In this final installment of "one-hit wonder names" (see parts, 1, 2 and 3) we take a names-eye-view tour through history.
Baby names act as a cultural mirror, reflecting the mood and obsessions of every age. Sometimes it's a whole style, like the girls given boyish names (Frankie, Tommie) in the 1930s. Sometimes it's personality driven, like the Shirley surge in that same decade. And sometimes a specific historical moment is memorialized in names. The one-hit wonder names are a treasure trove of these cultural moments. Some of the moments were momentous, others pop-culture trifles. A few were completely unknown to me until the names themselves led me to them, and a few frankly shocked me as name inspirations. Check them out yourself in this arbitrary, capricious One-Hit Timeline of History.
1895: Trilby
George du Maurier's novel Trilby, first published serially in 1894, was a popular sensation. Filled with romance, horror, plucky heroes and supernatural villainry, Trilby became one of the most popular books (and later plays) of its time. The novel's longest-lasting contribution to our language comes from its villain, the all-powerful Jewish hypnotist Svengali, but during the book's heyday the beautiful Irish heroine Trilby made her naming mark as well.
1898: Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone was one of the leading political forces of 19th-century England, serving several terms as Prime Minister between 1868 and 1894. The "gladstone bag" and "gladstone carriage" took their names from him. Gladstone died in 1898.
1898: Schley
The 1898 Battle of Santiago de Cuba was the largest naval engagement of the Spanish-American War. The destruction of the Spanish fleet was a milestone in the decline of Spanish influence in the Americas. The United States squadron was commanded, somewhat controversially, by Rear Admiral Winfield Scott Schley.
1900: Goebel
William J. Goebel was a controversial figure in Kentucky politics. Goebel was a populist, a foe of big business and an advocate of civil rights, and the consummate practitioner of machine politics. In 1895 he killed political adversary John Sanford in a duel, but plead self-defense and was acquitted. In 1899 he won a disputed election to become governor of Kentucky. On January 30, 1900 Goebel was shot in the chest by an assassin; the next day he was sworn in as governor; two days later he was dead. He remains the only U.S. state governor to be assassinated in office.
1918: Foch
Ferdinand Foch was a distinguished general of the French Army and Marshal of France. In the Spring of 1918 he was named Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, leading the international armies which turned back the last major German advance of WWI. Foch accepted Germany's surrender on November 11, 1918.
1954: Rahn
In 1954 the German soccer team was unseeded entering the World Cup tournament in Bern, Switzerland, the first World Cup they were permitted to compete in after World War II. In the finals against heavily favored Hungary, Germany trailed until Helmut Rahn scored both tying and winning goals. Rahn became a national sporting legend and the game came to be known as the "Miracle of Bern," a turning point in post-war German identity.
1964: Destry
The TV Western "Destry" which premiered in 1964 was a spinoff of the classic film Destry Rides Again. It didn't last a full season.
1972: Jabbar
In 1971 basketball great Lew Alcindor, who had led the Milwaukee Bucks and UCLA Bruins to championships, changed his name to the Arabic Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Kareem debuted on the popular name charts in 1972 at #407 and has become an African-American standard. Jabbar was propelled to popularity the same year but quickly faded.
1977: Amin
In 1976 Ugandan president Idi Amin allowed a hijacked airplane originating from Israel to land at the Entebbe airport. The event turned international attention toward his violent regime which was blamed for hundreds of thousands of deaths. By 1977, Amin was a global larger-than-life villain. As other nations broke off diplomatic ties he bestowed extravagant titles on himself and attracted a swirl of rumors of personal atrocities.
1977: Kunta, Kinte
The 1977 miniseries "Roots," based on the novel by Alex Haley, was a cultural phenomen. An overwhelming popular and critical success, "Roots" turned a generation of Americans--especially African-Americans--toward the study of geneology and family history, and helped encourage a trend toward African-styled baby names. The lead character, Kunta Kinte, was a Mandinka boy in Gambia who was kidnapped by slave traders and taken to America. Both Kunta and Kinte made the 1977 name charts.
