How popular is the baby name Charlotte 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 Charlotte.

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 Charlotte


Posts that mention the name Charlotte

Popular baby names in Arizona, 2012

Flag of Arizona
Flag of Arizona

The most popular baby names in Arizona were announced recently.

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, Arizona’s top names are Jacob and Sophia — same as the top names in the nation right now.

Here are Arizona’s top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2012:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Sophia
2. Isabella
3. Emma
4. Mia
5. Olivia
6. Emily
7. Ava
8. Abigail
9. Madison
10. Sofia
11. Victoria
12. Camila
13. Natalie
14. Zoey
15. Elizabeth
16. Ella
17. Aaliyah
18. Zoe
19. Charlotte
20. Brooklyn		1. Jacob
2. Ethan
3. Daniel
4. Liam
5. Alexander
6. Anthony
7. Noah
8. Mason
9. Aiden
10. Michael
11. David
12. Jayden
13. Julian
14. Matthew
15. Andrew
16. Elijah
17. Isaac
18. William
19. Gabriel
20. Joshua

(For more, see the full list of Arizona’s top 100 baby names of 2012.)

To compare, here are Arizona’s top names of 1912:

Girl Names (1912)Boy Names (1912)
1. Mary
2. Maria
3. Helen
4. Dorothy
5. Margaret
6. Ruth
7. Mildred
8. Anna
9. Elizabeth
10. Frances		1. John
2. Jose
3. William
4. James
5. Robert
6. Joseph
7. George
8. Charles
9. Edward
10. Frank

José was the second most popular name in the state in 2002 and 2007 as well. It didn’t even make the top 20 in 2012, though.

Source: Arizona’s top baby names of 2012: Sophia, Isabella, Jacob, Ethan

Image: Adapted from Flag of Arizona (public domain)

Popular baby names in New South Wales (Australia), 2012

The most popular baby names in New South Wales, Australia, were announced recently.

According to the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, the winners were William for boys and Ruby for girls.

Here are NSW’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2012:

Baby Girl NamesBaby Boy Names
1. Ruby (564 baby girls)
2. Charlotte (549)
2. Emily (546)
3. Olivia (540)
4. Chloe (530)
6. Amelia (522)
7. Mia (519)
8. Sophie (494)
9. Isabella (489)
10. Ava (464)		1. William (639 baby boys)
2. Lucas (571)
3. Oliver (569)
4. Noah (568)
5. Jack (565)
6. Ethan (549)
7. Thomas (515)
8. Lachlan (515)
9. Joshua (514)
10. James (489)

Why is Ruby so popular in Australia now? “BabyCenter Australia editor Danielle Townsend said…the rise of Ruby could be related to the baby of the same name from TV series Packed to the Rafters.”

Sources: William reigns in the name game while rare gem Ruby shines again, Popular Baby Names, 2010s (PDF)

Unique baby name: Suffrage

Suffrage Adelia VanHook was born in North Carolina in 1864.

So far, she’s the only U.S.-born person I know of with the name Suffrage. (“Suffrage” refers to the right to vote.)

Suffrage’s father had fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. This suggests to me that her name is a reference to women’s suffrage, not to black suffrage.

That’s just a guess, though. Is anyone out there a descendant who could tell me the real story behind Suffrage’s name?

P.S. Suffrage had siblings named Charles, Carey, Charlotte, Edgar, Isaac and Robert.

Why did Carson debut as a girl name in 1947?

The character Dr. Carson McVicker from the radio show "The Road of Life" (c.1937-c.1959)
Dr. Carson McVicker from “The Road of Life“

Most of us think of “Carson” as either a surname or a male name, but it popped up as a girl name suddenly in the 1940s (after decades of being a male name exclusively).

YearGirls named CarsonBoys named Carson
19495133
19486117
194711*135
1946.131
1945.97
*Debut

The influence was probably the radio soap opera The Road of Life — the very first soap opera with a medical theme. Broadcast schedules indicate that it aired from about 1937 to about 1959. (It was also on TV in the mid-1950s, but only for a matter of months.)

The main character was Dr. Jim Brent, who started out as a surgeon in Chicago, but during 1945 moved to New York City and became a psychiatrist. There, he worked for Dr. Carson McVicker (played by radio actress Charlotte Manson), who was not just the chief-of-staff at the Neuropsychiatric Institute, but also a beautiful heiress. One source dubbed her a “socialite doctor.”

Both Jim and Carson were married, but that didn’t stop them from having an affair. She eventually suffered a nervous breakdown and resigned.

What are your thoughts on the name Carson? Do you like it better as a boy name, or as a girl name?

P.S. Another traditionally male name that started being given to baby girls in the ’40s is Rory.

Sources:

  • Cox, Jim. The Great Radio Soap Operas. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1999.
  • Russell, Maureen. Days of Our Lives: A Complete History of the Long-Running Soap Opera. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1995.
  • Soap Operas In The Postwar World – DTTD!

Image: from Manitoba Calling (PDF), Apr. 1946, p. 15 (archived by American Radio History)