How popular is the baby name Ann 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 Ann.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the Baby Name Ann


Posts that Mention the Name Ann

Popular baby names in the Faroe Islands, 2021

Faroe

The Faroe Islands, which are part of the kingdom of Denmark, are a North Atlantic archipelago located between Iceland and Scotland‘s Shetland Islands.

Last year, the Faroes welcomed 683 babies — 327 girls and 356 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Lea/Lív (tie) and Jónas.

Here are the Faroe Islands’ top 20+ girl names and top 30+ boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Lea, 7 baby girls (tie)
  2. Lív, 7 (tie)
  3. Emma, 5 (4-way tie)
  4. Julia, 5 (4-way tie)
  5. Ria, 5 (4-way tie)
  6. Sólja, 5 (4-way tie)
  7. Hjørdis, 4 (6-way tie)
  8. Isabella, 4 (6-way tie)
  9. Nora, 4 (6-way tie)
  10. Ronja, 4 (6-way tie)
  11. Sofía, 4 (6-way tie)
  12. Vár, 4 (6-way tie)
  13. Alda, 3 (13-way tie)
  14. Amalia, 3 (13-way tie)
  15. Ann, 3 (13-way tie)
  16. Anna, 3 (13-way tie)
  17. Bára, 3 (13-way tie)
  18. Eva, 3 (13-way tie)
  19. Eyð, 3 (13-way tie)
  20. Joan, 3 (13-way tie)
  21. Klara, 3 (13-way tie)
  22. Liva, 3 (13-way tie)
  23. Maria, 3 (13-way tie)
  24. Olivia, 3 (13-way tie)
  25. Petra, 3 (13-way tie)

Boy Names

  1. Jónas, 10 baby boys
  2. Nóa, 9
  3. Andrias, 6 (4-way tie)
  4. Jógvan, 6 (4-way tie)
  5. Markus, 6 (4-way tie)
  6. Mattias, 6 (4-way tie)
  7. Adrian, 5 (4-way tie)
  8. Gilli, 5 (4-way tie)
  9. Jákup, 5 (4-way tie)
  10. Tróndur, 5 (4-way tie)
  11. Bragi, 4 (9-way tie)
  12. Brandur, 4 (9-way tie)
  13. Brimir, 4 (9-way tie)
  14. Hjalti, 4 (9-way tie)
  15. Jóhan, 4 (9-way tie)
  16. Liam, 4 (9-way tie)
  17. Ólavur, 4 (9-way tie)
  18. Óli, 4 (9-way tie)
  19. Ragnar, 4 (9-way tie)
  20. Áki, 3 (14-way tie)
  21. Benjamin, 3 (14-way tie)
  22. Dávid, 3 (14-way tie)
  23. Elias, 3 (14-way tie)
  24. Filip, 3 (14-way tie)
  25. Hans, 3 (14-way tie)
  26. Jens, 3 (14-way tie)
  27. Jóel, 3 (14-way tie)
  28. Jón, 3 (14-way tie)
  29. Kári, 3 (14-way tie)
  30. Leon, 3 (14-way tie)
  31. Silas, 3 (14-way tie)
  32. Teitur, 3 (14-way tie)
  33. Uni, 3 (14-way tie)

Some of the other baby names bestowed in the Faroe Islands in 2021 include…

  • Brá (2 girls), based on the Old Norse word brá, meaing “eyelash.”
  • Brosi (1 boy), based on the Old Norse word brosa, meaning “to smile.”
  • Drós (1 girl), based on an Old Norse word meaning “woman.”
  • Fípa (1 girl), based on the Old Norse word fífa, meaning “cotton grass.”
  • Flykra (1 girl), means “(snow) flake” in Faroese.
  • Glæma (1 girl), means “ray of light” in Faroese.
  • Glóð (2 girls), based on an Old Norse word meaning “ember, glow.”
  • Røskva (1 girl), based on an Old Norse word meaning “vigorous, brave.”
  • Smæra (1 girl), means “clover” in Faroese.
  • Urð (1 girl), based on an Old Norse word meaning “fate, destiny.”

In 2020, the top names in the Faroe Islands were Anna/Olivia (tie) and Benjamin/Elias/Lukas (3-way tie).

Sources: Statistical Database (Names) – Hagstova Føroya, Faroe Islands – Wikipedia, Nordic Names

Where did the baby name Carrie Anne come from in 1968?

The Hollies single "Carrie Anne" (1967)
The Hollies single

The song “Carrie Anne” by the British band The Hollies came out in May of 1967. It had been written by band member Graham Nash about singer Marianne Faithfull, but Graham was too shy to use Marianne’s real name in the lyrics, so “Carrie Anne” was substituted. The song peaked at #9 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart a few months later, in August.

The same year, various versions of the name debuted in the U.S. baby name data. It wasn’t until the next year, though, that the spelling Carrie Anne finally showed up:

Name1966196719681969
Carrieann.20*2718
Kariann.171720
Carianne.11*89
Karianne.6*1917
Cariann.5*1316
Carriann.5*8.
Carrianne..10*5
Carrieanne..7*6
Totals:.6410991
*Debut

Here’s the band performing the song in 1969. (Graham Nash had moved on to Crosby, Stills & Nash by this point, so he’s not part of the performance.)

Similar names featuring “Kerry,” like Kerrianne, also saw higher usage in the late ’60s. Three of these Kerry-variants (Kerryanne, Kerianne, & Keriann) debuted in ’68.

One non-U.S baby who was named Carrie Anne in 1967 was Canadian actress Carrie-Anne Moss, who went on to star in The Matrix as Trinity — the character that popularized the baby name Trinity impressively during the early 2000s.

