How popular is the baby name Barbara in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out all the blog posts that mention the name Barbara.
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TV western The Big Valley (1965-1969) was set in California’s San Joaquin Valley in the 1870s.
It followed the wealthy, ranch-owning Barkley family, which was headed by widowed matriarch Victoria (played by Barbara Stanwyck).
Victoria had five adult children — Jarrod, Nick, Audra, Heath, and Eugene* — and three of the five ended up having a big influence on U.S. baby names…
Jarrod Barkley, Victoria’s eldest son, was a respected attorney. The name Jarrod debuted in the baby name data in 1965, and by 1966 usage had increased by more than a factor of 10:
1969: 318 baby boys named Jarrod (rank: 443rd)
1968: 353 baby boys named Jarrod (rank: 410th)
1967: 263 baby boys named Jarrod (rank: 469th)
1966: 219 baby boys named Jarrod (rank: 511th)
1965: 21 baby boys named Jarrod [debut]
1964: unlisted
Other forms of the name also got a boost, from the traditional spelling (Jared) to several other brand-new spellings (including Jerrid, Jarrad, and Jarred — the highest-debuting male name of 1966).
Heath Barkley was the illegitimate son of Victoria’s late husband. (Victoria eventually accepted him as her own.) The name Heath entered the top 1,000 in 1966:
1969: 524 baby boys named Heath (rank: 344th)
1968: 548 baby boys named Heath (rank: 326th)
1967: 516 baby boys named Heath (rank: 329th)
1966: 433 baby boys named Heath (rank: 361st)
1965: 37 baby boys named Heath
1964: 10 baby boys named Heath
One variant, Heith, emerged in the data in 1966. (Not surprising, given the popularity of Keith at the time.)
Audra Barkley was Victoria’s only daughter. The name Audra entered the top 1,000 in 1966 and saw peak usage in 1967:
1969: 844 baby girls named Audra (rank: 310th)
1968: 997 baby girls named Audra (rank: 273rd)
1967: 1152 baby girls named Audra (rank: 246th) [peak]
1966: 892 baby girls named Audra (rank: 283rd)
1965: 90 baby girls named Audra
1964: 15 baby girls named Audra
Finally, while neither Nick nor Eugene (who was on the series during the first season only) had much influence upon their respective names, at least one single-episode character made an impact.
Layle Johnson (played by Leslie Parrish) — a love-interest for Nick — appeared on the episode “Bounty on a Barkley,” which aired in February of 1968. The name Layle, which had appeared in the data once before as a boy name, returned that year as a girl name:
Did you know that New York City’s website hosts vital statistics reports (PDFs) going all the way back to the 1960s? And that, from 1991 onward, these annual reports include baby name rankings for NYC?
I don’t want you to have to comb through a whole bunch of PDFs to find the city’s historical top-ten lists, though, so I gathered all the lists into a single blog post.
The name tables in the reports also incorporate several older sets rankings (from 1990, 1985, 1980, 1948, 1928, and 1898 specifically) for comparison, and those are here well — just scroll to the bottom.
2019
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2019. (Here’s my post about the 2019 NYC rankings.)
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2019)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2019)
1. Emma 2. Olivia 3. Sophia 4. Mia 5. Isabella 6. Leah 7. Ava 8. Chloe 9. Amelia 10. Charlotte
1. Liam 2. Noah 3. Ethan 4. Jacob 5. Lucas 6. Aiden 7. Daniel 8. Michael 9. David 10. Matthew
2018
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2018. (Here’s my post about the 2018 NYC rankings.)
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2018)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2018)
1. Emma 2. Isabella 3. Sophia 4. Mia 5. Olivia 6. Ava 7. Leah 8. Sarah 9. Amelia 10. Chloe
1. Liam 2. Noah 3. Ethan 4. Jacob 5. Aiden 6. David 7. Lucas 8. Matthew 9. Daniel 10. Alexander
2017
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2017. (Here’s my post about the 2017 NYC rankings.)
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2017)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2017)
1. Emma 2. Olivia 3. Mia 4. Sophia 5. Isabella 6. Ava 7. Leah 8. Emily 9. Sarah 10. Abigail
1. Liam 2. Noah 3. Jacob 4. Ethan 5. David 6. Lucas 7. Matthew 8. Jayden 9. Aiden 10. Daniel
2016
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2016. (Here’s my post about the 2016 NYC rankings.)
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2016)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2016)
1. Olivia 2. Sophia 3. Emma 4. Isabella 5. Mia 6. Ava 7. Emily 8. Leah 9. Sarah 10. Madison
1. Liam 2. Jacob 3. Ethan 4. Noah 5. Aiden 6. Matthew 7. Daniel 8. Lucas 9. Michael 10. Dylan
2015
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2015. (Here’s my post about the 2015 NYC rankings.)
