How popular is the baby name Ardeth 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 Ardeth.

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Popularity of the baby name Ardeth


Posts that mention the name Ardeth

What gave the baby name Ardeth a boost in 1930?

Illustration of Ardeth Carroll from the Winona Republican-Herald (Jun. 1930)
Ardeth Carroll

From 1929 to 1930, the baby name Ardeth saw a dramatic rise in usage — dramatic enough to boost the name into the U.S. top 1,000 for the first time.

  • 1932: 55 baby girls named Ardeth [rank: 954th]
  • 1931: 58 baby girls named Ardeth [rank: 912th]
  • 1930: 121 baby girls named Ardeth [rank: 629th]
  • 1929: 38 baby girls named Ardeth
  • 1928: 27 baby girls named Ardeth

What caused the spike?

The Gladys Johnson story Girl Unafraid, which was serialized in newspapers across the country during 1930.

The story’s main character was Ardeth Carroll, “a Titian-haired, amber-eyed” shop-girl who fell in love with a man named Ken Gleason. The problem? Ken was already engaged to wealthy Cecile Parker.

According to an advertisement for the serialization,

The silent struggle between these proud modern women, with Ardeth pitting her beauty, her wit and her courage against Cecile’s wealth and influence, makes one of the most thrilling love stories ever published.

What are your thoughts on the name Ardeth?

P.S. The similar name Ardoth popped up several years later for an entirely different reason…

Sources:

  • “Girl Unafraid.” Journal and Courier [Lafayette, Indiana] 14 Aug. 1930: 3.
  • “Girl Unafraid.” Winona Republican-Herald 14 Jun. 1930: 8.
  • “Woman vs. Woman” [Advertisement]. Oregon Statesman 20 Sept. 1930: 2.
  • SSA

Image: Clipping from the Winona Republican-Herald (14 Jun. 1930)

Where did the baby name Verilea come from in 1936?

The character Verilea Davis from the story "Unknown Sweetheart" by Anne Gardner
Verilea Davis

The uncommon name Verilea was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data way back in the 1930s:

  • 1938: unlisted
  • 1937: unlisted
  • 1936: 7 baby girls named Verilea [debut]
  • 1935: unlisted
  • 1934: unlisted

In fact, Verilea is tied with Arolyn as the top one-hit wonder girl name of 1936.

I have yet to figure out the source of Arolyn (which looks to me like a cut-off Carolyn), but I do know the source of Verilea.

As with several other rare names from the first half of the 1900s (like Thurley, Thayle, Ortrude, Ardeth, Aletta, Joretta, Elanda, Perilla, and Lorry) the influence was a fictional story printed in the newspapers.

The tale that featured “Verilea” was Unknown Sweetheart by Anne Gardner. It was serialized in various newspapers during 1936, and the main character was a young woman named Verilea Davis, who began on “a dirty, grinding old bus on the hill-roads of Kentucky” and ended up in “a modernistic New York penthouse high above smart Manhattan.”

Her name may have been inspired by the vocabulary word verily, which means “truly, certainly.”

Do you like the baby name Verilea? Would you use it?

Sources:

  • “I Don’t Even Know His Name, But…I Love Him!” Des Moines Tribune 22 Oct. 1935: 9.
  • Gardner, Anne. “Unknown Sweetheart.” Oklahoma News 11 Oct. 1936: 20.
  • Gardner, Anne. “Unknown Sweetheart.” Pittsburgh Press 16 Mar. 1936: 32.
  • SSA

Image: Clipping from the Oklahoma News (11 Oct. 1936)