How popular is the baby name Cliff 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 Cliff.

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Popularity of the baby name Cliff


Posts that mention the name Cliff

41 Pun-names for April Fools’ Day (4/1)

I can’t play a prank on you for April Fools’ Day, but I can give you a list of personal names that seem like pranks.

Except, they’re not.

All of the below are legit first & last names that belonged to real people — often multiple people. (In parentheses I’ve added rough estimates of how many instances I’ve come across so far.)

  1. Alma Mater (several)
  2. April Showers (dozens)
  3. Bear Trapp (one)
  4. Candy Cane (several)
  5. Cliff Hanger (several)
  6. Constant Agony (two)
  7. Constant Craps (one)
  8. Crystal Ball (dozens)
    • There’s also Krystal Ball, who ran for office in Virginia a few years back.
  9. Death Knox (one)
  10. Drew Peacock (dozens)
  11. Gettysburg Battle (one)
  12. Gold Mine (two)
  13. Green Bean (several)
  14. Hazel Nut/Nutt (dozens)
  15. Ima Hogg (one)
  16. Jed I Knight (one)
  17. London England (dozens)
  18. Mud Brown (three)
  19. Never Fail (two) — father and son
    • The son’s headstone offers context for the name by referencing 1 Corinthians 13: “Love never fails.”
  20. Norman Conquest (two)
  21. North West (hundreds)
  22. Nude Mann (one)
  23. Orbit Moon (one)
  24. Orchestra Harp (one)
  25. Paris France (several)
  26. Preserved Fish (several)
  27. Pullman Carr (several), one with the middle name Palace, as in the Pullman Palace Car Company.
  28. Rainy Day (one)
  29. River Bottom (one)
  30. Rocky Mountain (dozens)
  31. Sandy Beach (dozens)
  32. Sea Shore (several)
  33. Seymour Butts (two) — not just a Bart Simpson prank call!
  34. Silence Bellows (one)
  35. Soda Popp (one)
  36. Strong Beer (one)
  37. Tell No Lyes (several)
  38. Ten Million (one), who had a daughter named Decillian Million.
  39. Timber Wood (one), who has a sister named Drift Wood.
  40. Truly Wright (several)
  41. Tu Morrow (one)

Which one do you think is the best? Or should I say, the worst?

Source: Find A Grave

Mystery baby name: Marquita (Solved!)

The characters Marquita and Chris from a TV commercial for Close-Up toothpaste (1983).
Marquita and Chris from Close-Up TV commercial

Adilene isn’t the only ’80s baby name I can’t figure out. I’m stumped on Marquita as well.

In 1983, thousands of baby girls were suddenly given the name Marquita:

  • 1985: 535 baby girls named Marquita [rank: 417th]
  • 1984: 1,374 baby girls named Marquita [rank: 195th]
  • 1983: 2,543 baby girls named Marquita [rank: 112th]
  • 1982: 128 baby girls named Marquita
  • 1981: 135 baby girls named Marquita

Hundreds more were given a variant spelling of the name:

1982198319841985
Marquita (f)1282,5431,374535
Marquita (m).20**..
Marquitta2713812875
Marquetta62809172
Marqueta7282612
Markeeta11282918
Markeita.201810
Marqutia.12*..
Markeda10101614
Marquieta.9*7.
Markitta.8116
Marquida8*86
Markida6*.6
Markeyta597
*Debut (overall), **Gender-specific debut

Marquita was out of the top 1,000 again by the mid-1990s.

The spike seems to have been centered in the South. The states with the most babies named Marquita in 1983 were…

  1. Georgia – 218 babies named Marquita
  2. Texas – 195 babies named Marquita
  3. North Carolina – 176 babies named Marquita
  4. Mississippi – 170 babies named Marquita
  5. Louisiana – 168 babies named Marquita
  6. Florida – 162 babies named Marquita
  7. Illinois – 161 babies named Marquita
  8. Alabama – 145 babies named Marquita
  9. California – 123 babies named Marquita
  10. Virginia – 112 babies named Marquita

The spike wasn’t caused by Marquita Rivera. And I don’t think either Marquita Pool-Eckert (at that time Marquita Pool) or Marquita Lister were popular enough to have caused it.

Any ideas?

Screenshot of a TV commercial for Close-Up toothpaste (1983).
Close-Up TV commercial

Update, 7/25/2021: Commenter Marquitta I. has solved the mystery! (Thank you so much!)

