How popular is the baby name Andy in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Andy.
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The similar names Arbadella and Arbedella both debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1936, and both saw peak usage the following year:
Girls named Arbadella
Girls named Arbedella
1938
12
5
1937
33†
9†
1936
6*
6*
1935
.
.
1934
.
.
*Debut, †Peak usage
What was the influence?
The radio serial Amos & Andy — one of the very first situation comedies. The initial version of the show (1928-1943) aired for 15 minutes, five days per week, and was the most popular radio program in the nation in the late 1920’s and early 30’s. In fact, the show’s “popularity ensured the success of radio broadcasting as a form of mass entertainment.”
The show “was based on the model of minstrel shows, [and] thus based on racial stereotypes.” The main characters — African-American men named Amos Jones and Andy Brown — were played by white radio performers Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll.
In an episode that aired during October of 1936, Amos and his wife Ruby welcomed their first child, a baby girl. The baby wasn’t named right away — instead, the show’s sponsor, Pepsodent Tooth Paste, held a baby-naming contest.
The contest was advertised in newspapers nationwide. The ads noted that the judges would consider “originality, uniqueness, and suitability” when making their decision, and also offered some name-choosing prompts, such as:
“…you might think “Amanda” would be a suitable name because it contains so many of the letters of both “Amos” and “Andy.””
“…remember, too, the baby’s maternal grandmother is named Lillian.”
Thousands of prizes were offered, including a $5,000 grand prize. Here’s the full list (and what the prizes would be worth in today’s dollars):
1st: $5,000 in baby bonds (equivalent to $92,183.93 in 2020)
2nd: $1,000 in baby bonds ($18,436.79)
3rd: $100 baby bond to each of 10 winners ($1,843.68)
4th: $50 baby bond to each of 100 winners ($921.84)
5th: $25 baby bond to each of 720 winners ($460.92)
6th: $2 cash to each of 2000 winners ($36.87)
The contest closed in mid-November. The winning name, Arbadella — suggested by Mrs. Joseph L. Smith of Ohio — was announced in mid-December. (The second-place name, Ladicia Ann, was suggested by 12-year-old Indiana boy Urcel D. Miller.)
The late-in-the-year announcement of the winning name accounts for why the baby name Arbadella (and spelling variant Arbedella) debuted in the data in 1936, but saw even higher usage in 1937.
After welcoming Arbadella, Amos and Ruby went on to have two more children: Amos, Jr., and Amosandra. Neither of these fictional babies had a discernible impact on U.S. baby names, though.
What are your thoughts on the name Arbadella? Do you like it?
P.S. Norita was also a contest-winning name of the 1930s…
P.P.S. In the early 1950s, The Amos ‘n Andy Show aired on television. This time around, the characters were played by African-American actors. Despite good ratings, the show was cancelled after two years due to pressure from the NAACP.
If you’re on the hunt for baby names with a numerological value of 8, you’re in luck! Because today’s post features hundreds of 8-names.
Before we get to the names, though — how do we know that they’re “eights” in numerology?
Turning names into numbers
Here’s how to calculate the numerological value of a name.
First, for each letter, come up with a number to represent that letter’s position in the alphabet. (Letter A would be number 1, letter B would be number 2, and so forth.) Then, add all the numbers together. If the sum has two or more digits, add the digits together recursively until the result is a single digit. That single digit is the name’s numerological value.
For instance, the letters in the name Wyatt correspond to the numbers 23, 25, 1, 20, and 20. The sum of these numbers is 89. The digits of 89 added together equal 17, and the digits of 17 added together equal 8 — the numerological value of Wyatt.
Baby names with a value of 8
Below you’ll find the most popular 8-names per gender, according to the latest U.S. baby name data. I’ve further sub-categorized them by total sums — just in case any of those larger numbers are significant to anyone.
8
The letters in the following baby names add up to 8.
Girl name (8)
Boy name (8)
Bea
Abe
8 via 17
The letters in the following baby names add up to 17, which reduces to eight (1+7=8).
Girl names (8 via 17)
Boy names (8 via 17)
Gia, Bo, Afia, Eabha, Cala
Bo, Mac, Cam, Md, Jeb
8 via 26
The letters in the following baby names add up to 26, which reduces to eight (2+6=8).
Girl names (8 via 26)
Boy names (8 via 26)
Leah, Maci, Jana, Pia, Dua, Gema, Calia, Brea, Cami
Eli, Bear, Bode, Obed, Asaad, Adil
8 via 35
The letters in the following baby names add up to 35, which reduces to eight (3+5=8).
There’s no definitive answer, unfortunately, because various numerological systems exist, and each one has its own interpretation of the number eight. That said, if we look at a couple of modern numerology/astrology websites, we see 8 being described as “successful,” “ambitious,” “organized,” “practical,” and “authoritative.”
We can also look at associations, which are a bit more concrete. Here are some things that are associated with the number 8:
Figure 8
Infinity symbol
Analemma (diagram showing the position of the sun over the course of a year)
Figure-eight knot
Octopus (8 arms)
Spider (8 legs)
8-bit computing
8-track cartridge
Eight-ball (in pool)
Magic 8 Ball (fortune-telling toy)
Eight-ender (perfect score in the sport of curling)
What does the number 8 mean to you? What are your strongest associations with the number?
P.S. To see names with other numerological values, check out the posts for the numbers one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and nine.
A few weeks ago, I got an email from a reader looking for lists of old-fashioned double names. She was aiming for names like Thelma Dean, Eula Mae, and Gaynell — names that would have sounded trendy in the early 1900s. She also mentioned that she’d started a list of her own.
So I began scouring the interwebs. I tracked down lists of old-fashioned names, and lists of double names…but I couldn’t find a decent list of double names that were also old-fashioned.
I loved the idea of such a list, though, so I suggested that we work together to create one. She generously sent me the pairings she’d collected so far, and I used several different records databases to find many more.
I restricted my search to names given to girls born in the U.S. from 1890 to 1930. I also stuck to double names that I found written as single names, because it’s very likely that these pairings were used together in real life (i.e., that they were true double names and not merely first-middle pairings).
Pairings that seemed too timeless, like Maria Mae and Julia Rose, were omitted. I also took out many of the pairings that feature now-trendy names — think Ella, Emma, and Lucy — because they just don’t sound old-fashioned anymore (though they would have a few decades ago).
The result isn’t exhaustive, but it’s a decent sampling of real-life, old-fashioned double names. I’ve organized them by second name, and I also added links to popularity graphs for names that were in the SSA data during the correct time period (early 1900s).
I spotted plenty of other combinations that just didn’t happen to be written as single names in the records, so here’s a handy dandy little table to cover some of the other existing combinations…
According to the SSA, the most popular baby names in the U.S. territories of Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa — all four regions combined — in 2017 were Amy and Olivia (tied) and Kevin.
Here are the top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names for the four regions:
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