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2015)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2015)
1. Olivia 2. Sophia 3. Emma (tie) 4. Mia (tie) 5. Isabella 6. Leah 7. Emily 8. Ava 9. Chloe 10. Madison
1. Ethan 2. Liam 3. Noah 4. Jacob 5. Jayden 6. Matthew 7. David 8. Daniel (tie) 9. Dylan (tie) 10. Aiden
2014
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2014. (Here’s my post about the 2014 NYC rankings.)
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2014)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2014)
1. Sophia 2. Isabella 3. Olivia 4. Mia 5. Emma 6. Emily 7. Leah 8. Ava 9. Sofia 10. Chloe
1. Ethan 2. Jacob 3. Liam 4. Jayden 5. Noah 6. Daniel 7. Michael 8. Alexander 9. David 10. Matthew
2013
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2013.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2013)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2013)
1. Sophia 2. Isabella 3. Emma 4. Olivia 5. Mia 6. Emily 7. Leah 8. Sofia 9. Madison 10. Chloe
1. Jayden 2. Ethan 3. Jacob 4. Daniel 5. David 6. Noah 7. Michael 8. Matthew 9. Alexander 10. Liam
2012
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2012.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2012)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2012)
1. Sophia 2. Isabella 3. Emma 4. Olivia 5. Emily 6. Mia 7. Chloe 8. Madison 9. Leah 10. Ava
1. Jayden 2. Ethan 3. Jacob 4. Daniel 5. Matthew 6. Michael 7. Aiden 8. David 9. Ryan 10. Alexander
2011
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2011. (Here’s my post about the 2011 NYC rankings.)
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2011)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2011)
1. Isabella 2. Sophia 3. Olivia 4. Emma 5. Mia 6. Emily 7. Madison 8. Leah 9. Chloe 10. Sofia
1. Jayden 2. Jacob 3. Ethan 4. Daniel 5. Michael 6. Matthew 7. Justin 8. David 9. Aiden 10. Alexander
2010
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2010.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2010)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2010)
1. Isabella 2. Sophia 3. Olivia 4. Emily 5. Madison 6. Mia 7. Emma 8. Leah 9. Sarah 10. Chloe
1. Jayden 2. Ethan 3. Daniel 4. Jacob 5. David 6. Justin 7. Michael 8. Matthew 9. Joseph 10. Joshua
2009
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2009.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2009)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2009)
1. Isabella 2. Sophia 3. Mia 4. Emily 5. Olivia 6. Madison 7. Sarah 8. Ashley 9. Leah 10. Emma
1. Jayden 2. Daniel 3. Ethan 4. Michael 5. David 6. Justin 7. Matthew 8. Joshua 9. Alexander 10. Christopher
2008
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2008.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2008)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2008)
1. Sophia 2. Isabella 3. Emily 4. Olivia 5. Sarah 6. Madison 7. Ashley 8. Mia 9. Samantha 10. Emma
1. Jayden 2. Daniel 3. Michael 4. Matthew 5. David 6. Joshua 7. Justin 8. Anthony 9. Christopher 10. Ethan/Ryan (tied for 10th)
2007
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2007. (Here’s my post about the 2007 NYC rankings.)
1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Kevin 4. Daniel 5. Jonathan 6. Joseph 7. Anthony 8. Matthew 9. David 10. Justin
*The name was spelled “Sara” (without the h) in the 1995 annual report, but “Sarah” (with the h) on all the other reports. So, assuming that “Sara” was a typo, I’ve spelled it with the h here.
1994
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1994.
