Know Of Any Portia's?

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-23-2004
Know Of Any Portia's?
12
Tue, 04-11-2006 - 2:56pm

I was just wondering if anyone knew of any Portia's or if anyone has this on their list for a girl. My reason for asking is because as most of you already know Brittan is one of my top choices right now and my sister told me recently that she met a Brittan that lives in our area and could possibly be in my youngest son's class. I had never heard the name before and am wondering if Brittan is starting to be known and is being used. So, I've never heard Portia used so was seeing if it's out there.... TIA!

Terra.
Mommy to
Ethan Robert
and Logan Ryley

Pages

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-09-2005
Tue, 04-11-2006 - 3:20pm
Nope, don't know any :) Beautiful name.

                             
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-14-2005
Tue, 04-11-2006 - 3:23pm
I've heard OF Portia -- I think my ex used to have


Photobucket
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-29-2003
Tue, 04-11-2006 - 3:53pm
It's very rare
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-14-2003
Tue, 04-11-2006 - 6:13pm

I know one of each...

-a Brittan (not sure of spelling) who's in her early/mid-20s
-a Portia who's a late teenager

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-10-2006
Tue, 04-11-2006 - 7:59pm

The only one I can recall, other than Portia Di Rossi, is Portia the Porcupine from the Get Along Gang. LOL.

I think it's a beautiful name. My Mom suggested it to us but our last name starts with a P so it was a no-go.

Out of curiosity I looked it up on the Baby Name Wizard and its popularity peaked in the 1940's when it ranked #702 of a 1000 names. It has not been in the top 1000 in the past decade. Brittan does not appear to be in the top 1000 in any decade, so both are pretty rare names.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2005
Tue, 04-11-2006 - 9:21pm

Besides the actress, the only Portia's I've ever known of were from the local Spanish community (although the name, I know, is not Spanish, so I'm not sure why that is).

I don't know any Brittans, personally, and haven't actually seen the name used other than seeing it considered on here.

Also, I looked up both names (and Porsha, which is another variant I've seen used), and it actually looks like Brittan may be LESS popular, at least on paper. According to the SSA, Portia was in the top 1000 names in 1990 and 1991 (and Porsha was there in 1990, 91, 92, 93 and 1994, getting as high as 735), while Brittan, on the other hand, has never even been in the top 1000.

So while Brittan wouldn't usually be my style (but still seems a great fit with yours ;), I'd vote for that over Portia in terms of being more unique. Also, Portia happens to be one of those names whose meaning would almost definitely keep me from using it (but I'm sure many won't be familiar with it and I won't mention it here and sway anyone else's opinion).

HTH ;)

~Kelli


Powered by CGISpy.com
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-23-2004
Wed, 04-12-2006 - 12:19pm

Thanks for the info. I remember watching the Get Along Gang but don't remember the name Portia in it, lol.

Terra.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-23-2004
Wed, 04-12-2006 - 12:46pm

Thanks for the info, Kelli. I checked on the meaning of Portia and am thinking I came across another meaning than you did. Or I'm not interpreting it the way it should be. ;) Right now I'm leaning more towards Portia than Brittan. Brittan is still on my list, along with Tana and Andra. Right now I'm stuck on these combos:

Portia Camille
Brittan Alora
Tana Charisse
Andra Genevieve

I still wouldn't mind a T mn for all of these but can't really come up with anything I like, any suggestions?? There doesn't seem to be too many T names out there that I like.

Terra.

Avatar for haarlasr
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 04-12-2006 - 1:58pm

I don't know anyone named Brittan or Portia. :-)

Stephanie

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2005
Wed, 04-12-2006 - 5:24pm

Well a few sites/books I've seen it listed in simply say it's a Roman clan name or mention the Merchant of Venice character, but the family name it's taken from doesn't exactly mean anything "pretty" if you KWIM. Behind the Name does mention what it stems from, though. Here's a link http://www.behindthename.com/php/search.php?nmd=n&terms=portia ;)

Can't think of any good T mns offhand (but I'll get back to you if I think of some!), but did want to mention I love Alora, Camille and Genevieve from your list. Great mns!

HTH

~Kelli


Powered by CGISpy.com

Pages