How popular is the baby name Experience 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 Experience.

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Popularity of the baby name Experience


Posts that mention the name Experience

The descendants of Tristram Coffyn

Medal depicting Tristram Coffin/Coffyn (c.1609-1681)
Tristram Coffin/Coffyn

Earlier this week we talked about the original Tristram Coffyn of Nantucket, who is known to have a massive number of descendants.

He and his wife Dionis* had five children in England, then four more after relocating to the New World. Here are the names of not only all nine of their children, but also their 76 grandchildren:

  1. Peter (b. 1631) and his wife Abigail had 11 kids:
    • Parnel, Eliphalet, Abigail, Peter, Jethro**, Tristram, Robert, Edward, Judith, Parnell, Elizabeth
  2. Tristram (b. 1632) and his wife Judith had 10 kids:
    • Judith, Deborah, Mary, James, John, Lydia, Enoch, Stephen, Peter, Nathaniel
  3. Elizabeth (b. 1634) and her husband Stephen Greenleaf had 10 kids:
    • Stephen, Sarah, Daniel, Elizabeth, John, Samuel, Tristram, Edmund, Judith, Mary
  4. Stephen (b. 1637)
  5. James (b. 1640) and his wife Mary had 14 kids:
    • Experience, James, Mary, Abigail, Nathaniel, John, Dinah, Elizabeth, Deborah, Ebenezer, Joseph, Benjamin, Ruth, Jonathan
  6. Deborah (b. 1642)
  7. Mary (b. 1645) and her husband Nathaniel Starbuck had 10 kids:
    • Mary, Elizabeth, Nathaniel, Jethro, Barnabas, Eunice, Priscilla, Hephzibah, Ann, Paul
  8. John (b. 1647) and his wife Deborah had 11 kids:
    • Lydia, Peter, John, Love, Enoch, Samuel, Hannah, Benjamin, Tristram, Deborah, Elizabeth
  9. Stephen (b. 1652) and his wife Mary had 10 kids:
    • Daniel, Dionis, Peter, Stephen, Judith, Susanna, Anna, Mehitable, Hepzibah, Paul

Which of the above names do you like best? Are there any you don’t like at all?

*Dionis’s name is evidently a truncated form of Dionysia, which derives from Dionysius, which originally referred to a devotee of the Greek god Dionysos. The names Dennis and Denise are also derivatives of Dionysius.

**Nantucket’s Oldest House, also called the Jethro Coffin House, was built in 1686 as a wedding gift for Jethro Coffin.

Sources: Tristram Coffin, Sr. (1608-1681) – WikiTree, My Father’s Shoes – Our Coffin Story

Image: Tristram Coffin Medal

How did “Bones” influence baby names?

Characters Seeley Booth and Temperance "Bones" Brennan from Bones.

The TV series “Bones” was on the air from 2005 to 2017, though the most popular years were 2008-2011 (seasons four, five and six).

I’ve never seen the show, but the first names of the two main characters — Seeley Booth (male) and Temperance'”Bones” Brennan (female) — are intriguing, and they made me wonder: did Bones inspire parents to use these names more often for their babies?

Yup, it would seem so!

Here are the numbers for Seeley since 2005:

  • 2018: 38 baby boys and 7 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2017: 36 baby boys and 14 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2016: 40 baby boys and 15 baby girls named Seeley [peak]
  • 2015: 37 baby boys and 15 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2014: 28 baby boys and 7 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2013: 38 baby boys and 8 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2012: 36 baby boys and 11 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2011: 32 baby boys and 12 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2010: 34 baby boys and 9 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2009: 10 baby boys and 8 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2008: unlisted
  • 2007: 7 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2006: unlisted
  • 2005: unlisted

And here are the numbers for Temperance since 2005:

  • 2018: 163 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2017: 190 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2016: 233 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2015: 250 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2014: 322 baby girls named Temperance [rank: 854th]
  • 2013: 289 baby girls named Temperance [rank: 889th]
  • 2012: 320 baby girls named Temperance [rank: 835th]
  • 2011: 274 baby girls named Temperance [rank: 943rd]
  • 2010: 213 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2009: 165 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2008: 88 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2007: 76 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2006: 20 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2005: 8 baby girls named Temperance

I’m a bit surprised by Temperance. Short virtue names like Faith, Grace, Hope and Joy are alive and well, but most of the long virtue names — especially those like Temperance (e.g., Abstinence, Experience, Deliverance, Diligence, Innocence, Obedience, Perseverance, Providence, Reliance, Repentance, Silence) — are not. Only Patience, Constance and Prudence are still around, and they aren’t exactly stylish right now.

How do you feel about the name Temperance?

Sources: Bones (TV series) – Wikipedia, SSA

[Latest update: June 2020]