The sudden interest in the baby name Marquita was sparked by a TV commercial for Close-Up toothpaste. The commercial features (actors playing) a young African-American couple named Marquita (pronounced mahr-KEE-tah) and Chris.

They spend the 30 seconds talking about one another (and the toothpaste, of course) so viewers hear Chris say Marquita’s name several times: “When I hold Marquita, it really warms me up.” “Marquita’s teeth are white, straight, and make her smile beautiful.” “When I kiss Marquita, it tastes fresh.”

Here’s the commercial:

P.S. I’ve since found similar Close-Up commercials featuring couples with the names Gail & Grant, Cliff & Tina, and Desiree & Rob.

Baby name story: Oscar Underwood

Politician Oscar Underwood (1862-1929)

In early May, 1912, a baby boy was born to Mr. and Mrs. Cliff Dyche of Gainesville, Georgia.

What did they name him?

Oscar Underwood Dyche after House Majority Leader (and then-presidential hopeful) Oscar Underwood.

Little Oscar Dyche could have been named after a vice president had Underwood accepted Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson’s invitation to become his running mate several months later, but alas, it was not to be.

Source: “Gainesville Arrival Named for Underwood.” Atlanta Constitution 8 May 1912: 3.
Image: LOC

One-syllable boy names: Colt, Wynn, Dax, Zane

single tree

Looking for a boy name that’s short and to-the-point? Something that might work particularly well as a middle name?

Check out this list of several hundred one-syllable boy names:

