After rising for decades, the usage of Tracy (as a girl name) looked like it might plateau in the late 1960s. Instead, it rose steeply for two years in a row, reaching the girls’ top 10 for the first and only time in 1970:
| Girls named Tracy | Boys named Tracy | |
| 1972 | 11,436 [rank: 19th] | 2,538 [rank: 111th] |
| 1971 | 14,329 [rank: 13th] | 2,076 [rank: 144th] |
| 1970 | 18,465† [rank: 10th] | 1,777 [rank: 162nd] |
| 1969 | 15,108 [rank: 17th] | 2,169 [rank: 141st] |
| 1968 | 12,742 [rank: 25th] | 2,655 [rank: 111th] |
Interestingly, when the female usage spiked, the male usage dipped. You can see both the spike and the corresponding dip on the name’s popularity graph:
Several other spellings (Tracey, Traci, and Tracie) also saw peak usage in 1970.
So, what was drawing attention to the name Tracy in the late 1960s?
The bubblegum pop song “Tracy,” which was performed by The Cuff Links (a studio band) and released in July of 1969. It peaked at #9 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in late October.
Here’s what the song sounds like:
Another influence may have been the character Contessa Teresa “Tracy” di Vicenzo (played by actress Diana Rigg) from the James Bond movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which was released in December of 1969. (Thank you to Sharky for letting me know about this character!)
What are your thoughts on the name Tracy?
P.S. Diana Rigg also played the part of Olenna Tyrell on Game of Thrones…
Sources: Tracy (The Cuff Links song) – Wikipedia, Billboard Hot 100 for the week of 25 Oct. 1969, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (film) – Wikipedia, SSA
I may have mentioned this in a past comment, but I will never forget that in 6th grade, my classmate sent a letter to her cousins in New York, who were sisters named Stacy, Tracy, and Marcy. My first introduction to matchy-matchy names. (Although I also knew some Gone with the Wind-themed sisters named Tara Scarlett and Bonnie Blue in grade school.)
I don’t have strong feelings about the name one way or another. I’ve known a lot of girls and women named Tracy in my lifetime and none of them made me dislike the name, so that’s a net positive.