Name Detective: 1970s Edition

Jul 21st 2008

By Laura Wattenberg

When it comes to celebrity-inspired baby names, I always say that it's not about the celebrity, it's about the name. If sheer popularity and exposure were what mattered, Madonna would be the top name of the past 25 years. In reality, even a modest pop culture moment can beget a name phenomenon...if it's the right name at the right time. Years later, the name's "celebrity" origins will be lost from memory. This is a tale of one such name.

Here's a graph of one name's popularity starting in 1974. (The numbers printed on the bars represent the rank among all girls' names in the U.S.) Any guess what name it is?

That's a major out-of-nowhere hit. And most remarkably, the name has held steady ever since. It's currently celebrating its 30th straight year in the top 200. But don't feel bad if you can't guess from the graph -- I certainly couldn't. Because the name is Jillian. And what the heck made Jillian one of the fastest rising names of the 1970s?

I was curious, so I did a little digging. Credit the name's first appearance in 1976 to soap operas. "Ryan's Hope" premiered in the second half of 1975, featuring a character named Jillian Coleridge. The next step up the ladder came in 1977, with a film character: Gillian Guiler of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. My best guess on the the trigger for 1982 burst is actress Ann Jillian (born Ann Nauseda). Hardly a Madonna in the bunch.

A clue to the reason Jillian caught on so spectacularly can be found in the Close Encounters character. Note that it's Gillian, with a G. Yet that spelling got only a fraction of the boost of the J version, thanks to old friend Jill. In 1977, Jill was an American standard. The name had been in the top 100 for 20 years in a row. It was still extremely popular, but also extremely familiar. Jillian seemed like a natural way to freshen up a name that people still liked but were getting a little bored with. It was just a baby step away from the tried and true, a perfect recipe for popularity. In short, a modest pop-culture launching pad was enough to send Jillian into orbit because parents were already ready for it.

If you've been watching the recent top-10 American names, this phenomenon may sound familiar. It's replaying in Addison, birthed of familiar favorite Madison with a big boost from a tv character. 30 years from now, "Dr. Addison Montgomery" will probably be just a footnote to naming history too.

07/21/2008, 11:24PM

Comments

201

July 26, 2008 6:16 PM

By bill

j&h's mom:
are you saying Magnum would have a brother Maverick because they are both roller coasters at Cedar Point?

then there's the less than savory association of trojan Magnum condoms...

202

July 26, 2008 7:35 PM

By Beth

Oly -- I'm going to come down on the traditionalist side (surprise!). Sterling and Anneliese are lovely, and James, to me, says "We just like dignified names," whereas if you add a more experimental name it sounds like "We are trying very hard to be different here."

Nicknames -- around my house, we call it nicknaming the nickname. So with my partner I went from Beth to Bat to Batwing to Winger to Wingsteady to Steadyheady to just Steady. These things are very pleasing to me as I was always Elizabeth-just-Beth, no affectionate nicknames in my house. My daughter Caroline, at eighteen months, simply renamed herself "Firefly," and she yelled every time we tried to use her real name. So she's at preschool as Caroline in print, Firefly when spoken or referred to out loud. The problem is that in public, we sound like hippie parents when really she has the stodgiest name ever: Caroline Jane, for her two grandmothers.

203

July 26, 2008 11:11 PM

By CHW

I am a proud mother of Gillian Elizabeth(3). So of course, this topic is of great interest.

Miriam thank you for the brief history of the name Gillian.The mystic Julian of Norwich has picqued my curiosty and I will shortly be googling his name!
I have also heard or read somewhere that, at one point, the name Gillian was so common in England that Jill became the nickname to refer to all women. Hence the epression for every Jack there is a Jill and Jack and Jill the nursery ryhme. Can anyone collobarate this?

204

July 26, 2008 11:23 PM

By C & C's Mom

baby update: our new baby boy is here.

Beckett Rhodes LN
July 24

I guess I can now officially become C, C & B's Mom!

205

July 27, 2008 1:14 AM

By Auntie Beth

I'm happy to be the first to welcome young Beckett and offer congratulations to you and the whole family. Thanks for sharing the good news.

206

July 27, 2008 1:41 AM

By Valerie

CHW- As you'll no doubt discover shortly, Julian of Norwich was actually a woman, and apparently a pretty exceptional one.

207

July 27, 2008 2:00 AM

By CHW

Oops! Julian of Norwich was definitley a woman and yes a very interesting one indeed.

208

July 27, 2008 4:03 AM

By Mother Goose

I know I'm late, but I have suggestions for a longer name for Nina.

I had a student, Georgianna, who was called Nina. I originally thought to call her Giana, as I have had a few Gianna's in the past, but as I got to know her, she was definately a Nina. I suppose Georgina would work just as well.

209

July 27, 2008 9:40 AM

By hyz

Congratulations, C,C & B's mom! A handsome name for a handsome boy, I'm sure!

210

July 27, 2008 11:28 AM

By Kate, mom of T, G, and J

C,C&B's mom -- congratulations on Beckett Rhodes! I love the combo -- it's very handsome, and goes very well with your other kids' names! Will you be using a nn or calling him by his mn?

