How popular is the baby name Silence 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 Silence.

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Popularity of the baby name Silence


Posts that mention the name Silence

More names from Boston burials: Ziba, Buttolph, Fear

Granary, Boston
Granary Burying Ground, Boston

Last month I posted about interesting names that can be found at King’s Chapel Burying Ground, one of the two cemeteries on Boston’s Freedom Trail.

Today let’s check out interesting names that can be found at the other cemetery on the Trail, Granary Burying Ground (est. 1660).

Here’s what I spotted (using a book of inscriptions):

  • A: Azor, Appoline, Adelbart, Adino, Adna, Affia, Albion, Alfrena, Alithere (female), Alletta, Angalesa, Anjennette, Areton, Aroline, Atsey, Avid
  • B: Barachiah, Bethulia, Buttolph
  • C: Cassander, Clarenia, Collford, Cornwall, Crispus (Crispus Attucks), Cushing
  • D: Danforth, Dering, Duty (male)
  • E: Egatha, Electa, Eudoxa, Euphaime, Eustis
  • F: Fessenden, Fitzwilliam, Fear, Fidealia
  • G: Gad, Geradine, Grisell
  • J: Jacquith, Jenevie, Jennet, Jocastia
  • K: Knight
  • L: Laban, Lately, Lisley, Llewellyn, Lodusky (female), Loungo
  • M: Mahala, Malvina, Maranda, Melatiah (female), Metcalf, Moody
  • N: Nahum
  • O: Olimpia, Olander, Onesiphorus, Orinda, Ozias
  • P: Patterick, Peace (male), Pearly, Peletiah, Pepperell, Peregrin, Person, Philobeth (male), Phineas, Pilgrim, Plummer, Prosillo (female)
  • R: Rasilla, Reconcile, Roxana (“from Roxbury”)
  • S: Samartha, Seath, Seferanna, Sophronia, Stoddard, Stanhope, Sylvender
  • T: Tamer, Theophilus, Thusia, Trueman
  • W: Waitstill, Welthea, Wilhelmina, Winthrop
  • Z: Zera, Ziba (male)

All of the above were listed just once. Notable names that appeared more than once in the book include Almira/Elmira, Bathsheba, Dewitt, Doritha, Elbridge, Epes (relatives of Epes Sargent), Gamaliel, Gershom, Gillam, Increase, Jotham, Keziah, Louisiana, Mehitable/Mehetable, Nabby, Pamelia/Permelia, Persis, Rozamond/Rozamund, Silence, Sylvanus and Tamzen.

Source: Gravestone inscriptions and records of tomb burials in the Granary Burying Ground, Boston, Mass. (1918) by Ogden Codman

41 Pun-names for April Fools’ Day (4/1)

painting of a smiling man

I can’t play a prank on you for April Fools’ Day, but I can give you a list of personal names that seem like pranks.

Except, they’re not.

All of the below are legit first & last names that belonged to real people — often multiple people. (In parentheses I’ve added rough estimates of how many instances I’ve come across so far.)

  1. Alma Mater (several)
  2. April Showers (dozens)
  3. Bear Trapp (one)
  4. Candy Cane (several)
  5. Cliff Hanger (several)
  6. Constant Agony (two)
  7. Constant Craps (one)
  8. Crystal Ball (dozens)
    • There’s also Krystal Ball, who ran for office in Virginia a few years back.
  9. Death Knox (one)
  10. Gettysburg Battle (one)
  11. Gold Mine (two)
  12. Green Bean (several)
  13. Hazel Nut/Nutt (dozens)
  14. Ima Hogg (one)
  15. Jed I Knight (one)
  16. London England (dozens)
  17. Mud Brown (three)
  18. Never Fail (two) — father and son
    • The son’s headstone offers context for the name by referencing 1 Corinthians 13: “Love never fails.”
  19. Norman Conquest (two)
  20. North West (hundreds)
  21. Nude Mann (one)
  22. Orbit Moon (one)
  23. Orchestra Harp (one)
  24. Paris France (several)
  25. Preserved Fish (several)
  26. Pullman Carr (several)
  27. Rainy Day (one)
  28. River Bottom (one)
  29. Rocky Mountain (dozens)
  30. Sandy Beach (dozens)
  31. Sea Shore (several)
  32. Seymour Butts (two) — not just a Bart Simpson prank call!
  33. Shanda Lear (one)
  34. Silence Bellows (one)
  35. Soda Popp (one)
  36. Strong Beer (one)
  37. Tell No Lyes (several)
  38. Ten Million (one)
    • He had a daughter named Decillian Million.
  39. Timber Wood (one)
    • He has a sister named Drift Wood.
  40. Truly Wright (several)
  41. Tu Morrow (one)
    • Daughter of actors Rob Morrow and Debbon Ayer (read: debonaire)

Which one do you think is the best? Or should I say, the worst?

Sources:

Image: Falstaff (1921) by Eduard von Grützner

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]

Baby name story: Return

Ohio governor Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr. (1764-1825)
Return J. Meigs, Jr.

In 1708, a baby boy named Return was born in Guilford, Connecticut.

His parents were Janna Meigs (1672-1739) and Hannah Willard (1674-1749), and he was the fifth of ten children: Janna, Josiah, Jehiel, Hannah, Return, Hester, Silence and Submit (twin girls), Timothy and Eunice.

There’s a story behind Return’s name. That much I know. But so many different versions of the story exist that there’s no telling which one is true.

The most common version starts with Janna proposing marriage to Hannah. She rejects him. (Many sources say this happened repeatedly.) Just as he’s about to ride off, she changes her mind and calls after him, “Return, Janna, return!” He does. They wed. And when they welcome their fifth child, they name him Return in honor of that moment.

Other versions of the story are quite different. One patriotic attempt claims the baby was born during the Battle of Concord (1775), and that “Return, Janna, return” was Hannah’s cry for her husband to come home from battle. Too bad the baby was already 67 years old at that point.

The name has since been handed down to more than a dozen of Return’s descendants, including Return’s son Return Jonathan Meigs, Sr. (b. 1740) and grandson Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr. (b. 1764), who served as governor of Ohio in the early 1810s.

Sources: