How popular is the baby name Audrey 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 Audrey.

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Popularity of the baby name Audrey


Posts that mention the name Audrey

Baby name story: Powell

Powell's Books
Powell’s Books

Audrey and Kevin DeKam of Oregon welcomed a baby boy on October 3, 2008. They named him Powell in honor of Powell’s Books in Portland.

Audrey DeKam told the staff at Powell’s that she and her husband couldn’t reach an agreement on a name, when she stumbled upon “Powell” in a baby name book and learned that it means “alert.” She instantly liked the name because it reminded her of Powell’s Books.

“It’s the first time in our long history that a baby has been named in our honor,” said store owner Michael Powell. “And it’s a wonderful reason to celebrate.”

Sadly, their baby name book was wrong. Powell doesn’t mean “alert.” The two possible origins are Paul, from the Latin paulus, meaning “small,” or the Welsh patronymic ap-Hywel, “son of Hywel,” with Hywel meaning “eminent, conspicuous.”

Regardless, I think it’s cool to be named with a beloved bookstore in mind.

What’s the name of your favorite bookstore? Would it make a good baby name?

Sources: Oregon Baby Named After Parents’ Favorite Bookstore, Oregon Parents Name Baby After Powell’s Books

Image: Adapted from PowellsBookstore by Cacophony under CC BY 3.0.

Where did the baby name Gogi come from in 1957?

Gogi Grant's album "Suddenly There's Gogi Grant" (1957)
Gogi Grant album

In 1956, singer Gogi (pronounced GO-ghee) Grant scored her first and only #1 hit — “The Wayward Wind.” She was also voted Billboard’s Most Popular Female Vocalist that year.

The next year, the name Gogi made its first and only appearance on the SSA’s baby name list:

  • 1959: unlisted
  • 1958: unlisted
  • 1957: 6 baby girls named Gogi [debut]
  • 1956: unlisted
  • 1955: unlisted

Gogi Grant was born Myrtle Audrey Arinsberg in 1924. Here’s the story behind her stage name:

Audrey Arinsberg was using her married name, Audrey Brown, when she signed with RCA. Her manager changed her name to Audrey Grant, and she used that for two months while performing in the Borscht Belt. Then Dave Kapp came up with the name “Gogi.” “He told me, and you can believe it or not believe it, it came to him in a dream,” she reveals. “But Dave used to go to lunch every day in New York at Gogi’s La Rue. Some of Dave’s friends suspected that’s where he got the name.”

The “Gogi” in the restaurant name came from the name of the proprietor, Giorgi “Gogi” Tchitchinadze, a native of Georgia (the country).

Gogi Grant wasn’t too keen on the name Gogi at first:

“I thought it was very stagey,” Grant recalled, “very unlike me. ‘Why Gogi?’ I asked him. ‘Do I look like a Gogi? Do I sing like a Gogi?’ “

One of the first advertising slogans used to introduce the singer to the public, she remembered, was “What Is a Gogi?”

What do you think of the name Gogi?

Sources:

When can we officially call Aubrey a girl name?

I found the comments on the recent “Aubrey vs. Audrey” post very interesting. Several people stated that they wouldn’t name a baby girl Aubrey because Aubrey is a boy name.

They’re correct, of course. Aubrey has been given to baby boys for hundreds of years.

But, if they’re in the U.S., they’re also incorrect. Here, Aubrey has been used primarily for baby girls since the mid-1970s, and the name is more popular for females right now than it’s ever been for males.

So, in terms of history, Aubrey is a boy name. But in terms of usage, at least in this region, Aubrey is a girl name.

I wonder…for those in the “Aubrey is a boy name” camp (and in the U.S.), how long would Aubrey have to be used primarily for girls before you’d accept it as a girl name? Or would you refuse to accept it as a girl name, regardless of usage?

Baby name mash-ups: Abdrew, Jeffifer, Ryatt, Tiffanique

Here are some oddball baby names I found while scanning the SSA’s baby name lists. They look like creative combinations of other names. (My guesses as to what those “other names” might be are in parentheses.)

Boy names:

Girl names:

Which is your favorite? (Mine is Franchester!)

Have you come across any other baby name mash-ups recently?

P.S. Don’t forget Craphonso. :)

[Last update: 5/2019]