How popular is the baby name Kitty in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, see baby names similar to Kitty and check out all the blog posts that mention the name Kitty.
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“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?
Nahaku
Nahaku was a character played by actress Helen Lindroth in the short film The Dance of Death (1914).
Naida
Naida Lessing was an actress who appeared in 1 film in 1918. Naida was also a character name in multiple films, including The Jungle Lovers (short, 1915) and A Cafe in Cairo (1924).
Nalu
Nalu was a character played by actress Ramsay Ames in the film Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1944).
Nan
Nan Christy was an actress who appeared in films in the 1910s. She was born in 1894. Nan was also a character name in multiple films, including Nan’s Victory (short, 1914) and Nan of the North (1922).
Natcha
Natcha Manyus was a character played by actress Claudia Dell in the film The Lost City (1935).
Natchi
Natchi was a character played by actress Carmen Phillips in the film The Great Circus Mystery (1925).
Natoosa
Natoosa was a character played by actress Mary Charleson in the short film Natoosa (1912).
Natrova
Natrova was a character played by actress Milada Mladova in the film Escape Me Never (1947).
Naturich Naturich was a character played by actress Red Wing (Lillian St. Cyr) in the film The Squaw Man (1914), by Ann Little in The Squaw Man (1918), and by Lupe Velez in The Squaw Man (1931).
Nauma
Nauma was a character played by actress Princess Uwane Yea in the film The Heart of Wetona (1919).
Navarre
Navarre King was a character played by actress Sally Eilers in the film Broadway Babies (1929).
Nayda
Nayda was a character played by actress Rita Hayworth in the film Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935).
Nazama
Nazama was a character played by actress Binnie Barnes in the film The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938).
Nazimova
Alla Nazimova, often credited simply as Nazimova, was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1940s. She was born in Russia (now Ukraine) in 1879. Her birth name was Miriam Edez Adelaida Leventon. Alla was also a character played by actress Sally Crute in the film The Cossack Whip (1916).
Nea
Nea was a character played by actress Dona Drake in the film Aloma of the South Seas (1941).
Neleta
Neleta was a character played by actress Steffi Duna in the film Anthony Adverse (1936).
Nelga
Nelga Petrona was a character played by actress Julia Swayne Gordon in the short film The Tigress (1915).
Nell
Nell Craig was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1940s. She was born in New Jersey in 1891. Nell Shipman was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1920s. She was born in Canada in 1892. Her birth name was Helen Foster-Barham. Nell was also a character name in multiple films, including The Reward of Thrift (short, 1914) and Nell Gwyn (1926).
Nennah
Nennah was a character played by actress Ynez Seabury in the film The Calgary Stampede (1925).
Neola
Neola May was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1930s. She was born in California in 1891. Neola was also a character played by actress Betty Schade in the short film Olana of the South Seas (1914).
Netta
Netta Westcott was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1940s. She was born in England in 1893. Netta was also a character played by actress Linda Darnell in the film Hangover Square (1945).
Nini
Nini Theilade was an actress who appeared in films in the 1930s. She was born in Indonesia in 1915. Nini was also a character played by actress Barbara Bedford in the film Gleam O’Dawn (1922).
Nirvena
Nirvena was a character played by actress Stephanie Bachelor in the film Lady of Burlesque (1943).
Nista
Nista was a character played by actress Caroline Frances Cooke in the film The Devil Bear (1929).
Nita
Nita Naldi was an actress who appeared in films in the 1920s. She was born in New York in 1894. Her birth name was Mary Nonna Dooley. Nita was also a character name in multiple films, including Jane Goes A’ Wooing (1919) and Two Gun Sheriff (1941).
A few weeks ago, I got an email from a reader looking for lists of old-fashioned double names. She was aiming for names like Thelma Dean, Eula Mae, and Gaynell — names that would have sounded trendy in the early 1900s. She also mentioned that she’d started a list of her own.
So I began scouring the interwebs. I tracked down lists of old-fashioned names, and lists of double names…but I couldn’t find a decent list of double names that were also old-fashioned.
I loved the idea of such a list, though, so I suggested that we work together to create one. She generously sent me the pairings she’d collected so far, and I used several different records databases to find many more.
I restricted my search to names given to girls born in the U.S. from 1890 to 1930. I also stuck to double names that I found written as single names, because it’s very likely that these pairings were used together in real life (i.e., that they were true double names and not merely first-middle pairings).
Pairings that seemed too timeless, like Maria Mae and Julia Rose, were omitted. I also took out many of the pairings that feature now-trendy names — think Ella, Emma, and Lucy — because they just don’t sound old-fashioned anymore (though they would have a few decades ago).
The result isn’t exhaustive, but it’s a decent sampling of real-life, old-fashioned double names. I’ve organized them by second name, and I also added links to popularity graphs for names that were in the SSA data during the correct time period (early 1900s).
I spotted plenty of other combinations that just didn’t happen to be written as single names in the records, so here’s a handy dandy little table to cover some of the other existing combinations…
Tatiane
Tatiane Shebanoff was a character played by actress Jacqueline Gadsden in the film His Hour (1924).
Tatuka
Tatuka was a character played by actress Velma Whitman in the short film As the Twig Is Bent (1915).
