How popular is the baby name Willoughby 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 Willoughby.

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Popularity of the baby name Willoughby


Posts that mention the name Willoughby

Baby born to Governor of South Australia, named Adelaide

Annabel Mary Adelaide Norrie, youngest child of Gov. Willoughby Norrie, in late 1946
Annabel Mary Adelaide Norrie

In mid-1944, Willoughby Norrie — who’d served as an officer in the British Army for more than three decades, and fought in both World Wars — was appointed Governor of South Australia. (Australia was a self-governing dominion of the British Empire at that time.)

Later the same year, he relocated his family and staff to the South Australian capital of Adelaide.

In December of 1945, Norrie and his second wife, Patricia, welcomed a baby girl.

Her name?

Annabel Mary Adelaide — third given name in honor of the city of Adelaide (which was also her birthplace, of course).

The city had been named in 1836 after Queen Adelaide, the German-born wife of King William IV.

(Norrie also had five older children: Diana, Rosemary, George, Guy, and Sarah.)

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Annabel Norrie (State Library of South Australia)

Popular baby names in England and Wales (UK), 2008

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

Ready for some rankings?

Here are England and Wales’ top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2008:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 5,325 baby girls
  2. Ruby, 4,931
  3. Emily, 4,881
  4. Grace, 4,775
  5. Jessica, 4,672
  6. Chloe, 4,605
  7. Sophie, 4,380
  8. Lily, 4,047
  9. Amelia, 3,440
  10. Evie, 3,281
  11. Mia, 3,121
  12. Ella, 3,042
  13. Charlotte, 2,939
  14. Lucy, 2,876
  15. Megan, 2,515
  16. Ellie, 2,505
  17. Isabelle, 2,460
  18. Isabella, 2,424
  19. Hannah, 2,335
  20. Katie, 2,324

Boy Names

  1. Jack, 8,010 baby boys
  2. Oliver, 7,417
  3. Thomas, 6,062
  4. Harry, 6,008
  5. Joshua, 5,716
  6. Alfie, 5,566
  7. Charlie, 5,291
  8. Daniel, 5,191
  9. James, 5,170
  10. William, 5,169
  11. Samuel, 4,624
  12. George, 4,214
  13. Joseph, 3,764
  14. Lewis, 3,482
  15. Ethan, 3,451
  16. Mohammed, 3,442
  17. Dylan, 3,373
  18. Benjamin, 3,275
  19. Alexander, 3,215
  20. Jacob, 3,127

Intriguingly, the name Honey ranked 190th on the girls’ list. A whopping 279 baby girls got the name. In contrast, just 90 U.S. baby girls were named Honey that year, and the name has never once cracked the U.S. top 1,000. I wonder what accounts for the relative popularity of Honey overseas.

Finally, here are some of the names that were used less often in 2008…

Uncommon Girl NamesUncommon Boy Names
Bluebell (20 baby girls), Primrose (17), Temperance (13), Breeze (11), Cleopatra (11), Sorrel (11), Tigerlily (9), Tirion (9), Comfort (8), Peaches (8), Pebbles (8), Beyonce (7), Miami (7), Zinnia (7), Godiva (6), Mercades (5), Panashe (5), Tulip (5), Wednesday (5), Magenta (4), Boadicea (3), Cayenne (3), Kimora-Lee (3), Plum (3), Rejoice (3)Spike (23 baby boys), Willoughby (22), Ziggy (20), Ptolemy (19), Zidane (13), Zinedine (12), Kal-El (10), Hendrix (9), Humphrey (8), Elan (6), Gruff (6), Legend (6), Achilles (5), Amen (5), Bright (5), Jesse-James (5), Tennyson (5), Darlington (4), James-Dean (4), Courage (3), Freedom (3), Messiah (3), Remus (3), Riquelme (3), Seven (3)

What are your thoughts on these rankings/names?

Sources: Office for National Statistics, England & Wales Baby Names

Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)

Man sells right to name baby for $100 gas card

A Florida man has sold the right to name his unborn son (due in December) to a trio of radio hosts in exchange for a gas card.

David Partin called the Orlando-based Dixon & Willoughby Morning Show last week after the hosts asked what listeners were willing to do in exchange for a $100 gas card. (Currently, gas costs $4.06 a gallon in Florida.)

“We heard from Partin immediately, and he knocked the other offers out of the park,” said J. Willoughby, one of the WHTQ co-hosts.

The hosts (and their executive producer, Alan Spector) had wanted the given name to be “Dixon & Willoughby With Alan Spector,” but all parties eventually agreed on Dixon Willoughby.

The radio hosts, who joked that they plan to be in the delivery room when Dixon Willoughby is born, said that the gas card won’t be handed over until the name is official.

“[Partin will get the card] when he shows us the birth certificate,” said Willoughby.

Update, Apr. 2010: What happened to the gas card baby?

Well, parents-to-be David Partin and Samantha Bailey were regularly mentioned both on the show and on the show’s blog after the agreement was made. Their baby — a girl, turns out — was going to be named Dixie Ann Willoughby Partin.

I say “going to be” because, right after the baby shower on Nov. 21, the radio program was canceled. Dixon and Willoughby were bumped to make room for a guy called Bubba the Love Sponge.

After that point, there’s no news of the show, the hosts, the parents or the baby. Were all bets off? Did the parents go ahead and use the name anyway?

Update #2, Oct. 2011: I was contact by a person named Danielle Partin who said: “I’m his sister, and no, they named her Kyndylyn Marie Partin.”

Sources: Dad Trades Baby’s Name for $100 Gas Card; Central Florida Radio – WHTQ, Dixon & Willoughby out; Bubba the LoveSponge in