211

July 27, 2008 11:52 AM

By Erin

Thanks for the info on John=Jack. I thought of another reason that could be so: Jacques- sounds kind of like Jack the way American's may pronounce it, and I thought this was the French form of John, which maybe alot of people did because of the song Frere Jacques in English "...Brother John"
So I looked into this and I guess Jacques is actually Jacob or James? Is that correct? Do you think people have the misconception that Jacques is John? And what is John in French then, anyways?

212

July 27, 2008 1:11 PM

By Eo

Congrats, C & C and B's Mom! From one "B's Mom" to another, I have to agree that "Beckett Rhodes" is very distinguished and goes beautifully with your other children's names.

Erin-- "Jean" is the French version of John, (and "Jeanne" is the version for Jane or Joan) and I believe you are absolutely right, "Jacques" stands for Jacob or James. Linguists, do both Jacob and James mean roughly, "supplanter"? That seems to stick in my mind....

213

July 27, 2008 1:49 PM

By J&H's mom

Hi, Bill-I have to confess I don't know Cedar Point. I was just thinking of what a brother to a Magnum would be. I'm embarassed to admit this, but we watched that Will Farrell comedy Talladega Nights, and there was this hilarious scene where he defends the rude, foul mouthed antics of his boys, whose names are Walker and Texas Ranger, by saying something like, "If we wanted wimps, we'd have named them Doctor Quinn and Medicine Woman." We were laughing about that for days.

C,C& B's mom-Congratulations on little Beckett!!

214

July 27, 2008 2:17 PM

By Danielle

Congrats on baby Beckett, C & C's mom! Definitely a distinguished sounding name! :)

215

July 27, 2008 2:45 PM

By Sister Melinda

Jacob and James have the same roots. Jacob is closer to the original Hebrew (Yakub or Yakov, more or less); James comes through Greek (like many New Testament versions of names) into Latin (Iacobus/Iacomus); in Italian, the names are similar (Giacopo/Giacomo); in Spanish, it's Diego or Iago (as in Santiago); in French, it's Jacques.

And it's why my son James is called Jake, which makes no sense to anyone but me and other NEs.

216

July 27, 2008 6:31 PM

By bill

i know a James nn Jake.

and i would put Jacob and James on opposite sides of the Jew-Gentile spectrum, respectively.

217

July 27, 2008 9:02 PM

By Zoerhenne

Welcome to Beckett Rhodes!

Beth-I think Firefly is a cute nn. My dd's nn is sunshine because it was so D**n sunny when I was giving birth! She HATES other nn's like "cutie-pie" "pumpkin" etc. that she often says "Please just call me by my regular name" but she means her nn Sunshine.

I've already chimed in about Nina, Magnus, Magnum and others. I think Leo is okay-it can be both plain or English sounding. Leopold, and Leon are the only lenghtened names that jump into my head.

218

July 27, 2008 9:45 PM

By Sister Melinda

Lionel can be also be nicked to Leo.

219

July 27, 2008 10:46 PM

By Marjorie

Leo would also be nn for Leonard.

220

July 28, 2008 12:25 AM

By Guess

I know someone named Heracleo nicknamed Leo (or Hera, pronounced 'Era). He's Filipino and the name is pronounced as if it were Spanish. You'd have to be pretty secure to pull off being named Hercules... but it works on him.

221

July 28, 2008 5:22 AM

By ET

I like the name Leo, and think it words fine as a stand alone name. The only longer versions I can think of are either a bit old-manish (Leonard, Leopold) or a bit fancy (Leonardo).

Magnum just makes me think of the Ice Creams! Apart from that it sounds very strong and slightly Scottish.

222

July 28, 2008 4:13 PM

By Rjoy

Jane-Or Sadie for Sarah! I never understood that one.

223

July 28, 2008 8:06 PM

By Amy3

C, C & B's mom -- Congratulations on Beckett Rhodes! What a splendid name. I love it!

224

July 29, 2008 2:29 PM

By Enid

Vivian is one of my favourite names and I am expecting a daughter in October. I've wanted to use the name for years. Now I'm afraid it may become too popular due to the use of its French variant by Angelina Jolie. What do you think?

225

July 29, 2008 8:12 PM

By Phoebe Claire

itchybrain- im really hoping you ge tt he chance to get to read this with all the other great suggestions out there!
i went to high school with a christina who went by nina and i just loved it, plus there are more nns you could use with that one!

226

July 30, 2008 11:33 AM

By Shira

Naming trends do tend to move down through socio-economic strata, but they also move from urban to suburban to rural areas. But then, it's not an exact science - all sorts of things can influence it from celebrities to world events.

I have seen a lot of British influence in American naming. American parents tend to have about a five year lag or so behind British ones. Names like Jack and Sophie were popular there well before American parents "rediscovered" them. I think the next name to follow this will be Poppy.

As for Carter, I wonder if it's maybe a result of the increasingly popular brand of baby clothes. The name fits with the medieval occupation name trend, and an expectant mother might see it quite often when shopping and on her gifts and not realize why it seems so nicely familiar.

227

August 4, 2008 10:53 AM

By lolly

the waltons? The mothers name was Olivia

228

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