The song was also one of the factors behind the swift rise of the name Carrie during the 1970s:

  • 1972: 5422 baby girls named Carrie
  • 1971: 5976 baby girls named Carrie
  • 1970: 4976 baby girls named Carrie
  • 1969: 3887 baby girls named Carrie
  • 1968: 3978 baby girls named Carrie
  • 1967: 3196 baby girls named Carrie
  • 1966: 2475 baby girls named Carrie

“Carrie Anne” kicked things off, but the rise was later fueled by actress Caroline “Carrie” Snodgress of the film Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970), the Stephen King book Carrie (1974), and the book-based movie Carrie (1976) — which featured Piper Laurie and a young John Travolta.

The baby name Carrie saw peak usage in 1976 and 1977, reaching 28th place in the rankings both years.

Do you like the name Carrie? How about the combo Carrie Anne?

Sources: The Hollies, Carrie-Anne, Chart History | Billboard, Carrie Anne – Wikipedia, Who’s that girl? Meet the muses who inspired some of our most iconic pop songs – Daily Mail

Babies named for the Battle of Waterloo

Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815)
Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo — which marked the final defeat of Napoleon and the end of the Napoleonic Wars — took place on June 18, 1815, near the village of Waterloo (located south of Brussels).

Fighting against Napoleon were two forces: a British-led coalition that included Germans, Belgians, and Dutch (all under the Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley) and an army from Prussia (under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher).

Hundreds of babies were given the name “Waterloo” — typically as a middle — during the second half of the 1810s. Most of them were baby boys born in England, but some were girls, and some were born elsewhere in the British Empire (and beyond).

  • William Wellington Waterloo Humbley*, b. 1815, in England
  • Isabella Fleura Waterloo Deacon †, b. 1815, Belgium
  • John Waterloo Todd, b. 1815, England
  • Fredrick Waterloo Collins, b. 1815, Wales
  • Jubilee Waterloo Reeves (née Davis), b. 1815, England
  • Dent Waterloo Ditchburn, b. 1815, England
  • Joseph Waterloo Hart, b. 1815, England
  • Henry Waterloo Nickels, b. 1815, England
  • Sophia Waterloo Mills, b. 1815, England
  • Henry Waterloo Prescott, b. 1815, England
  • Richard Waterloo Renny, b. 1815, England
  • John Waterloo Posthumous Brittany, b. circa 1815, England
  • Charlotte Waterloo Grapes, b. circa 1815, England
  • Louisa Waterloo France, b. circa 1815, Belgium
  • James Waterloo Clark, b. 1816, England
  • Henry Waterloo Johnson, b. 1816, England
  • George Waterloo Holland, b. 1816, England
  • Charles Waterloo Wallett, b. 1816, England
  • John Waterloo Wilson, b. circa 1816, Belgium
  • Frederick Waterloo Jennings, b. 1817, England
  • William Waterloo Horford, b. 1817, England
  • George Mark Waterloo Smith, b. 1817, England
  • Edward Waterloo Lane, b. 1817, England
  • Robert Waterloo Cook, b. 1817, England
  • Eleanor Waterloo Whiteman, b. 1817, England
  • Ann Waterloo Barlow, b. 1818, England
  • Wellington Waterloo Teanby, b. circa 1818, England
  • William Wellington Waterloo Jackson, b. circa 1819, England

Interestingly, babies were still being named Waterloo long after the battle was over. Many more Waterloos were born from the 1820s onward:

The place-name Waterloo is made up of a pair of Middle Dutch words that, together, mean “watery meadow.” Since the battle, though, the word Waterloo has also been used to refer to “a decisive or final defeat or setback.” (It’s used this way in the 1974 Abba song “Waterloo” [vid], for instance.)

The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) followed the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-c.1802), which followed the French Revolution (1789-1799), which gave rise to a number of revolutionary baby names in France.

Sources:

*William Wellington Waterloo Humbley was born on the day of the battle (while his father, an army officer, was abroad taking part). He was baptized the following summer, and the Duke of Wellington himself stood godfather. Several years after that, in 1819, his parents welcomed daughter Vimiera Violetta Vittoria Humbley — named after the battles of Vimeiro (1808) and Vitoria (1813).

† Isabella Fleura Waterloo Deacon’s father, Thomas, had been wounded in the previous battle (Quatre Bras, on the 16th). Her mother, Martha — who was traveling with the army — searched the battlefield for him all night. Eventually she discovered that he’d been transported to Brussels, some 20 miles away, so she walked there with her three young children. (Through a 10-hour thunderstorm, no less.) She reached Brussels on the morning of the 18th, located her husband, and gave birth to Isabella on the 19th.

Iowa septuplets: Kenneth, Alexis, Natalie, Kelsey…

children

I’ve posted about sextuplets and octuplets before, but never septuplets!

A set of seven — four boys and three girls — was born in Des Moines, Iowa, to Kenny and Bobbi McCaughey on November 19, 1997. The McCaughey septuplets are the world’s first surviving set of septuplets.

What are the names of all seven? Here are their firsts and middles:

  1. Kenneth Robert
  2. Alexis May
  3. Natalie Sue
  4. Kelsey Ann
  5. Nathan Roy
  6. Brandon James
  7. Joel Steven

The McCaugheys also have an older daughter named Mikayla Marie (b. 1996).

What are your thoughts on the names? If you were having a set of seven (same mix of genders), which names would you choose?

Sources: McCaughey septuplets – Wikipedia, Happy birthday x 7! McCaughey septuplets turn 23