The name Lucy had been on the decline for about a decade when, in 1964, the uncommon spelling Luci nearly quadrupled in usage:
- 1966: 78 baby girls named Luci
- 1965: 81 baby girls named Luci
- 1964: 42 baby girls named Luci
- 1963: 11 baby girls named Luci
- 1962: 8 baby girls named Luci
(Lucy itself also saw an uptick in usage that year.)
What was influencing the name Luci in the mid-1960s?
Luci Baines Johnson, the younger daughter of president Lyndon Baines Johnson and his wife Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Johnson.
Luci was regularly in the headlines while she was campaigning for her father in 1964. She was, for instance, the queen of an Apple Blossom Festival in Virginia in April, the narrator of a Peter and the Wolf concert in Michigan in July, and the guest of honor at a barbecue in Beverly Hills (attended by the likes of Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen) in August.
She was featured on the cover of Life in mid-May. In the accompanying article, the magazine noted that Luci was “the first teen-aged daughter in the White House since William Howard Taft’s 17-year-old, Helen, lived there a half-century ago.”
Lucy Baines Johnson, who was born in July of 1947, began going by “Luci” soon after moving into the White House (in late 1963). Decades later, she explained:
It was a small way to establish my independence. I didn’t have a name like Elizabeth that I could shorten, so I just changed the spelling.
What are your thoughts on the name Luci? (Which spelling do you prefer?)
P.S. Bader Howar, the flower girl at Luci’s 1966 wedding, also ended up influencing U.S. baby names…
Sources:
- Luci Baines Johnson – Wikipedia
- Wayman, Stan. “Teensville at the White House.” Life 15 May 1964: 90-95.
- “Luci Johnson Sparkles in Concert Performance.” Tuscaloosa News 24 Jul. 1964: 2.
- Thomas, Bob. “Hollywood’s young Dems turn out for rally, Luci.” Ocala Star-Banner 12 Aug. 1964: 30.
- “The preferred spelling: L-U-C-Y, says Lady Bird.” St. Petersburg Times 2 Mar. 1964: 1-D.
- Russell, Jan Jarboe. Lady Bird: A Biography of Mrs. Johnson. New York, NY: Scribner, 1999.
- SSA
Image: Clipping from the cover of Life magazine (15 May 1964)