Comments
Hey, I know a Destry who would've been born somtime in the mid-late 60s! Neat! I'd never heard that name before, and didn't know where it came from. He named his son that, too, so "Destry" will live on for another generation.
I've known some Trilbys--that's not a bad name--but I can't believe some of these others were ever in the top 1000--Goebel? Schley? I wonder sometimes if these people were naming their 11th or 12th kid, and had run out of dear friends, family members, and public figures with pleasant names to use as tribute sources....
Goebel sounds much less appropriate as a given name today because many would immediately associate it with Goebbels, the name of one of Hitler's henchmen. But 1899 was way before that.
In the 19th century Americans were accustomed to turning surnames of any figure they admired into a given name for their children. It's not surprising Foch makes the list, because the surname of the American World War I general Pershing was a "three-year wonder", on the SSA list between 1917 and 1919.
Kizzy, the female name popularized by "Roots", was also on the SSA list for three years between 1977 and 1979.
Sure, of course there's the Third Reich association that wouldn't have soured Goebbel in the 1800s, but beyond that, it just sounds like a noise a turkey makes, not melodious in the least. Schley is no better. Foch at least sounds almost like Fox or Fawkes (the latter not being generally positive, but at least very familiar, and with some real notoriety and cache for revolutionary sorts).
Are you saying Amin was actually popular? Wild.
Whether or not something sounds "melodious" is a matter of taste. Goebel rhymes with "nobel". Schley is pronounced like "sly", and Sly has been well-used as a nickname in popular culture in recent times. Foch, on the other hand, reminds me immediately of the four letter word which Americans generally think is the worst one. So though I really don't care for Schley as a given name, I personally find it to be MUCH more appropriate in that role than Foch. :)
Hm, that might explain it. When I say it, Goebel does not rhyme with "noble"--it has the sort of Americanized relaxed umlaut sound for "oe"--more like Geh-ble or Guh-ble. Just like a turkey. ;)
Also, I was saying Schley like sleigh or slay with a few too many drinks. Rhyming with sly, it is a lot better.
And I agree--though I tried to defend Foch, it's no prize, either.
I can not imagine someone naming a baby Foch in today's world... the possible mispronunciation of it would doom the kid.
My Dad was the beneficiary of historical hero worship, but his name seized the popular imagination and became more than a one hit wonder. His parents were English-Welsh immigrants in North America sometime after the turn of the century (nineteenth/twentieth!) I'm sure he was named "Gordon" after General "Chinese" Gordon. I believe that's how the surname Gordon caught on as a first name...
Interestingly, the names in his lower middle class English family are replicated almost exactly in the "Thomas the Train" series-- "Gordon", "Percy", "Harold", etc. etc. My guess is those names were also at their height circa 1890's England? Needless to say, there was no "Sir Topham Hatt (sp?), though....
My brother (born 1978) was in elementary with twins named Kunta and Kinte. I wonder how many other twin sets there were with those names?
Let's see, "Meet the Parents", "Meet the Fockers", next up "Meet the Baby"... little Foch Focker!
Ah, Gladstone. Didn't he want to starve the Irish? Or was that a different one?
So, looks like boys get those one-hit-wonder historical names a whole lot more frequently than girls do... hmm! Probably for the best. I've heard that Florence as a first name was originally a tribute to Florence Nightingale (who was born in Florence and named for that city--her sister's first name Parthenope didn't quite catch on so much), but hardly a one-hit wonder, and anyway outside the historical scope of the US charts.
"Ah, Gladstone. Didn't he want to starve the Irish? Or was that a different one?"
Yes, that must have been a different one, because after a little Googling it seems you have that backwards. Gladstone was one of the first British politicians to favor home rule for Ireland.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/gladstone_and_ireland.htm
http://www.irelandseye.com/aarticles/history/events/dates/homerule.shtm
Thumbs down for Foch. I think Kunta is a bit too near another epithet for my liking also!
America just after the turn of the century was caught up in a craze for all things German. This is definitely reflected in the naming trends of that era. It's not entirely unlike how the culture of India has become 'hot' of late and recently Indian names (or Anglicized versions) have become popular for kids of many backgrounds.
What sounds melodious to one generation may sound terrible to the next, but that is at least partially due to subtle changes in pronunciation as our language transforms through the years.
Imagine the effect millions of German and Scandinavian immigrants and their children had on American English. Even in our own lifetime we've heard a drastic shift in pronunciation - consider the difference in accent between Jane Fonda and Scarlett Johansson.
Of course, some older names sound lovely with a modern pronunciation - possibly better. Could that account for the sudden popularity of names like Ava, which was never very popular, but has really seen an upswing lately?
It's my understanding that Idi Amin was something of a media darling when he first took power, as many Westerners were hoping for a peaceful transition away from colonialism to African self-rule. A lot of Westerners legitimately thought he was a good person and a fine leader, until the inner workings of his regime became known to the world at large. It doesn't surprise me that Amin became a popular name at some point, but the timing amazes me, I would have thought it would've been a year or two earlier, prior to the Entebbe incident. Strange.
Can anyone tell me where I can get reliable English naming statistics? Is there an equivalent of the US social security listings or something along those lines?... thanks!
The government in England & Wales only puts the top 100 names, not the top 1000 on the web. You can find the top 100 names for England & Wales for the last five years at:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/specials/babiesnames_boys.asp
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/specials/babiesnames_girls.asp
Thanks for those lists.
I'm surprised that Jessica is so popular in the UK right now! It seems so dated to the 80s in the US. I know it's still in our top 100, but much farther down the list. Most of the other top ten names seem to parallel US trends pretty well, although Megan is much higher on the UK lists now, and Ava much lower. Jodie is also surprising to see in the top 100, as are Amber and Courtney. The most interesting thing about these lists, to me, are the names that I can't imagine being very popular in the US anytime soon: Poppy, Millie, and Harriet. I know they fit with a lot of our trends, and I know they are being used by a few. Millie seems the most likely, particularly as a nn. for -milla names, but I just can't really see any of them in our top 100 in the next few years. Poppy makes me think of a name that some children call their fathers or grandfathers. Not to mention poppyseed bagels and opioids.
p.s. I've been wondering for a while, how do you pronounce Niamh?
also, on the boys' lists:
I've never heard of Callum. What's the history of this name? Lewis, Alfie, Harvey, Archie, Freddie, Billy (as given, not nn. for William), and Louie (rather than Louis) seem the most British and least likely to be seen in the US. Also, don't know much about Declan... can someone fill me in on that one, as well?
You pronounce Niamh as "Neev" or "NEE-uv". Whether it comes out as one or two syllables seems to depend on the part of Ireland one's accent comes from.
In the UK, "Pop" and "Poppy" are not used as a form of address for fathers and grandfathers as much as they are in the USA. Also, in the UK, the pronunciation of the first syllable of Harry and Harriet is NOT the same as the word "hair", as it is in most of the USA, but instead uses the vowel sound found in the word "hat". That's part of the reason why Harry and Harriet sound better to people in England than they do to Americans.
Callum is a Scottish form of the Latin Columba, "dove", and became common in Scotland because of St. Columba, who converted the Scots to Christianity. Colm is a modern Irish form of the same name. Declan is also Irish, the name of a saint who founded a monastery at Ardmore in Ireland, and unlike Callum, it's being used regularly now in the USA. There were over 800 boys born in the USA in 2006 named Declan.
It's a really British trend right now to give boys traditional nickames as their first names Archie, Alfie, Freddie etc. Alfie is gorgeous but will date quite quickly I think.
