How popular is the baby name Doctor 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 Doctor.

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Popularity of the baby name Doctor


Posts that mention the name Doctor

Name quotes #107

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From a 2020 Facebook post by The Pioneer Woman, Anne Marie “Ree” Drummond (found via Mashed):

Happy Father’s Day to my father-in-law, whom I love, my own dad, whom I adore, and my husband Ladd, pictured here with our first child (who was conceived on our honeymoon, btw…sorry if that’s TMI, we almost named her Sydney but changed our mind because we didn’t want her to have to explain it her whole life).

(They ended up naming her Alex.)

A 2017 tweet by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to the daughter of South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes, India Rhodes (b. 2015), who was named in honor of the country:

Happy birthday to India, from India. :)

From a 1935 article about baby names in a newspaper from Perth, Australia:

After Amy Johnson (Mrs. J. A. Mollison) made her wonderful flight to Australia it seemed that every baby girl was being named “Amy.” They were comparatively lucky. “Amy” is rather a nice name, but what about the unfortunate boys who were called “Lindbergh” or “Lindy” in 1927 to commemorate the young American’s lone Atlantic flight?

Amy Johnson newspaper article 1935

(I don’t have any Australian baby name data that goes back to the late 1920s — Amy Johnson‘s solo flight from England to Australia was in 1930 — but, anecdotally, most of the Australian Amys I’m seeing in the records were born decades before the flight.)

From an article about Taylor Swift in GQ:

Swift mentions that she wrote a non-autobiographical novel when she was 14, titled A Girl Named Girl, and that her parents still have it. I ask her what it was about, assuming she will laugh. But her memory of the plot is remarkably detailed. (It’s about a mother who wants a son but instead has a girl.)

From a biography of North Carolina businessman Edward James Parrish in the book Makers of America: Biographies of Leading Men of Thought and Action, vol. II (1916):

Colonel Parrish was born near Round Hill Post Office, then in Orange County (now Durham County), on October 20, 1846, son of Colonel Doctor Claiborn and Ruthy Anne (Ward) Parrish. His father had the peculiar given name of Doctor because he was a seventh son, in accordance with the old belief that the seventh son has the gift of healing.

From an article about Irish TV personality Vogue Williams:

Everyone thinks I made up my name or I changed it at some stage and I’m actually called Joanne. But I like having a different name. Brian and I squabble all the time over baby names – because I want to give any children we have an equally mad name as the one I was given.

For more quotes about names, check out the name quotes category.

[Latest update: Oct. 2023]

Where did the baby name Daktari come from in 1966?

Title of the TV series "Daktari" (1966-1969)
Daktari

The baby name Daktari was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data in 1966:

  • 1968: unlisted
  • 1967: unlisted
  • 1966: 5 baby boys named Daktari [debut]
  • 1965: unlisted
  • 1964: unlisted

Where did it come from?

The TV series Daktari, which premiered on CBS in that year.

The show was about an American veterinarian, Dr. Marsh Tracy (played by actor Marshall Thompson), who ran an the fictional Wameru Study Center for Animal Behaviour in East Africa.

The two most notable cast members were non-human: Judy the chimp and Clarence the cross-eyed lion — perhaps not surprising, given the fact that the show’s producer was Ivan Tors, who gave us the original Flipper movie in 1963.

Another cast member, Hari Rhodes (who played Mike Makula), may have been behind the debut of Hari in 1968, but it’s hard to know for sure.

The title comes from a Swahili word for “doctor,” which was based directly on the English word “doctor.”

Do you like the name Daktari? (Do you like it more or less than the name Doctor?)

Source: SSA

Image: Screenshot of Daktari

How did Portland Hoffa get her name?

American comedian Portland Hoffa (1905-1990)
Portland Hoffa

Dr. Frederick Hoffa and his wife, Mary, had four baby girls in the early 20th century.

The first was named Lebanon. She was born in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

The second was named Portland. She was born in Portland, Oregon.

The third was named Lastone, even though she wasn’t.

The fourth was named Doctor Fredericka. (The “Doctor” was later dropped.)

Portland Hoffa went on to become a radio star along with her first husband, Fred Allen.

Portland and Fred never had children, but Portland did have at least one namesake — Portland Mason, daughter of English actor James Mason and his first wife, Pamela. Her nickname was Porty.

Sources: