How popular is the baby name Eileen 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 Eileen.

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Popularity of the baby name Eileen


Posts that mention the name Eileen

Pennsylvania quadruplets: Kathleen, Maureen, Eileen, Michael

kinderfest

A set of quadruplets was delivered via Caesarean section for the first time ever on November 1, 1944. The quads — 3 girls and 1 boy — were born to Kathleen and Joseph Cirmnello of Philadelphia. TIME magazine noted several weeks later that the quadruple C-section was “a feat unique in medical history.”

The foursome had been known as A, B, C and D. However, Cirminello named the boy Michael on Saturday and the mother picked Kathleen for girl B’s name. The other two Monday were named Maureen and Eileen.

Kathleen, Maureen, Eileen, and…Michael. Do you think Michael ever felt left out because his name didn’t rhyme with his sisters’ names?

(Another rhyming sibset: Don Ameche’s Rhyming Children.)

Sources:

  • “Medicine: Quadruple Caesarean.” TIME Nov. 13, 1944.
  • “Cirminello Quads Named; Father Goes Back to Work.” Miami News Nov. 6, 1944: 2-A.

What popularized the baby name Cheryl in the 1940s?

Actress Cheryl Walker in the movie "Stage Door Canteen" (1943)
Cheryl Walker in “Stage Door Canteen“

We may not know the exact origin of the name Cheryl (is it Cherie + Beryl…?), but we do know that the name saw a drastic rise in popularity during the first half of 20th century. Cheryl went from a rarity in the early 1900s to one of the most popular girl names in the U.S. by the mid-1950s.

How did it manage to do that?

With a little help from pop culture!

The first pop culture boost happened in 1938:

U.S. girls named CherylCalif. girls named Cheryl
1940285 [rank: 408th]42
1939289 [rank: 390th]49
1938397 [rank: 312th]76
1937145 [rank: 563rd]16
193694 [rank: 688th]10

What was drawing attention to the name (particularly in California) around that time?

A 19-year-old from Pasadena named Cheryl Walker. In late 1937, she was selected as the 1938 Queen of the Tournament of Roses. Local newspapers (including the Los Angeles Times) talked about Cheryl quite a bit during the last month of 1937 and the first few months of 1938.

Cheryl Walker went on to work in movies for about a decade. Her biggest picture was the wartime hit Stage Door Canteen, in which she played a canteen hostess (named Eileen) who fell in love with a soldier. Released in mid-1943, Stage Door Canteen became one of the highest-grossing films of the year.

In both 1943 and 1944, the number of babies named Cheryl increased significantly:

  • 1945: 8,150 baby girls named Cheryl [rank: 32nd]
  • 1944: 7,970 baby girls named Cheryl [rank: 36th]
  • 1943: 2,878 baby girls named Cheryl [rank: 102nd]
  • 1942: 590 baby girls named Cheryl [rank: 280th]
  • 1941: 439 baby girls named Cheryl [rank: 311th]

The name of Cheryl’s character, Eileen, also saw increased usage, as did many variant spellings of Cheryl:

19421943194419451946
Cheryl5902,8787,9708,15011,525
Sheryl3245889491,0551,632
Sherrill202207263206250
Cheryle2780176184238
Sherryl4971104140203
Cheryll11416998120
Sheryle1219263152
Cherryl9195958104
Sharelle–28*10––
Charyl–24*271721
Scheryl–11*1175
Cherril–667–
Sherral–66–8
Sherelle–6*–––
Sheril–51169
Chyrl–5*8710
Cheril––6*7–
Cherl––6*58
Sherryll––565
Cherill––5*––
Cheyrl––5*59
Chyrel–––7*10
Cheryal–––6*5
Cherryle–––5*–
Sherell–––5*–
Sherrille–––5*–
Chryl––––9*
Sherryle––––7*
Cherel––––5*
Cherle––––5*
Cherryll––––5*
Chyral––––5*
Shyrel––––5*
*Debut

But the skyrocketing interest in the name Cheryl was due to more than just a movie.

A few weeks after the film was released, Hollywood star Lana Turner and her husband Stephen Crane welcomed a daughter they decided to call Cheryl Christina Crane. (Lana said the name “Cheryl” came to her in a dream.)

Stephen Crane, Lana Turner, and baby Cheryl Crane (in mid-1943)
Stephen Crane, Lana Turner, and Cheryl

Baby Cheryl was often mentioned in the news — particularly during 1944, when she was at the center of a custody battle that lasted from April until August.

Usage of the name Cheryl plateaued in the late ’40s and early ’50s, then began to rise again in 1954:

  • 1956: 21,280 baby girls named Cheryl [rank: 18th]
  • 1955: 19,100 baby girls named Cheryl [rank: 19th]
  • 1954: 15,000 baby girls named Cheryl [rank: 22nd]
  • 1953: 12,271 baby girls named Cheryl [rank: 28th]
  • 1952: 12,197 baby girls named Cheryl [rank: 31st]

Why?

Likely because of a short-lived TV show called Waterfront (1954-1956). The central character, John Herrick, was the captain of a San Pedro Harbor tugboat called the “Cheryl Ann.” The show also gave a boost to the compound names Cherylann, Cherylanne and Sherylann specifically.

The rise continued with the help of Mouseketeer Cheryl Holdridge (b. 1944), who was featured on the immensely popular children’s TV series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1956 to 1958.

