How popular is the baby name Bridgett 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 Bridgett.

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Popularity of the baby name Bridgett


Posts that mention the name Bridgett

Baby names with DG: Ledger, Bridger, Judge

hedgehog

Feeling nudged to choose a baby name that contains the letter-pair DG?

It’s an uncommon combination, but I’ve tracked down a few dozen options for you in this post!

Before we get to the names, though, let’s learn…

Where did -DGE come from in English?

French scribes, essentially.

In Old English, the “soft g” sound was rare, and it only occurred at the end of a word. When it did pop up, it was spelled with the digraph CG.

After the Norman Conquest in 1066, the ruling class of England spoke Anglo-Norman French. Over time, “the French-educated scribes [began] imposing traditional French spelling rules on English.”

The Normans had brought with them “soft g” words that utilized the letters G and I (which later evolved into J), but for native English words that contained the same sound, they decided to swap out CG for the trigraph DGE.

Some examples…

Old EnglishModern English
brycgbridge
ecgedge
hecghedge
hrycgridge
wecgwedge

Words derived from Anglo-Norman that happen to have the same ending include judge, pledge, and badge, and budge.

Now, on to the names!

Names with DG

Below are names that feature either DGE or the letter-pair DG (if it represents the same “soft G” sound). All of these names come from the SSA’s baby name data.

  • Adger
  • Adgie
  • Aldridge
  • Bridge
  • Bridger
  • Bridges
  • Bridget, Bridgett, Bridgette, Bridgete
  • Bridgetta
  • Bridgid
  • Bridgit, Bridgitt, Bridgitte
  • Cambridge
  • Coleridge
  • Condredge
  • Coolidge, Cooledge
  • Dandridge
  • Dodge
  • Dodger
  • Edge
  • Edgel
  • Edger
  • Edgerrin, Edgerin
  • Edwidge
  • Elbridge
  • Eldredge
  • Eldridge
  • Elridge
  • Etheridge
  • Ethridge
  • Gadge
  • Gidget, Gidgette
  • Hodge
  • Hodges
  • Judge
  • Knowledge
  • Ledgen
  • Ledgend
  • Ledger
  • Madge
  • Madgel
  • Madgie
  • Midge
  • Midgie
  • Milledge
  • Naledge
  • Padgett
  • Pledger
  • Redge
  • Redgie
  • Redginald
  • Ridge, Rydge
  • Ridger
  • Ridgely
  • Ridgeway
  • Ridgway
  • Rodger
  • Rodgerick
  • Rodgers
  • Rutledge
  • Sedgie
  • Sedgwick
  • Talmadge

Which DG name do you like most? Let me know in the comments!

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Igel by Mi chaela under CC BY 2.0.

Baby names inspired by photographers (Namestorm #14)

We’ve already done a photography namestorm, but I received a request for a namestorm about photographers specifically.

Some of these names I found in the comments to the earlier namestorm (thank you Nancy, Bridgett and Julie) and others I found on various photography websites.

  • Alfred, for Alfred Eisenstaedt (who took that famous V-J Day shot) and Alfred Stieglitz.
  • Anna-Lou (or Annie), for Anna-Lou “Annie” Leibovitz.
  • Ansel, for Ansel Adams.
  • Berenice, for Berenice Abbott.
  • Carleton, for Carleton Watkins.
  • Dorothea, for Dorothea Lange.
  • Edward, for Edward Steichen and Edward Weston.
  • Eugene, for Eugène Atget and W. Eugene Smith.
  • Galen, for Galen Rowell.
  • Garry, for Garry Winogrand.
  • Harry, for Harry Callahan.
  • Helen, for Helen Levitt.
  • Henri, for Henri Cartier-Bresson.
  • Imogen, for Imogen Cunningham.
  • Irving, for Irving Penn.
  • Julia, for Julia Margaret Cameron.
  • Margaret, for Margaret Bourke-White.
  • Mathew, for Mathew Brady.
  • Richard, for Richard Avedon.
  • Roger, for Roger Fenton.
  • Robert, for Robert Capa and Robert Adams.
  • Timothy, for Timothy O’Sullivan.
  • Walker, for Walker Evans.
  • Yousuf, for Yousuf Karsh.

Who else would you add to this list?

What interests/activities should we namestorm about next?