How popular is the baby name Travis in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out all the blog posts that mention the name Travis.
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Travis has been on the baby name charts since the very beginning. It was particularly popular from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, ranking in the top 50 for 18 years straight.
Given this context, it’s not surprising that when a product called “Tavist-D” started to be marketed heavily in late 1992, the baby name Tavist debuted on the U.S. baby name charts the very next year:
1995: unlisted
1994: 10 baby boys named Tavist
1993: 16 baby boys named Tavist [debut]
1992: unlisted
Tavist-D, an antihistamine-decongestant, had been available in the U.S. by prescription since 1983. In early 1992, manufacturer Sandoz got permission from the FDA to sell Tavist-D over the counter. The drug became available to the public a few months later. It was introduced with a $40 million ad campaign. (For perspective, the company took in over $100 million in sales the first year.)
Though Tavist-D commercials continued to air until late 1990s, the name Tavist dropped off the baby name list after just two years. Why? Maybe because the name Travis was falling out of fashion by then. Or maybe because the brand name had become too well known. Ironically, the drug isn’t even around anymore; it was pulled from pharmacy shelves in 2000.
Wondering what the most popular J-names for baby boys are? How about Q-names?
Below are the 10 most popular boy names for each letter, A through Z. (The parenthetical notations show how the current rankings differ from the 2012 rankings.)
The two new #1 names that emerged in 2013 were Hunter, which replaced Henry, and Thomas, which replaced Tyler.
A reader named Heather has a 2-year-old named Tucker David (nn Tuck) and is expecting twin boys. She writes:
We were thinking of Henry Edward and Andrew William (we would call him Drew for short) as names because all 4 are family names, but think they might be a bit too traditional and might flow with Tucker. We are looking for some suggestions. Nothing starting with the letter T, please. We have nephews named Travis and Timothy and our dogs name begins with T as well – haha!
Two or three syllables would be best. 1 syllable can be kind of short considering our last name is only 1 syllable.
Our heritage is English, Irish and Czech. We are not bound to that, but typically are drawn to it as a preference. :)
(Their surname sounds like Hoyt, but starts with an F.)
I think Henry and Andrew sound good with Tucker. I know some parents prefer that their children’s names “match” on a stylistic level, but I think non-matching sibsets sound just fine, so long as they don’t go too far in the other direction (e.g. Abdul-Aziz, Rodolphe & Bud).
I’m also a big fan of family names, so I like Henry and Andrew (and Edward and William) for that reason as well.
A reader named Tamela wrote to me yesterday. She has one son named Hudson and is expecting her second son in a couple of months. She’d like some name suggestions for baby boy #2.
Hudson comes from a surname, so the first place I’d look is other surnames. Here are a few ideas:
Archer
Baxter
Bennett
Blake
Carlisle
Carter
Everett
Fletcher
(At first I was only going to omit names ending with -son. Then I decided to cut all names with n-endings, just to get a good range of sounds in there.)
Do you like any of the above with Hudson? What other names would you suggest to Tamela?
UPDATE (3/14): Tamela has to get some adoption paperwork squared away, so she needs to select a name within the next few days.
Here are a few more facts:
The baby’s surname will be a Spanish name that starts with an S. Think Silva, or Santos. (Neither of these is the actual surname.)
Because the baby is coming from Russia, Tamela would really like something that’s “at least a little Russian.”
Current favorites include Maxwell, Luis (nn Louie) and George (Tamela’s father’s name). She also mentioned Matteo in this comment.
I really like both George and Maxwell with Hudson. I think either one would sound great as a first name.
Matteo doesn’t strike me as being a great match to Hudson, in terms of style. (Fits perfectly with the surname, though.)
I’m undecided on Luis. I don’t think it’s a terrible match, but I don’t think it would fit as well with Hudson as Maxwell or George would.
As for Russian names, let’s see…Maksim or Maksimilian are both similar to Maxwell. Yuri is a version of George. (Also a cosmonaut!)
Or perhaps one of these Russian names would work as a middle:
Aleksandr
Benedikt
Eduard
Filipp
Isaak
Luka
Nikolai
Viktor
(I picked these because they’re so close to their English equivalents. Almost like they’re just English names with a Russian twist.)
As far as combinations go, I’m partial to George Maksim and George Maksimilian. Both are similar to George Maxwell, which Tamela mentioned in her comment, but they look and sound a bit more Russian.
What other thoughts/ideas do you have for Tamela?
UPDATE (12/1): The baby’s name has been chosen! Scroll down to the last comment to see what it is.
A baby boy named Aussie Trooper was born in Australia several weeks ago to patriotic parents Ben Kenna and Adele Plane.
The baby’s first name is (of course) a tribute to Australia. His middle name comes from the Iron Maiden song “The Trooper,” though his mother adds:
Trooper has two meanings really – for Ben it’s about Iron Maiden, but for me it’s about it being a harsh world and Aussie’s going to have to be a trooper.
Aussie Trooper has three older siblings: Lucy, Travis and Ava.
Travis has been on the baby name charts since the very beginning. It was particularly popular from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, ranking in the top 50 for 18 years straight.