Also Declan is pronounced DAY-clun, FWIW.
Great Britain started the trend for old-fashioned names like Amelia and Ruby in the 80's and 90's. It looks like the trend there is continuing the pattern of the early 20th century styles.
I wonder if we'll see Wanda, Betty, Beverly, Jerry, Jimmy and Larry as the "fresh new" names in the next decade...
I know two little Declans in NC and both are pronounced "Deck-lin". This may not be the correct Irish pronunciation, but it's what comes out here.
I quite like Harriet! It reminds me of Harriet Wheeler, the singer for the Sundays. I like Juliet, but Harriet has the same ending without the hyper-romantic references, so I'd probably go for Harriet if I were choosing between them.
Poppy is the first name of actress Poppy Montgomery on "Without a Trace"--she's Australian, but her familiarity might make it a little more accessible to Americans? She's named for the flower, as are her sisters Rosie, Daisy, Lily, and Marigold. (Her birth name? Poppy Petal Emma Elizabeth Deveraux Donahue. Okay then.)
But I agree, it would always be a hard sell in places with a significant Spanish-speaking population--"papÃ" is pronounced "poppy," and is a familiar form of "dad." (It's also something you call little boys and boyfriends, jokingly.)
Thanks for the input, Trilby Gobble, lol.
Anyway, some of those name would definitely not fly well nowadays. Foch and Kunta? I heard a nine-year old drop the f-bomb the other day!
About the British names, I've actually always loved the British name charts more than the US (though I'm an American). My name is very British, I've been told (Kinsey). Apparently my parents were going to go with either Kirsten or Kendell, so they compromised.
Oh, and isn't there a British television personality out there named Declan who goes by Dec? So I'm assuming he pronounces that 'Deck' and not 'Dayc'?
Also, Poppy is one of my all-time favorite names. I think it's a much better alternative for parents going for a floral theme than the same old Rose, Daisy, etc.
PS Alfie over here, though pretty popular in Britain, will probably only be related to Alfie, the movie. And Alfred will definitely not be soaring up the charts anytime soon.
And one last thing - what do people think of Poppy's last name, Montgomery, for a boy? Is it too pretentious? My cousin is thinking of naming her baby that, nicknamed Monty for short. Her other son is already named Keaton, nn Keat and their surname is something along the lines of David (that's her kind of humor - people always think its David Keaton and not Keaton David haha).
Personally, I think Montgomery is a bit pretentious, and it's really not my style, but I think he'd fit right in with his peers. I actually think the name has potential to become popular, but I can see it taking off more for girls than for boys... Can't you picture sisters named Madison, Mackenzie, and Montgomery? Anyway, I much prefer the crispness of Keaton, even though that's not my style either. Montgomery is a bit of a mouthful. I'm not a huge fan of Monty, but it does give Montgomery a much lighter option.
Anne,
I have to agree - some of the British lists confuse me as well! Especially the name Jessica. I have a friend whose mother had very late in life twins a few years back, and named one Jessica, which I figured must have been because her other children were born in the 80's. I know it's still around, but I haven't heard it on anyone younger than 18. But it seems to be very popular in the UK!
Is this an Emily/Emma phenomenon, where one hit at a certain point in the US, the other in the UK, then when they "tired," they switched?
I wonder what the other name would be, if so. Brits out there - are there any names that Americans heavily favor that seem hopelessly outdated to you?
Also (and sorry for double-posting), we're "infanticipating" over here, and I've always had William as a top contender for a boy in my mind. It's both my dad's and my mom's middle name (strange, I know), and I think it's so old-fashioned and lovely.
But...the addition of his father's last name to hypothetical-William creates what I'm thinking might be a problem. Or it could be a complete non-issue. You decide:
William + LastName = the name of the guy who was driving JFK when he was assassinated
It isn't a weird name. Nobody knows his name off the top of their head - even avid Zapruter-ers just call him "the driver." It's just that a Google of the name we want to give a son comes up with primarily interviews with this unfortunate man. No one's going to think my boy is this guy, obviously, but still.