Taula
Taula was a character played by actress Ernestine Gaines in the film Aloma of the South Seas (1926).
Taupou
Taupou was a character played by actress Margaret Livingston in the film The Brute Master (1920).
Taxi Belle
Taxi Belle Hooper was a character played by actress Rita La Roy in the film Blonde Venus (1932).
Tautinei
Tautinei was a character played by actress Grace Lord in the film The Lure of the South Seas (1929).
Teala Teala Loring was an actress who appeared in films primarily in the 1940s. She was born in Colorado in 1922. Her birth name was Marcia Eloise Griffin.
Teazie
Bessie “Teazie” Williams was a character played by actress Mae Marsh in the film The White Rose (1923).
Tecolote
Tecolote was a character played by actress Dorothy Dalton in the film The Captive God (1916).
Tecza
Tecza was a character played by actress Geraldine Farrar in the film The Woman God Forgot (1917).
Teddy Teddy Sampson was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1920s. She was born in New York in 1895. Teddy was also a character name in multiple films, including Vultures of Society (1916) and Having Wonderful Time (1938).
Temple
Temple Drake was a character played by actress Miriam Hopkins in the film The Story of Temple Drake (1933). The film was based on the novel Sanctuary (1931) by William Faulkner.
Texas Texas Guinan was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1930s. She was born in Texas in 1884. Texas was also a character played by actress Dot Farley in the film Lady Be Good (1928).
Tharon
Tharon Last was a character played by actress Dorothy Dalton in the film The Crimson Challenge (1922). The film was based on the novel Tharon of Lost Valley (1919) by Vingetta “Vingie” Roe.
Theda
Theda Bara was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1920s. She was born in Ohio in 1885. Her birth name was Theodosia Burr Goodman.
Thelda
Thelda Kenvin was an actress who appeared in one film in 1926. She was born (with the first name Ethelda) in Pennsylvania in 1899. Thelda was also a character played by actress Greta Granstedt in the film There Goes My Heart (1938).
Thelma
Thelma Todd was an actress who appeared in films from the 1920s to the 1930s. She was born in Massachusetts in 1906. Thelma Salter was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1920s. She was born in California in 1908. Thelma was also a character name in multiple films, including A Modern Thelma (1916) and A Broadway Butterfly (1925).
In the video I pronounced Teala as “tee-AH-lah,” but I now think Teala Loring actually pronounced her name “TEE-lah.” Of course I didn’t find this out until after the video was created. :)
When parents inflict a sickeningly cutesy name on a daughter they’re (unwittingly, I hope) defining her by her cuteness — something that a massive chunk of society was going to do even before they gave her a name that would look stupid on a Bichon Frisé. Either they’re blind to the fact that women have a hard enough time being taken seriously without being called Marshmallow Twinkletits, or they don’t plan on taking their daughter seriously themselves.
So, if idiot parents feel a biological imperative to name their children after “aDORKable” things, I think they should go for it. My one caveat is that they bestow these names on their sons rather than their daughters. Because naming a boy “Otter” may not be revolutionary, but it would definitely take one white, middle-class man down a notch.
So far [archaeologist Clarita] Natalini and colleagues have been able to read the word “Laris.” Lars is a common Etruscan male first name. The stone coffin contains the skeleton of a male individual.
“We are absolutely fired up to see Zumwalt get underway. For the crew and all those involved in designing, building, and readying this fantastic ship, this is a huge milestone,” the ship’s skipper, Navy Capt. James Kirk, said before the ship departed.
(The original captain of Star Trek‘s very futuristic starship Enterprise was named James T. Kirk.)
From What’s in a Name? by Jamaal Allan (who is white, but often assumed to be black):
When people have seen my name before they’ve seen my face, I get “OH — you’re Jamaal.”
[…]
It is not uncommon for people to follow up with, “I expected you to be–” and then there’s a pause; a sudden realization they are on the verge of sounding racist. There’s a look–not quite ‘deer in the headlights’, but it is a definite freeze. What to say next? I’ve heard several: taller, older, different (usually accompanied with an uncomfortable chuckle).
From the book Suffolk Surnames (1858) by Nathaniel Ingersoll Bowditch:
The following anecdote was related to me by a friend: At a trial, in which a well-known Liverpool merchant, Ottiwell Wood, was a witness, he was requested by the presiding judge, who was somewhat deaf, to spell his name; which he did as follows: “O double t, i double u, e double l, double u double o, d.”
From the book From Red Hot to Monkey’s Eyebrow: Unusual Kentucky Place Names (1997) by Robert M. Rennick:
Kentucky’s Mousie, still a post office serving many families in the Jones Fork area of northern Knott County, wasn’t named for a mouse at all but for a young woman — named Mousie. She was then (1916) the twenty-year-old daughter of Clay Martin, a large landowner in that area.
Why would a girl be named Mousie? Why not? Mousie is not at all an unusual given name in eastern Kentucky. Since the Civil War, scores of young Mousies throughout the region have borne this name. Mousie Martin, who later became Mrs. Mart Gibson, used to tell us that she was so named at the suggestion of her grandfather, for she had an older sister named Kitty and he rather liked the idea of having two little varmints in the family.
Need a rare, retro N-name? 
Here’s the next installment of rare female names collected from very old films (1910s, 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s).