How popular is the baby name Willkie 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 Willkie.
The graph will take a few seconds to load, thanks for your patience. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take nine months.) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.
The ebook highlights nearly 100 baby names that debuted in the U.S. data in the 1940s. All of them can be connected to ’40s pop culture and current events: comic strips, movie stars, radio programs, WWII headlines, etc.
These names are artifacts of their era and, put in order from 1940 to 1949, they become a quirky, one-of-a-kind timeline of the decade.
Many of the names remained rare, such as Angharad and Willkie, both of which were one-hit wonders. But a handful went on to see lots of usage, such as Sierra and Jade, both of which eventually reached the top 100.
That said, one advantage to being exclusive on Amazon for a few months is that I get to run some promotions. So there will be a few free days coming up…I’ll let you know when!
P.S. If you purchase the ebook and have an opinion about it, please do consider leaving a review! Thank you. :)
If we ignore the glitchy 1989 names, the real #1 one-hit wonder becomes Jometh.
Here’s what I can tell you about some of the above: Jometh and Elionaid were inspired by the TV show Objectivo Fama; Andamo was inspired by the TV show Mr. Lucky; Maurkice was inspired by football player Maurkice Pouncey; Kimario was inspired by a mention in Ebony magazine; Willkie was inspired by politician Wendell Willkie; Amareion was inspired by singer Omarion; Ebay was inspired by the TV show Good Times; Brettly was inspired by the TV show American Restoration; Vadir was inspired by actor Vadhir Derbez; Travolta was inspired by actor John Travolta; Macarther was inspired by Douglas MacArthur; Schley was inspired by Winfield Scott Schley.
Can you come up with explanations for any of the others?
The Social Security Administration’s annual baby name list only includes names given to 5 or more U.S. baby girls (or baby boys) per year.
Most rare names never make the list, but a select group have appeared a single time. I like to call these the one-hit wonder baby names.
One-hit wonders tend to pop up with a relatively low number of babies — 5 or 6 — but a handful are given to dozens of babies…only to disappear again the next year! Intriguing, no?
Below are the highest-charting one-hit wonder names for every year on record before 2013. (We won’t know which 2013 names are one-hit wonders until later lists come out.) The format is: “Girl name(s), number of baby girls; Boy name(s), number of baby boys.”
Most of us are probably not familiar with the name “Wendell Willkie,” but a number of babies were named Wendell, Willkie, or both in the early 1940s.
Why?
They were named in honor of politician Wendell Lewis Willkie, the liberal Republican who ran against Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election.
“His rise to political prominence was meteoric. Willkie astonishingly outstripped early favorite Thomas Dewey for the Republican candidacy and pulled more than 22 million votes in his bid to unseat FDR.”
Willkie may have lost the race, but he gained a number of namesakes:
Here are some Wendell Willkie namesakes that made the news:
Wendell Willkie Wiener, born in late June, 1940, to Mr. and Mrs. Bernard B. Wiener of Washington. “Wiener said he had been a Democrat but had decided to “switch over to Mr. Willkie–not the Republican party, just Mr. Willkie.””
Wendell Delano Barovich and Franklin Willkie Barovich, twins, born in mid-1940 to Mr. and Mrs. Vas Barovich of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. “Mrs. Barovich is a Republican and her husband a loyal Democrat. She insisted that the baby be named Wendell Willkie if it happened to be a boy. Mr. Barovich was equally determined that it be named for the President.” They had twins, so they compromised.
Wendy Cuttita, Louise Cuttita and Willkie Cuttita, triplets (two girls and a boy) born on November 4, 1940 (election eve) to Mr. and Mrs. Carl Cuttita of New York City.
Willkie ended up becoming one of Roosevelt’s most unlikely allies, and he traveled around the world as FDR’s personal representative. Willkie wrote about these travels in his bestselling book One World (1943). The next year, at the age of 52, he died of a heart attack.
Sources:
“Happy Compromise.” Palm Beach Post 13 Aug. 1940: 4.
Though vast majority of the baby names on the Social Security Administration’s yearly baby name lists are repeats, every list does contain a handful of brand-new names.
Below are the highest-charting debut names for every single year on record, after the first.
Why bother with an analysis like this? Because debut names often have cool stories behind them, and high-hitting debuts are especially likely to have intriguing pop culture explanations. So this is more than a list of names — it’s also a list of stories.
Here’s the format: “Girl name(s), number of baby girls; Boy name(s), number of baby boys.” Keep in mind that the raw numbers aren’t too trustworthy for about the first six decades, though. (More on that in a minute.)
This is where the numbers start becoming more accurate. Why? Because “many people born before 1937 never applied for a Social Security card, so their names are not included in our data.” (SSA)
I’ve already written about some of the names above, and I plan to write about all the others as well…eventually. In the meanwhile, if you want to beat me to it and leave a comment about why Maverick hit in 1957, or why Moesha hit in 1996, feel free!
I’m excited to announce that Pop Culture Baby Names: 1940s is available at Amazon