  • Abe, Alf, Arch, Ace/Ayce, Ames, Ash/Ashe
  • Baine/Bane/Bayne, Banks/Banx, Bar, Barnes, Bash, Bates, Bay, Baz, Bear, Beau/Bo/Bow, Beck, Becks/Bex, Ben, Benz, Birch, Blade/Blayde, Blain/Blaine/Blayne/Blane, Blair/Blaire, Blaise/Blaze/Blayze/Blaize, Bless, Blessed, Blake/Blayke, Bliss, Blitz, Blue/Blu, Blythe, Bond, Boone, Booth, Boyce, Boyd, Brad, Bram, Brance, Brave, Brax, Bray, Breck, Breeze/Brees, Brent, Brett/Bret, Brex, Brick, Brix/Brixx, Brigg, Briggs, Bright, Brock/Broc, Bronx, Bronze, Brook, Brooks, Bruce, Bryce/Brice, Buck, Burk/Burke, Burl/Berl, Burns
  • Cade/Cayde, Cain/Caine, Cale, Camp, Carl, Carr, Case, Cash/Cache, Catch, Caz, Chad, Chance, Chap, Charles, Chase, Chaz, Chen, Chet, Chez, Chip, Chris, Church, Clark/Clarke, Clash, Claude, Claus, Clay, Clayt, Cliff, Clint, Clive, Cloud, Clutch, Clyde, Coast, Cole, Colt, Cord, Court, Cove, Craig, Crane, Cree, Creed, Creek, Crew, Crews, Croix, Cross, Crown, Cruz, Czar
  • Dahl, Daire/Dare, Dale, Dan, Dane/Dain/Daine/Dayne/Dayn, Dart, Dash, Dawes, Dax, Dean, Dee, Del/Dell, Derl, Deuce, Din, Dirk, Doc/Dock, Dolph, Don, Dor, Dov, Doyle, Drake, Dream, Dre, Drew/Dru, Dodge, Dowd, Duane/Dwayne, Duff, Duke, Dune, Dutch
  • Earl, East, Ebb, Edge, Ernst
  • Fate, Finch, Finn, Fitz, Fjord, Fleet, Flex, Flint, Flip, Floyd, Flynn, Ford, Fox, Frank, Franz, Fred, Friend, Fritz, Frost
  • Gabe, Gad, Gage/Gauge, Gaines/Gains, Gal, Gale, Garth, Gates, Gay, Gent, Geoff, George, Gibb, Gibbs, Gil/Gill, Giles, Glade, Glenn/Glen, Graham, Grant, Graves, Gray/Grey, Great, Green/Greene, Griff, Grimm/Grim, Gur, Gus, Gust, Guy
  • Haines, Hale, Hall, Hank, Hans, Hatch, Hawk/Hawke, Hayes/Haze/Hayze/Haize, Heath, Heir, Hicks, Hill, Hines, Hoke, Holmes, Holt, Hoss, Hoyt, Hud, Hugh, Hume, Hunt, Hyde
  • Ives
  • Jacques, Jace/Jayce/Jase, Jack, Jake, James/Jamez, Jax, Jay/Jae, Jazz/Jaz, Jeff, Jess, Jin, Jett, Job, Joe/Jo, Joel, John/Jon, Jones, Josh, Joss, Jove, Juan, Judd/Jud, Jude, Judge, June, Jung
  • Kace/Kayce/Kase, Kade/Kayde, Kai, Kale, Kane/Kayne/Kaine, Karl, Kash, Kaz/Kazz, Keane/Kean/Keene, Keats, Keith, Kemp, Kent, Kern, Key, Kidd, Khan, Kim, King, Kip/Kipp, Kirk, Klaus, Klark, Klein, Knight, Knox, Kole, Kreed, Kris, Krish, Kurt, Kyle
  • Ladd, Lafe, Laird, Laith, Lake, Lance, Lane/Layne/Laine, Lark, Lars, Lee/Leigh, Leib, Leif/Leaf, Leith, Lev, Lex, Light, Lloyd, Locke/Lock, Lord/Lorde, Lorne, Lot/Lott, Luc, Luke, Lux, Lyle, Lynn/Lin, Lynx
  • Mace, Mack/Mac, March, Mark/Marc, Mars, Max, Mayes/Mays/Maze, Meade/Mead, Merle, Mike, Mills, Mitch, Moe/Mo, Moss, Myles/Miles
  • Nash, Nate, Naz, Neil/Neal, Neils, Nels, Ness, Nick, Nile, Niles/Nyles, Nils, Nir, Noel, Noor, North, Noyes
  • Oak, Oakes/Oaks, Om, Or, Oz
  • Pace, Page, Park, Parks/Parx, Parth, Patch, Paul, Pax, Paz, Peace, Peer, Penn, Pierce, Piers, Praise, Pratt, Pride, Priest, Prime, Prince, Psalm, Psalms
  • Quaid/Quade, Quest, Quill, Quinn, Quint
  • Ra, Race, Rage, Raines, Raj, Ralph, Ram, Rance, Rand, Range, Ray, Raz, Reece/Reese/Rhys, Reef, Reeve, Reeves, Reid/Reed, Reign, Rell, Ren, Rex, Rey, Rhett, Rhodes, Ridge, Riggs, Rip/Ripp, Roche, Rock, Rogue, Rolf/Rolfe, Rome, Ross, Roth, Rowe, Roy, Royce, Rudd, Rune, Rush, Rye/Ry, Ryne
  • Sage, Saint, Sam, Saul, Sayre, Scott, Seth/Set, Shade, Shane/Shayne/Shaine, Shaw, Shawn/Shaun/Sean, Shay/Shaye, Sky, Slate, Sloan/Sloane, Smith, South, Spade, Sprague, Steel, Stone, Storm, Styles/Stiles/Stylez, Suede, Swain/Swayne, Swan, Sway, Swift
  • Tad, Tadhg, Taft, Tai, Taj/Tahj/Tajh, Tal, Tank, Tate/Tait/Tayt, Tay/Taye, Taz, Teague, Tex, Thad, Thane/Thaine, Thames, Thor, Thorn/Thorne, Tighe, Todd, Tom/Thom, Townes/Towns, Trace, Track, Trent, Trey, Trigg, Tripp, Tris, Troy, Troyce, True/Tru, Truce, Trust, Truth, Twain, Ty/Tye
  • Val, Vale, Van, Vance, Vane, Vaughn, Vic/Vick, Vince, Von, Voss
  • Wade/Wayde, Wales, Ward, Wayne, Webb, Welch, Wells, West, Wilde, Wilks, Will, Wing, Witt/Whitt, Wolf/Wolfe, Wood, Woods, Worth, Wraith, Wray, Wren, Wright, Wynn/Winn
  • Yale, Yann, Yates, York, Young, Yves
  • Zack/Zach/Zac, Zade/Zaide/Zayde/Zayd, Zale, Zam, Zane/Zain/Zayne/Zaine/Zayn, Zeal, Zed/Zedd, Zell, Zen, Zeth, Zeus, Zev, Ziv, Zvi, Zyn

Please note that I did include names in the gray area between one syllable and two syllables. The deciding factor on these particular names (such as Charles, Miles, and Noel) will be your own interpretation/accent, so be sure to test the names out loud before making any final decisions.

Many of these names also happen to be unisex, so they appear on the one-syllable girl names list as well.

What’s your favorite one-syllable boy name?

Image: Adapted from 1 Drvo 06241 by Olja Simovic under CC BY-SA 4.0.

[Latest update: July 2023]