How popular is the baby name Rafferty 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 Rafferty.

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Popularity of the baby name Rafferty


Posts that mention the name Rafferty

Five-name Friday: Boy name Like Fraser, Rafferty

You’re on the subway. The car is nearly empty, but across from you is a friendly woman who happens to be pregnant, and the two of you strike up a conversation. After a few minutes she starts gathering up her belongings — she has to get off at the next stop. While she does this she mentions that she and her spouse still can’t think of a name for their son. Then she tells you the gist of what they’re looking for:

We like names like Fraser, Keating, Rafferty, and Spencer. Would love suggestions for something similar — all that go with the last name Chen!

“Do you have any suggestions?”

You’re a name lover, and you could potentially give her dozens of suggestions. But the train is already slowing down, so you only have time to give her five baby name suggestions before the doors open.

But here’s the fun part: Instead of blurting out the first five names you come up with (which is what you’d be forced to do in real life) you get to press a magical “pause” button, brainstorm for a bit, and then “unpause” the scenario to offer her the best five names you can think of.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you brainstorm:

  • Be independent. Decide on your five names before looking at anyone else’s five names.
  • Be sincere. Would you honestly suggest these particular baby names out loud to a stranger on the subway?
  • Five names only! All names beyond the first five in your comment will be either deleted or replaced with nonsense words.

Finally, here’s the request again:

We like names like Fraser, Keating, Rafferty, and Spencer. Would love suggestions for something similar — all that go with the last name Chen!

Which five baby names are you going to suggest?

“Danger is my middle name”

A pair of real-life “Danger is my middle name” babies have been featured in the news lately:

  • Rafferty Basil Danger Wills, born in January to Felicity and Sam Wills of England.
  • Stephen Danger James, born in January to Telita and Dean James of Australia.

But these aren’t the first dangerously named babies to make headlines. Here are some earlier examples:

  • Nash Edward Danger Gray, born in 2011 to Jon and Ruth Gray of Nevada.
  • Bodhi Danger Huxhagen, born in 2011 to Rowan and Belinda Huxhagen of Australia.
  • Billie Danger Lampard (girl) and Ridley Danger Lampard (boy), twins, born in 2010 to Amy and Glenn Lampard of Australia.
  • Radley Danger Chapple, born circa 2008 to Peppa and John Chapple (photographer) of California.
  • Maxwell Danger Rogers, born in 2006 to Chloe Maxwell and Mat Rogers (athlete) of Australia.
  • Broderick Danger Scott, born in 2006 to Sarah Wilner and Kevin Scott of California.
  • Jakob Danger Armstrong, born in 1998 to Adrienne and Billie Joe Armstrong (musician) of California.

And I’ve come across a few other examples that never made the news.

So, just how common is the middle name Danger?

The SSA doesn’t publish middle name data, so there’s no official set of numbers we can look at. Fellow baby name blogger Laura Wattenberg claimed last year that Danger was a “really popular middle name for boys right now.” I disagree — Danger is still uncommon/bizarre enough to be newsworthy, after all — but it does look like Danger has been picking up steam lately.

Would you ever consider (I mean seriously consider) giving your baby the middle name Danger?

P.S. There’s a guy in Florida named Danger Dangervil.

P.P.S. Danger is also being used as a first name these days.

Sources: Billie and Ridley Lampard given ‘Danger’ as middle name, Danger is his middle name, Danger is my middle name…no really, it is, Developer suing ‘Baywatch’ star, Real parents can give their children weird baby names just like the celebs, The boy with danger as a name, The new year brings first local baby, What’s in a (middle) name? Simple or creative, the choice challenges parents

Image: Adapted from Danger sign at 38th & Blake Station by Xnatedawgx under CC BY-SA 4.0.