How popular is the baby name Fergie 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 Fergie.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the baby name Fergie


Posts that mention the name Fergie

Where did the baby name Axl come from in 1988?

The Guns N' Roses album "Appetite for Destruction" (1987).
Guns N’ Roses album

We’re well into November, and while I don’t typically experience “November Rain” — usually just November snow — now’s a good time to talk about Axl, the name of the guy who sang “November Rain.”

Axl debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1988:

  • 1990: 25 baby boys named Axl
  • 1989: 21 baby boys named Axl
  • 1988: 9 baby boys named Axl [debut]
  • 1987: unlisted
  • 1986: unlisted

The next year, the names Axle and Aksel both debuted, while the already-in-use name Axel (which can be traced back to the biblical name Absalom) more than doubled in usage.

The influence? Axl Rose, lead singer of the rock band Guns N’ Roses.

The band’s debut album Appetite for Destruction was released in July of 1987. It became a commercial success the next year, after the band started touring and releasing singles such as “Sweet Child o’ Mine” (peaked at #1 in Sept. 1988), “Welcome to the Jungle” (#7 in Dec. ’88), and “Paradise City” (#5 in Mar. ’89).

Axl Rose grew up in Lafayette, Indiana, with the name William “Bill” Bailey. As a teen, he discovered that his surname at birth had been Rose, so he started using it. Not long after that, he adopted the first name Axl:

One of the short-lived local bands he’d sung with was called AXL, which then became his moniker. When the band broke up, he kept using the name, and styled himself “W. Axl Rose.”

And in early 1986, right before signing with Geffen Records, he legally changed his name to “W. Axl Rose.”

axl, name, music video, GNR
W. Axl Rose grave from the “Don’t Cry” music video (1991)

Unexpectedly, the name is more popular today than ever before:

  • 2017: 335 baby boys named Axl [rank: 716th]
  • 2016: 305 baby boys named Axl [rank: 778th]
  • 2015: 313 baby boys named Axl [rank: 760th]
  • 2014: 266 baby boys named Axl [rank: 842nd]
  • 2013: 111 baby boys named Axl
  • 2012: 102 baby boys named Axl

This is probably thanks to another singer, Fergie, who welcomed a baby boy in August of 2013 and named him Axl after Axl Rose. (Some ’80s trivia for you: Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson was on Kids Incorporated with Marta “Martika” Marrero.)

What are your thoughts on the baby name Axl? Would you use it?

Sources:

P.S. How did the band name “Guns N’ Roses” come to be? It was created from the surnames of two of the founding members, Axl Rose and Tracii Guns (born Tracy Richard Irving Ulrich), essentially. More precisely, it came from the merger of the bands they were in at the time: Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns.

Celebrity baby name (from a dream): Axl Jack

twilight

Singer Fergie and her husband, actor Josh Duhamel, recently welcomed a baby boy. They named him Axl Jack.

How did Fergie come up with the name Axl? Here’s what she told Ellen DeGeneres:

“I had this dream, and I was in the audience at the festival. It was outdoors and it was all grimy and nobody knew who I was,” the 38-year-old Black-Eyed Pea said. “On stage singing was Jim Morrison and then came Bob Marley and then Axl Rose. I was in heaven in this dream, and I’m dancing and just getting into the music.”

It was then that Fergie awoke, roused from her dream by the kick of her unborn son. (She and Duhamel welcomed Axl Jack into the world on Aug. 29.)

This immediately made me think of Easton August, daughter of actress Elisabeth Rohm. Easton’s name also came from a dream.

Here are the popularity graphs for Axl and Jack, if you want to see how these names are doing on the charts right now.

And, while we’re checking out graphs, here’s how Fergie — a Kids Incorporated alum, just like Martika — has influenced the name Fergie over the last few years.

Source: Fergie reveals son’s name Axl Jack came to her in a dream: ‘It just had this ring to it’

Image: Adapted from Twilight crescent Moon by ESO/G. Brammer under CC BY 4.0.

Pop culture baby name game, 2013

pop culture baby name game 2013

Every year on Britney Spears’s birthday (December 2) we start another round of the annual Pop Culture Baby Name Game.

What is the Pop Culture Baby Name Game, you ask? Good question! It’s not a “game” really, but more of a group brainstorm. We try to guess which baby names became more popular during the year thanks to pop culture — music, movies, television, sports, politics, current events, products, etc.

I’ve searched for all the 2013 predictions we’ve made so far (in posts & comments) and listed them below. I also threw in a few more possibilities — mostly celebrity baby names. So here’s what we’re starting with:

  • Ace – Jessica Simpson’s baby boy, born in June
  • Armand or ArmieLone Ranger actor Armand “Armie” Hammer
  • Axl – Fergie’s baby boy, born in August
  • Bailey (per skizzo) – Grey’s Anatomy baby
  • Benedict (per Rita) – Benedict Cumberbatch
  • Bilbo (per elbowin) – The Hobbit character
  • Cressida or Cressie – Prince Harry’s girlfriend Cressida “Cressie” Bonas
  • Cricket – Busy Philipps’s baby girl, born in July
  • CypherAfter Earth character
  • D’Ussé – Jay Z-endorsed cognac
  • Elon – Tesla founder Elon Musk
  • Evanora (per skizzo) – Oz the Great and Powerful character
  • Everly – Channing Tatum’s baby girl, born in May
  • Evo (per elbowin) – Bolivian president Evo Morales
  • FantineLes Mis character (especially since the Oscars)
  • Finley (per skizzo) – Oz the Great and Powerful character
  • Francesco, Francis, Francisco – Pope Francis, elected in March
  • Gatsby (per skizzo) – movie The Great Gatsby
  • George – Kate and William’s royal baby boy, born in July
  • Harley (per skizzo) – Iron Man character
  • KitaiAfter Earth character
  • Ladar (per elbowin) – Lavabit owner Ladar Levison
  • Lincoln – movie Lincoln
  • Lula – Bryan Adams’s baby girl, born in February
  • Luna – Penelope Cruz’s baby girl, born in July
  • Macklemore – rapper Macklemore
  • Malala – young Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai
  • Marnie – Lily Allen’s baby girl, born in January
  • Milan – Shakira’s baby boy, born in January
  • Minaj – singer Nicki Minaj
  • Neymar (per Rita) – Brazillian football player Neymar
  • North or Nori – Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s baby girl, born in June
  • Philomena – movie Philomena
  • Quvenzhané (per Rita) – child actress Quvenzhané Wallis
  • Rainbow – Holly Madison’s baby girl, born in March
  • Robin (per Rita) – singer Robin Thicke
  • Snowden – NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden
  • Tesla – Tesla cars
  • TessanneThe Voice contestant winner Tessanne Chin
  • Thatcher (per Rita) – Margaret Thatcher, died in April
  • Theodora (per skizzo) – Oz the Great and Powerful character
  • Turbo – movie Turbo
  • Wendy – Texas politician Wendy Davis
  • Winnie – Jimmy Fallon’s baby girl, born in July
  • Yeezus or Yeezy – Kanye West album Yeezus
  • Zoella – beauty blogger Zoella

Wanna play? Tell me in the comments which baby names you think got a boost from pop culture in 2013. Don’t forget to mention the reason.

I’ll post the results of the game after the SSA updates the national baby name data in May. If you don’t want to miss the results post, subscribe to the blog!

Previous rounds of the Pop Culture Baby Name Game: 2012, 2011 #1, 2011 #2, 2010