1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Kevin 4. Anthony 5. Jonathan 6. Daniel 7. Joseph 8. Matthew 9. David 10. Brandon
1993
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1993.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1993)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1993)
1. Ashley 2. Stephanie 3. Jessica 4. Amanda 5. Samantha 6. Nicole 7. Jennifer 8. Michelle 9. Melissa 10. Christina
1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Kevin 4. Jonathan 5. Anthony 6. Daniel 7. Joseph 8. David 9. Matthew 10. John
1992
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1992.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1992)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1992)
1. Ashley 2. Stephanie 3. Jessica 4. Amanda 5. Samantha 6. Jennifer 7. Nicole 8. Michelle 9. Melissa 10. Christina
1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Jonathan 4. Anthony 5. Joseph 6. Daniel 7. David 8. Kevin 9. Matthew 10. John
1991
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1991.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1991)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1991)
1. Stephanie 2. Ashley 3. Jessica 4. Amanda 5. Samantha 6. Jennifer 7. Nicole 8. Michelle 9. Melissa 10. Christina
1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Jonathan 4. Anthony 5. Joseph 6. Daniel 7. David 8. Matthew 9. Kevin 10. John
1990
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1990.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1990)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1990)
1. Stephanie 2. Jessica 3. Ashley 4. Jennifer 5. Amanda 6. Samantha 7. Nicole 8. Christina 9. Melissa 10. Michelle
1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Jonathan 4. Anthony 5. David 6. Daniel 7. Joseph 8. Matthew 9. John 10. Andrew
1985
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1985.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1985)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1985)
1. Jennifer 2. Jessica 3. Christina 4. Stephanie 5. Melissa 6. Nicole 7. Elizabeth 8. Amanda 9. Danielle 10. Lauren
1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Daniel 4. David 5. Anthony 6. Joseph 7. Jonathan 8. Jason 9. John 10. Robert
1980
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1980.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1980)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1980)
1. Jennifer 2. Jessica 3. Melissa 4. Nicole 5. Michelle 6. Elizabeth 7. Lisa 8. Christina 9. Tiffany 10. Maria
1. Michael 2. David 3. Jason 4. Joseph 5. Christopher 6. Anthony 7. John 8. Daniel 9. Robert 10. James
1948
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1948.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1948)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1948)
1. Linda 2. Mary 3. Barbara 4. Patricia 5. Susan 6. Kathleen 7. Carol 8. Nancy 9. Margaret 10. Diane
1. Robert 2. John 3. James 4. Michael 5. William 6. Richard 7. Joseph 8. Thomas 9. Stephen 10. David
1928
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1928.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1928)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1928)
1. Mary 2. Marie 3. Annie 4. Margaret 5. Catherine 6. Gloria 7. Helen 8. Teresa 9. Joan 10. Barbara
1. John 2. William 3. Joseph 4. James 5. Richard 6. Edward 7. Robert 8. Thomas 9. George 10. Louis
1898
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1898.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1898)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1898)
1. Mary 2. Catherine 3. Margaret 4. Annie 5. Rose 6. Marie 7. Esther 8. Sarah 9. Frances 10. Ida
1. John 2. William 3. Charles 4. George 5. Joseph 6. Edward 7. James 8. Louis 9. Francis 10. Samuel
NYC typically waits until the following December to release their baby name rankings, so I don’t expect the 2020 rankings to be available until the end of this year.
In 1960, the name Nedenia showed up in the U.S. baby name data for the first and only time:
1962: unlisted
1961: unlisted
1960: 9 baby girls named Nedenia [debut]
1959: unlisted
1958: unlisted
Where did it come from?
Actress and socialite Dina Merrill, whose real name was Nedenia Hutton.
Often compared to Grace Kelly. Merrill was most famous in the late ’50s and early ’60s. In 1960 specifically, she could be seen in the movies The Sundowners and BUtterfield 8. (When Merrill appeared on the game show What’s My Line? in August of 1960, one of the panelists remarked: “I must say that Miss Merrill has had more publicity than I think any actress in America in the course of the last year.”)
I think a more precise explanation, though, is “She Has Too Much Money” — an article with an eye-catching title that ran in Parade (the nationally distributed Sunday newspaper magazine) in March of 1959. It primarily focused on Dina’s wealth, but divulged Dina’s full legal name at the time, Nedenia Hutton Rumbough, in the second paragraph.
Nedenia Hutton was born in 1923 to Post Cereals heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and stockbroker Edward Francis Hutton. Her birth name was an elaboration of her father’s nickname, Ned. (Her stage surname, Merrill, was borrowed from another well-known stockbroker: Charles E. Merrill.)
The unusual name Bedar has appeared just once in the U.S. baby name data:
1968: unlisted
1967: unlisted
1966: 5 baby girls named Bedar [debut]
1965: unlisted
1964: unlisted
Where did it come from?
A flower girl. Specifically, 4-year-old “Bedar Howar” — the flower girl at the August wedding of 19-year-old Luci Johnson, daughter of U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson.
But here’s the catch: Her name was actually Bader Howar. Every contemporary write-up about the wedding that I saw managed to misspelled her name.
Her father Edmond was a real estate developer of Jordanian descent; her mother Barbara was a Washington D.C. socialite and writer. In the mid-1970s, Barbara mentioned to People magazine that Bader was “named for a paternal grandmother.” (Her name is a form of Badr, which means “full moon” in Arabic.)
Bader now works as a portrait photographer in California, though she did have a brief acting career (including a small part in Pretty in Pink).
Sources:
“Wedding Members Revealed.” Indiana Gazette 5 Aug. 1966: 3.
So what gave the name Cinnamon such a big boost in the late ’60s?
Cinnamon Carter, a character from the spy/action TV show Mission: Impossible (1966-1973).
Cinnamon (played by actress Barbara Bain) was a successful fashion model by day, but she was also a member of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) — a team of secret government agents. (I’m not sure how one can be a both a public figure and a secret agent, but I guess she made it work.)
Though the character was only on the show for the first three seasons, she made a strong impression; Bain won three consecutive Emmy awards for each of those three years.
As soon as the character was off the show, the usage of the name Cinnamon started declining.
What are your thoughts on Cinnamon as a baby name? How high do you think it could have climbed in the rankings had the character remained on the show?
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