How popular is the baby name Ethel 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 Ethel.
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Her comment reminded me that I’d actually seen advertisements for that very booklet in old magazines. In fact, I was able find four full-page examples in Life.
The earliest ad (click to enlarge) featured the names Henry, Valerie, Caesar, and Jason:
The next one had Edgar, Conrad, Hortense, and Moses:
The third featured Vivian, Maxwell, Brian, and Albert:
And the final ad had Clementine, Dexter, Jasper, and Louise:
Which of these sets of names do you prefer?
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Sources:
Advertisement for Ethyl Corporation. Life 19 Oct. 1942: 9.
Advertisement for Ethyl Corporation. Life 7 Jun. 1943: 3.
Advertisement for Ethyl Corporation. Life 19 Jul. 1943: 1.
Advertisement for Ethyl Corporation. Life 30 Aug. 1943: 1.
Edythe
Edythe Chapman was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1930s. She was born in New York in 1863. Edythe Sterling was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1920s. She was born in Missouri in 1886. Edythe was also a character name in multiple films, including Told in Colorado (1911) and The Repentant (1916).
Effie
Effie Shannon was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1930s. She was born in Massachusetts in 1867. Effie was also a character name in multiple films, including The Big Diamond Robbery (1929) and The Maltese Falcon (1931).
Efra
Efra Cavendar was a character played by actress Dorothy Sebastian in the film The Unholy Night (1929).
Eily
Eily Malyon was an actress who appeared in films from the 1930s to the 1940s. She was born in England in 1879. Eily was also a character played by actress Gene Gauntier in the film The Colleen Bawn (1911).
Ellabella
Ellabella Jackson was a character played by actress Almira Sessions in the film Dixie Jamboree (1944).
Ellaline Ellaline Terriss was an actress who appeared in films from the 1900s to the 1930s. She was born in the Falkland Islands in 1872. Her birth name was Mary Ellaline Terriss.
Ellean
Ellean Tanqueray was a character played by actress Marie Hemingway in the film The Second Mrs. Tanqueray (1916).
Elnora
Elnora Comstock was a character played by various actresses (such as Gloria Grey and Dorinda Clifton) in various movies called A Girl of the Limberlost, all based on the novel of the same name by Gene Stratton-Porter.
Elspeth
Elspeth Dudgeon was an actress who appeared in films from the 1930s to the 1950s. She was born in England in 1871. Elspeth was also a character name in multiple films, including Sentimental Tommy (1921) and The Storm Breaker (1925).
Ena
Ena Gregory was an actress who appeared in films from the 1920s to the 1930s. She was born in Australia in 1906. Ena was also a character played by actress Gloria Payton in the film The Faith of the Strong (1919).
Enid
Enid Stamp-Taylor was an actress who appeared in films from the 1920s to the 1940s. She was born in England in 1904. Enid was also a character name in multiple films, including The Chalice of Courage (1915) and Whatever She Wants (1921).
Ernestine
Ernestine Gaines was an actress who appeared in films in the 1920s. Ernestine was also a character name in multiple films, including The Side Show of Life (1924) and Anne of Windy Poplars (1940).
Eugenie
Eugenie Besserer was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1930s. She was born in New York in 1868. Eugenie Forde was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1920s. She was born in New York in 1879. Eugenie was also a character name in multiple films, including The Black Pearl (1928) and Piccadilly Jim (1936).
Eulalie
Eulalie Jensen was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1930s. She was born in Missouri in 1884. Eulalie was also character played by actress Eileen Percy in the film The Pleasant Devil (1919).
Here’s the next installment of rare female names — either actress names or character names — from very old movies (released from the 1910s to the 1940s).
Hagar
Hagar was a character name in multiple films, including Vampire of the Desert (short, 1913) and Code of the Wilderness (1924).
Haidee
Haidee Wright was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1930s. She was born in England in 1867. Her birth name was Ada Wright. Haidee was also a character name in multiple films, including In theSultan’s Garden (short, 1911) and Monte Cristo (1922).