Graph of the usage of the baby name Cheryl in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Cheryl

The name Cheryl reached peak popularity in 1958 — which just so happens to be the year that Lana Turner’s daughter Cheryl (now age 14) was back in the headlines, this time for killing her mother’s abusive boyfriend (a gangster named Johnny Stompanato).

After that, usage of the name began to decline. Cheryl fell out of the top 20 in 1962, then out of the top 50 in 1972.

It saw a minor resurgence at the end of the 1970s — thanks to actress Cheryl Ladd, singer Cheryl Lynn, and/or model Cheryl Tiegs — but was out of the top 100 by 1980.

  • 1980: 2,609 baby girls named Cheryl [rank: 119th]
  • 1979: 3,210 baby girls named Cheryl [rank: 94th]
  • 1978: 3,167 baby girls named Cheryl [rank: 94th]
  • 1977: 2121 baby girls named Cheryl [rank: 134th]

And in 1998, exactly 40 years after nearly reaching the top 10, Cheryl fell out of the top 1,000 entirely.

What are your thoughts on the name Cheryl? (How about the specific spelling Cherrill?)

P.S. Thank you to all the people who’ve left helpful comments below! I’ve finally revised this post to incorporate your ideas/suggestions. :)

Sources:

Images: Screenshot of Stage Door Canteen; Cheryl Crane photo (public domain)

[Latest update: Feb. 2024]

Mouseketeer names: Annette, Dennis, Karen, Lonnie

The Mickey Mouse Club (1950s)

Annette Funicello, the most popular member of the original Mickey Mouse Club (1955-1959), passed away a couple of days ago.

Seeing her name in the news made me think about the other original Mouseketeers, most of whom were born in the early to mid-1940s (making them teens in the late 1950s). If you’re looking for a baby name reminiscent of sock hops and soda fountains, the first batch of Mouseketeers is not a bad place to start:

  • Annette Funicello (b. 1942)
    • Thanks to Funicello’s fame, the baby name Annette saw a drastic rise in usage during the latter half of the 1950s.
  • Billie Beanblossom (b. 1944)
  • Bonita “Bonnie” Lynn Fields (b. 1944)
  • Bonni Lou Kern (b. 1941)
  • Bronson Scott (b. 1947) – who was a girl, despite her name
  • Charles “Charlie” Laney (b. 1943)
  • Cheryl Holdridge (b. 1944) – who went on to marry Lance Reventlow
  • Carl “Cubby” O’Brien (b. 1946)
  • Dallas Johann (b. 1944)
  • Darlene Gillespie (b. 1941)
    • The baby name Darlene also saw a steep rise in usage while The Mickey Mouse Club was on the air.
  • Dennis Day (b. 1942)
  • Joseph Richard “Dickie” Dodd (b. 1945)
  • Don Agrati (b. 1944)
  • Donald “Don” Underhill (b. 1941)
  • Doreen Tracey (b. 1943)
  • Eileen Diamond (b. 1943)
  • John “Johnny” Crawford (b. 1946)
  • John Joseph “Jay-Jay” Solari (b. 1943)
  • (John) Lee Johann (b. 1942)
  • Judy Harriet (b. 1942)
  • Karen Pendleton (b. 1946)
  • Larry Larsen (b. 1939)
  • Linda Hughes (b. 1946)
  • Leonard “Lonnie” Burr (b. 1943)
  • (Lowrey) Lynn Ready (b. 1944)
  • Margene Storey (b. 1942)
  • Mark Sutherland (b. 1944)
  • Mary Espinosa (b. 1945)
  • Mary Sartori (b. 1943)
  • Mickey Rooney, Jr. (b. 1945)
  • Michael “Mike” Smith (b. 1945)
  • Nancy Abbate (b. 1942)
  • (William) Paul Petersen (b. 1945)
  • Robert “Bobby” Burgess (b. 1941)
  • Ronald “Ronnie” Steiner (b. 1942)
  • Sharon Baird (b. 1942)
  • Sharyn “Sherry” Alberoni (b. 1946)
  • Timothy “Tim” Rooney (b. 1947)
  • Thomas “Tommy” Cole (b. 1941)

Which of the above names do you like the most?

Sources: Girl next door Annette Funicello dies at 70, The Original Mickey Mouse Club Show

Image: Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeers 1957 (public domain)

New Jersey family with 12 children (all girls!)

kinderfest

In 1957, Mrs. William Beston of Morristown, New Jersey, had gave birth to her twelfth daughter.

What are the odds of having 12 daughters and no sons? If the probability of having a girl is 1/2, then the probably of having a dozen girls in a row is 1/4096, or about .0244% — less than three-hundredths of a percent. Pretty slim, in other words.

What were the names of the Beston girls?

  1. (died in infancy)
  2. Patricia, 12
  3. Eileen, 11
  4. Regina, 9
  5. Carol, 8
  6. Joann, 7
  7. Gertrude, 6
  8. Delores, 5
  9. Betty Lou, 4
  10. Catherine, 3
  11. Levinia, 13 months
  12. Madonna Grace, newborn

Of the 11 names above, which is your favorite?

If you had a dozen daughters, what would their names be?

Sources:

  • “It’s a Big Day for Bestons–Twelfth Daughter Joins Family.” Spokane Daily Chronicle 16 Sep. 1957: 20.
  • “Woman Gives Birth To 12th Daughter; Has No Sons.” Port Angeles Evening News 12 Sept. 1957: 4.