I can't tell - does it pass the Google test?
I would love to know what keeps Jessica floating in the UK? And about the Emma/Emily phenominon comparison. (I cant spell that word right...)
Katie: Personally, I think if you like it, use it. Only the Very Rare "History Geeks" with a major in JFK will think of it. (that is not a slam to any buffs)
Kinsey sounds very Amercan to my British ears!
Declan -I've only heard it as Deck-lan in te UK, and yes, there is a very poular tv presenter called Dec.
Emma has to be the American equivalent of Jessica - can't imagine many baby Emmas here.
Just looked at the American tp tens for last year - Lindsay, Samantha, Andrew and Christopher all seem like 60s and 70s names to me.
I agree with you about Samantha, Keren. It seems very outdated to me and I can't believe that it's still a top ten name.
My daughter attended a birthday party yesterday. The girls (all five and six) were named:
Olivia
Olivia
Maggie
Maggie
Caroline
Ayana
Sarah
Jordyn
Ellery
Hannah
I love the names (my own daughter's is in there), but how boring! Only Ayana and Ellery spice up the list a little.
Well, I can't be the only person out there who wants to drum my fingers together and say "exxcelleent" when I hear the name Montgomery. There are a lot of us who grew up with The Simpsons - and it doesn't seem like the influence will be going away anytime soon. That said, I would love to name a son Homer!
I just looked at the UK lists. What surprises me is that neither Catherine nor Mary made the top 100 last year. Another name on the list that sounds dated to me is Amy. I know so many 80's Amys, it is just decade stamped to me.
Katie, I think that you are over thinking the google test.
First, William last-name-of-Kennedy's-driver is a common name. (I googled it from your info, and found it out).
Second, unless a person is a conspiracy theorist, they won't know it was Kennedy's driver. Especially if they are born in the year 2007.
Third, even if they did know, how many people will care.
According to "how many of me" there is almost 968 people in the United States with your proposed name. I doubt that many of them have had any problems with it because of the driver of Kennedy's car!
US top 100 names that sound dated to my British ears: Samantha, Natalie, Ashley, Hailey, Jennifer, Kimberley, Andrea (very dated! I'd imagine an Andrea to be in her forties by now), Stephanie, Michelle, Jenna. The boys' names are different though - they don't really seem dated at all. Funny how girls names are so much more subject to the whims of fashion.
Keren - Kinsey sounds American to me too. And I love Archie so much!
This site s good for the British top 300s in different years: http://www.babyplanners.co.uk/insidenamebrain.php
You might also be interested in the Scottish data, as the Scottish Registry Office runs a really excellent website. http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/
publications-and-data/popular-names/
the-most-popular-names-in-scotland-2006/index.html
You'll have to copy and paste I'm afraid!
Thanks, guys. I probably am overthinking the Google test. After all, a Google of my name reveals a type of millet, and not only has that not impeded my career or social life, but I don't really even know what millet is, other than some type of grain.
The advice is much appreciated! Do any of you have interesting Googled names?
Kimberly sounds extremely dated to me, too. I grew up with a lot of Kims, but haven't met one under the age of 25 in, well, 25 years! Where are all the baby Kims?
how-many-of-me may not be trustworthy...it told me there are 0 Bartholomews...I definitely spelled it right...weird.
I guess Phaethusa is too mythology, right? I really like it though (Fay-a-THOO-za).
AND THIS POST IS AWESOME! A sociological/onomatological paradise...thanks so much, Laura!
Harriett has been making a comeback as of late; "Hattie" is usually the nn of choice.
I'm hoping some of you can give me some feedback. I'm thinking about the name Daphne for my daughter but still having hesitations. A friend pointed out that it sounds a lot like both daft and daffy, neither of which are great things to call a child. I'd be especially unhappy if Daffy became a nn. What do you think? What are your impressions of the name in general?
