place: at present it is the thirty-fourth most common name.

These data have been extracted from the register of newborns of the US Social Security, which has updated data until 2014, so it is not yet possible to verify if the 'Frozen effect' continues to be noticed two years after the premiere of the film.

The male names are also noticed

Where you have also noticed the 'Frozen effect' It has been in the names of the men: according to the same data handled by the New York newspaper, although the names of the men in the film were unusual in themselves, they have also become more common since their premiere.


'Olaf', the cute snowman who dreams of going to the beach, now has 22 babies with the same name, compared to only nine that were in the previous year. The same has happened with Kristoff: in 2013 there were only seven children named as such, while in 2014, 32 were born.

The curious facts do not end here: Sven, the name of Kristoff's reindeer, It has also become more popular, surpassing even its owner: in 2014, 55 babies were born who were given this name, compared to 33 the previous year.

The influence of the movies

This is not the first time that uA film has such an influence on society. Also in this country, after the premiere of the feature film 'Brave' in 2012, more than 100 girls newborns were called 'Merida'.

But, put to talk about the influence of Disney on American names, it is worth remembering the 'Cinderella effect'. Disney has released this year a new version of the story of the 50s and, although in the US today it may sound weird to call a baby 'Cinderella', the fact is that in 1950, when the first film was released, more than one Centenera of new 'Cinderellas', which now must be around 60 years.


The reasons for these influences are not clear, but they may have to do with "democratic families": when parents leave older brothers choose the names of the new baby of the family... and the little one (or the little one) is inspired by his favorite movie.

Angela R. Bonachera

Video: Let It Go - Disney's Frozen - Traci Hines (OFFICIAL VIDEO)


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