Yesterday I posted about a little girl named Sailor. Robin-Sailor, actually.
Hours later, I learned of another Sailor — the newborn daughter of The Boo Radleys vocalist Martin Carr and his wife Mary. (Mary and Martin did some hilarious tweeting during the labor/birth. “Oh great, I’ve run out of beer. This would never happen in the hospital. #homebirth” Gawker has more.)
Last year, I wrote a post for a reader with a son named Saylor.
Lots of babies named Sailor and Saylor lately, which makes me wonder — will Sailor/Saylor be the next Sawyer? That is, will it be the next trendy, unisex noun-name? (Or occupational surname-name, however you want to view it.)
The oldest Sailor I can think of offhand is Christie Brinkley’s daughter Sailor, born in July of 1998. Brinkley’s Sailor helped jump-start this Saylor/Sailor trend in the first place, in fact:
- 2010 – 269 baby girls and 25 baby boys named Saylor/Sailor
- 2009 – 278 baby girls and 21 baby boys named Saylor/Sailor
- 2008 – 259 baby girls and 34 baby boys named Saylor/Sailor
- 2007 – 217 baby girls and 31 baby boys named Saylor/Sailor
- 2006 – 200 baby girls and 28 baby boys named Saylor/Sailor
- 2005 – 200 baby girls and 22 baby boys named Saylor/Sailor
- 2004 – 174 baby girls and 29 baby boys named Saylor/Sailor
- 2003 – 166 baby girls and 19 baby boys named Saylor/Sailor
- 2002 – 146 baby girls and 28 baby boys named Saylor/Sailor
- 2001 – 179 baby girls and 19 baby boys named Saylor/Sailor
- 2000 – 130 baby girls and at least 17 baby boys named Saylor/Sailor
- 1999 – 145 baby girls and 24 baby boys named Saylor/Sailor
- 1998 – 54 baby girls and 16 baby boys named Saylor/Sailor
How high do you think the name will go?
(Also, did you know that the surname Saylor does not refer to sailing on water? More like sailing through the air. According to the Dictionary of American Family Names, it’s an “occupational name for a dancer or acrobat” that can be traced back to the Old French word sailleor, meaning “dancer” or “leaper.”)