How popular is the baby name Barbara 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 Barbara.

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Popularity of the baby name Barbara


Posts that mention the name Barbara

Which “Mod Generation” sticker name do you like best?

mod generation stickers

In 1969, dozens of “Mod Generation” stickers — each of which featured a drawing of a young person, and a first name — were distributed inside packs of Topps chewing gum.

Female names used on the stickers included Alice, Ann, Barbara, Betty, Connie, Diane, Donna, Dotty, Ellen, Esther, Fay, Frances, Gloria, Helen, Jackie, Joan, Judy, Lois, Marie, Mary, Millie, Minda, Nancy, Natalie, Phyllis, Rose, Shelly, and Susan.

mod generation stickers

Male names used on the stickers included Barry, Bert, Bill, Charlie, Chris, Dave, Don, Fred, George, Herb, Irv, Jerry, Joe, John, Larry, Louis, Michael, Paul, Pete, Ray, Richard, Roy, Teddy, and Tony.

mod generation stickers

While of these female and male names do you like most? How about least?

Sources: 1969: “Mod Generation” Stickers, Mod Generation – 1969

The (rhyming) children of Don Ameche

Actor Don Ameche (1908-1993)
Don Ameche

In yesterday’s post about the name Drene, I mentioned actor/entertainer Don Ameche.

Don, born Dominic Felix Amici in 1908, married his wife Honoré in 1932. They had six children:

  • Dominic
  • Ronald
  • Thomas
  • Lawrence
  • Barbara (adopted)
  • Cornelia (adopted)

The kids were known by nicknames, though, and most of those nicknames were perfect rhymes:

  • Donnie
  • Ronnie
  • Tommie
  • Lonnie
  • Bonnie
  • Connie

What do you think about a sibset with rhyming nicknames: yea or nay? (Does it depend upon the size of the sibset?)

Source: Houseman, Victoria. Made in Heaven: The Marriages and Children of Hollywood Stars. Chicago: Bonus Books, 1991.

42 Swedes change their names to “Klaus-Heidi”

"Ar du: Klaus-Heiki?"
“Are you: Klaus-Heidi?” (in Swedish)

Late last year, Lufthansa tried “to attract more Swedes to its flights” (and away from competitors’ flights) with a crazy marketing campaign.

What was so crazy about the campaign?

The name change contest.

The winner of the contest would get to live in Berlin for free for an entire year. He or she would get a flight to the city from Sweden, several more domestic flights within Germany (“so you can see all of your new homeland”), a fully furnished apartment, German language lessons, food vouchers, a bike, a Berlin WelcomeCard (for public transportation and entrance to museums), and more — all for free.

Detail of the Klaus-Heidi bike ("Gehört: Klaus-Heidi")
“Belongs to: Klaus-Heidi” (in German)

To enter the contest in the first place, though, this person would have to have changed his/her legal name to include the “very German” Klaus-Heidi.

Magnus Engvall, the Lufthansa marketing specialist running the competition, explains that it’s as if, translated for an American audience, Lufthansa was asking you to change your name to Jack-Barbara.

Proof of the name change, plus an essay, needed to be submitted to Lufthansa sometime between mid-October, when the contest began, and mid-November, when it ended.

Only a handful of entries were expected, but — thanks to Sweden’s notoriously liberal name-changing laws — dozens began pouring in. Lufthansa shut the contest down early, but not before 42 people entered, 9 on the very first day.

The 42 Swedes who changed their names to Klaus-Heidi ranged in age from 19 to 69. About 70% were male and 30% were female. Half were from Sweden’s capital city, Stockholm.

The winner of the contest, chosen because he’d creatively submitted a poem in place of an essay, was 24-year-old Michael Eric Klaus-Heidi Andersson (originally Michael Eric Andersson) from the village of Fjugesta. His “new life in Berlin” began in January of 2014.

The 41 other Klaus-Heidis didn’t walk away empty-handed, though. Each was awarded status in Lufthansa’s frequent flyer program and 60,000 free miles.

Now for the question of the day: If you were a Swede, would you have entered this contest?

Sources: The Atlantic, BusinessWeek, The Economist, The Local, Lufthansa

Images: From Lufthansa’s “Are You Klaus-Heidi?” marketing campaign

Which “CrossFit workout” name do you like best?

Kettlebells
Kettlebells

I’m not part of CrossFit (which is a fitness club that’s become trendy in the last few years) but I do know that many CrossFit workouts have human names.

The first set of named workouts — Angie, Barbara, Chelsea, Diane, Elizabeth, and Fran — were introduced by CrossFit founder Greg Glassman in September 2003. Next came Grace and Helen. In late 2004, Isabel, Jackie, Karen, Linda, Mary, and Nancy were added to the lineup.

Here are the workouts that correspond to each name:

  • Angie: 100 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups and 100 air squats
  • Barbara: 5 rounds of 20 pull-ups, 30 push-ups, 40 sit-ups and 50 air squats
  • Chelsea: 30 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 air squats
  • Diane: 3 rounds of 21-15-9 reps of deadlifts (225 lb.) and handstand push-ups
  • Elizabeth: 3 rounds of 21-15-9 reps of cleans (135 lb.) and ring dips
  • Fran: 3 rounds of 21-15-9 reps of thrusters (95 lb.) and pull-ups
  • Grace: 30 reps of clean and jerks (135 lb.)
  • Helen: 3 rounds of a 400 meter run, 21 kettlebell swings (52 lb.) and 12 pull-ups
  • Isabel: 30 snatches (135 lb.)
  • Jackie: a 1,000-meter row, 50 thrusters (45 lb.) and 30 pull-ups
  • Karen: 150 wall ball shots (20 lb.)
  • Linda: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of deadlifts (1.5x body weight), bench presses (1x bw) and cleans (.75x bw)
  • Mary: as many rounds as possible of 5 handstand push-ups, 10 pistols and 15 pull-ups (for 20 minutes)
  • Nancy: 5 rounds of a 500-meter run and 15 overhead squats (95 lb.)

Man, I’m exhausted just typing that.

Many more named workouts have since been introduced, but these 14 “girls” were the first.

What inspired Glassman to give his workouts female names? Hurricanes, actually. (Here’s more on the history of hurricane names.) Glassman was born in the mid-1950s, so it doesn’t surprise me that many of the names he chose (including my own!) sound a bit dated.

Now for the question of the day: Which is your favorite CrossFit workout name? Why?

And, if you’re a CrossFitter, which workout do you like best?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from DSC_0014 by Gregor under CC BY 2.0.