For middle names, I was thinking:
Daphne Susannah
Daphne Rebecca
Daphne Cecelia
Daphne Marcela
Daphne Anne
Daphne Jane
Daphne Belinda
other middle names?
I'm also considering Delia, Greta, Lena, and Helena as first names. Thoughts?
I also really love the sounds of Ophelia and Penelope, but they're too dramatic for me. Any suggestions of names that have similar sounds?
I can't resist adding that Declan is also the real name of singer Elvis Costello (b. Declan MacManus).
As for Googling names, we decided on a name for our son, expected in December -- it's my husband's great-grandfather's name. And when I Google the full name, there's actually a page about the great-grandfather (he was one of the first settlers in West Palm Beach area of Florida). But if I take the first two names without the last name, I get a lot of pages about a contemporary author who died of a heroine overdose in 1999. But we didn't let that dissuade us from using it.
Oh, and on the googling issue... I think that unless the name is very rare, it's really not a big issue. With a fairly common name, there will always be other people with the same name, and no one will assume that you named your child after one of them. Plus, if you're pregnant with a child now and you're talking about an association with someone about whom an internet page is written, that person will probably be at least a generation older than your child (and in the case given above, more than that), so there should be no chance of actual confusion. Unless your search pulls up an infamous serial killer or someone currently very well known, I wouldn't worry about it. If your last name is Rice, it probably wouldn't be wise to name your daughter Condoleeza, but if your last name is Riis, I doubt many people would blink an eye if you named your son Jacob, especially given how popular the name Jacob is these days.
p.s. I know a woman named Janet Jackson and another woman named Julia Roberts. Both were named before the stars rose to fame. Aside from a few annoying jokes when people first meet them, it doesn't seem to be a really big deal to either one of them, but of course, it's nearly impossible to find any actual information about them on the internet. For me, that's a drawback, but it sounds like you're considering a common name with an obscure personality attached to it, which probably wouldn't make it too hard for your son to "compete" for the name.
Marta, You want to name her Daphne but think that Penelope is too drammatic?? I love how we all have different views on these kinds of things I actually laughed out loud - in the middle of the night pumping breadt milk after feeding my baby. I think Penelope is very cute. It is not so unheard of as to be strange.
Ok, honestly, I dont like Daphne. It sounds... nasal to my ears.
Penelope Jane?
Penelope Susanne/Suzanne?
::waves and hopes you find a name you! really like:: :)
Daphne - used to think of it as a complete old lady's name, but then a friend caled her daughter Daphne and now I think it's quite sweet. Big danger of ending up Daffy though. She has siblings Cicely and Charlie btw.
Don't think there's mch wrong with Ophelia, Penelope remnds me of enelope Pitstop too much.
Like Helena, Delia not Lena and hate Greta (sounds like cheese grater)
How about Hermione, Hero, Phoebe, Damaris, Cordelia, Sylvie?
I'm in Australia and know quite a few Declans. It's pronounced Deck-lin in most instances here.
With regard to the famous name thing, I've worked with several Michael Jacksons and Lisa Simpsons. You quickly get over the association once you know they person, and they are obvious name associations.
I love Ophelia, but am worried about all the possible teasing possibilities in the teenage years. Along the lines of 'Can I feel ya (insert body part here).'
Marta,
I've only known one Daphne (she'd be about 35 now), and she actually was a bit daffy, so there were some snide comments made behind her back. I like the name ok, but I like some of your other choices a lot better--Helena and Lena especially, and Delia's nice, but I like Cordelia better as a whole name. I also like Keren's suggestions of Damaris and Sylvie. I agree that Penelope's not too much, and she could always have nn Penny, which I think is cute.
Maybe Helena Jane? Helena Daphne? She could have nn. Lena, and you'd get to use both names at once. What about Damaris Anne, or Damaris Rebecca?
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