# Is Anika becoming a common girl's name?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anika-becoming-a-common-girls-name/634468>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 12, 2012, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anika-becoming-a-common-girls-name/634468 "2012-09-12T04:25:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anika-becoming-a-common-girls-name/634468/21 "2012-09-12T17:58:40Z")

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I went to school with an Anika (born 1978) who came from a very Polish family (they screamed at each other in Polish all day every day).

She is one of the few people in this world that I truly hate. So as you can imagine I’m not a fan of that name - hope it’s not getting popular, I wouldn’t want to be angry at a generation of little girls!

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**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anika-becoming-a-common-girls-name/634468/22 "2012-09-12T19:09:41Z")

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> [@ZipperJJ](#):
>
> I went to school with an Anika (born 1978) who came from a very Polish family (they screamed at each other in Polish all day every day).

That’s interesting, as the Polish version is usually “Anka.” I’ve never heard it as a Polish name.

ETA: Actually, there is an “Anica,” which is pronounced like “ah-neat-suh,” but it may be Anglicized as something like Anika, I suppose, just like “Danica” becomes “DAN-ih-kuh” instead of “DAH-neat-sah” or “dah-NEAT-sah.”

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**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anika-becoming-a-common-girls-name/634468/23 "2012-09-12T19:38:34Z")

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Baby Name Voyager shows a fairly steep growth for both Annika and Anika starting in the late 70s or early 80s. Both peaked around 2004, with Annika being more popular.

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**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anika-becoming-a-common-girls-name/634468/24 "2012-09-12T19:41:22Z")

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> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> That’s interesting, as the Polish version is usually “Anka.” I’ve never heard it as a Polish name.
> 
> ETA: Actually, there is an “Anica,” which is pronounced like “ah-neat-suh,” but it may be Anglicized as something like Anika, I suppose, just like “Danica” becomes “DAN-ih-kuh” instead of “DAH-neat-sah” or “dah-NEAT-sah.”

You just reminded me, for three years in grade school we had Anika, Danica and Monica in a class full of Anne and Mary and Susans. The three banded together, out of self defense I think. They were called - MAD or DAM if we were being subversive and the teachers weren’t too close.

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