Hedda Hedda Hopper was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1960s. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1885. Her birth name was Elda Furry. Hedda Nova was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1920s. She was born in Russia in 1899. Hedda was also a character name in multiple films, including A Self-Made Lady (short, 1918) and Servants’ Entrance (1934).
Hedy
Hedy Lamarr was an actress who appeared in films from the 1930s to the 1950s. She was born in Austria-Hungary (now Austria) in 1914. Her birth name was Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler. Hedy was also a character played by actress Ruth Hussey in the film Bedside Manner (1945).
Henny
Henny Porten was an actress who appeared in films from the 1900s to the 1950s. She was born in Germany in 1890. Her birth name was Frieda Ulricke Porten.
Hepsabiah
Hepsabiah Hardlot was a character played by actress Zasu Pitts in the short film He Had ’em Buffaloed (1917).
Hepzibah
Hepzibah Pyncheon was a character played by various actresses (such as Mary Fuller and Margaret Lindsay) in various movies called The House of the Seven Gables, all based on the novel of the same name by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Hermia
Hermia was a character name in multiple films, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1909) and Wood Love (1925).
Hilda
Hilda Vaughn was an actress who appeared in films from the 1920s to the 1940s. She was born in Maryland in 1898. Hilda was also a character name in multiple films, including A Girl of the People (short, 1914) and The Top of New York (1922).
Hutin
Hutin Britton was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1920s. She was born in England in 1876. Her birth name was Nelly Hutin Britton.
Hyacinth
Hyacinth was a character name in multiple films, including The Headleys at Home (1938) and Dead Reckoning (1947).
A couple of months ago, we looked at a long, year-by-year list of the top baby name rises. A month after that, we saw the corresponding list of top drops.
On that second post, Frank B. left a comment in which he asked about absolute rises and drops — because the lists only covered relative movement within the data. So I thought two more posts were in order: top raw-number rises, and top raw-number drops.
We’ll start with the rises again. Just keep in mind that the SSA numbers don’t become very accurate until the mid-to-late 20th century, so many of the numbers below don’t quite reflect reality.
Here’s the format: Girl names are on the left, boy names are on the right, and the numbers represent single-year rises in usage. From 1880 to 1881, for instance, the usage of the girl name Ethel increased by 155 babies and the usage of the boy name Chester increased by 106 babies.
Some of these names I’ve written about already, and others I plan to write about in the future. If you can give explanations for any of those others right now, though, feel free! Just leave a comment…
“Everly” is hot…”Beverly” is not. It’s a one-letter difference between fashionable and fusty.
If you’re sensitive to style, you’ll prefer Everly. It fits with today’s trends far better than Beverly does.
But if you’re someone who isn’t concerned about style, or prefers to go against style, then you may not automatically go for Everly. In fact, you may be more attracted to Beverly because it’s the choice that most modern parents would avoid.
If you’ve ever thought about intentionally giving your baby a dated name (like Debbie, Grover, Marcia, or Vernon) for the sake of uniqueness within his/her peer group — if you have no problem sacrificing style for distinctiveness — then this list is for you.
Years ago, the concept of “contrarian” baby names came up in the comments of a post about Lois. Ever since then, creating a collection of uncool/contrarian baby names has been on my to-do list.
Finally, last month, I experimented with various formulas for pulling unstylish baby names out of the SSA dataset. Keeping the great-grandparent rule in mind, I aimed for names that would have been fashionable among the grandparents of today’s babies. The names below are the best results I got.
Interestingly, thirteen of the names above — Bobbie, Cary, Dale, Jackie, Jimmie, Jody, Kerry, Kim, Lynn, Robin, Sandy, Tracey, Tracy — managed to make both lists.
Now some questions for you…
Do you like any of these names? Would you be willing to use any of them on a modern-day baby? Why or why not?
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Here’s the next installment of rare female names — either actress names or character names — from very old movies (released from the 1910s to the 1940s).
