How popular is the baby name Curtis 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 Curtis.

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Popularity of the baby name Curtis


Posts that mention the name Curtis

Holiday baby name: Happy New Year

Christmas tree decorations

Happy New Year, everyone!

So here’s the question of the day: Have any babies ever been named after the New Year?

The answer is yes.

Notably, at least six people have been named Happy New Year:

  • Happy New Year Boor (female), born on January 1, 1926, in Pennsylvania
  • Happy New Year Dennis (female), born in 1920 in South Africa
  • Happy New Year Grierson, born on January 1, 1896, in Oregon
  • Happy New Year Kauakahi (female), born on January 1, 1907, in Hawaii
  • Happy New Year Kapahu (male), born circa 1907 in Hawaii
  • Happy Newyear Kerwenzee (female), born circa 1877 in Ontario

Several hundred others have simply been named New Year.

The earliest examples I’ve seen come from the 1600s:

  • Newyear Dale (male), baptized on January 6, 1675, in Yorkshire, England
  • Newyear Harrison (male), baptized on January 2, 1687, in Yorkshire, England
  • New Year Carlile (female), baptized on January 12, 1690, in Cumberland, England
  • New Years Mitchinson (male), baptized on December 31, 1691, in Cumberland, England
  • New Year Ireland (male), baptized on February 5, 1694, in Yorkshire, England

Here are a few more from the 1700s:

  • New Year Dowthwait (male), baptized on January 1, 1731 in Yorkshire, England
  • New Year Prudget (male), baptized on January 15, 1737, in Suffolk, England
  • Hannah New Year Chamberlain (female), baptized on January 7, 1759 in Northampton, England
  • Newyear Laycock (male), baptized on January 13, 1779 in Yorkshire, England
  • Charles Newyear Dunn (male), baptized on January 3, 1790, in Lincolnshire, England
William New Year Sadler (in the Norfolk parish register)
William New Year Sadler (1819)

And a few more from the 1800s:

  • William New Year Sadler (male), baptized on January 2, 1819, in Norfolk, England
  • Aaron New Years Enderby (male), baptized on January 9, 1831, in Lincolnshire, England
  • Henry New Year Norris (male), born on January 1, 1845, in Illinois
  • Frances New Year Tobin (female), born on December 31, 1872, in Minnesota
  • Jesse New Years Harris (male), born on January 1, 1891, in Alabama

And, finally, a few more from the early 1900s:

  • Columbus New Year Clanton (male), born on January 1, 1900, in Alabama
  • Curtis New Year Cooper (male), born on January 1, 1905, in Texas
  • New Years George Many Ribs (male), born on January 1, 1910, in North Dakota
  • New Year Bell Baine (female), born on January 1, 1912, in Alabama
  • New Year Day McAdoo (male), born on January 1, 1912, in Arkansas
    • He went by the nickname “Day.”

Sources: FamilySearch.org, Find a Grave

Top image: Adapted from Bellagio Christmas tree by Bert Kaufmann under CC BY-SA 2.0.

[Latest update: Dec. 2024]

Barbara Gale: The first hurricane-inspired baby name?

hurricane

In 1950, the United States Weather Bureau started naming Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms.

The initial names came from a radio alphabet that began Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, Easy, Fox and George. Because the alphabet happened to include several human names, you could say the first Atlantic storms that were “named” were the Charlies and Georges of 1950-1952.

It wasn’t until three years later that the USWB starting using human names exclusively. In 1953, it replaced the phonetic alphabet with a list of female names. (Male names weren’t thrown into the mix until 1979.)

The first storm with a female name was Tropical Storm Alice — the first storm of the 1953 storm season. I couldn’t find any babies named after Alice, but I did find one named after the second storm, Hurricane Barbara.

Hurricane Barbara traveled up the Eastern seaboard in mid-August. It struck the Outer Banks (islands off the North Carolina coast) on August 13. That night, a baby girl born in New Bern, N.C., to Mr. and Mrs. N. E. Ward was named Barbara Gale.

There were six other named storms (Carol, Dolly, Edna, Florence, Gail and Hazel) that season, but I could only find a namesake for one of them — Florence.

Hurricane Florence struck the Florida panhandle on September 26. Earlier that day, a baby born in Crestview, Florida, to Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Holt was named Sandra Florence.

Since 1953, many more babies — hundreds, probably — have been named for Atlantic hurricanes. Hurricane-inspired baby names I’ve written about here include Hazel (1954), Alicia (1983), Elena (1985), Gloria (1985), Andrew (1992) and Isabel (2003).

P.S. One of the things that helped popularize the idea of naming hurricanes in the first place was George R. Stewart’s book Storm (1941), which also had an influence on the baby name Mariah.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Hurricane Elena by NASA (public domain)

Baby name “safe list”: Amelia, Calvin, Grace, Preston, Rebecca, Wesley

Not sure what to name your baby?

Maybe you should go with a classic. The following names have been popular in the U.S. since at least 1880 (when data on baby names was first collected). None of the male names have ever been out of the top 400, and none of the female names have ever been out of the top 500.

So, if you’re stumped, simply close your eyes and point. Just remember to veer to the left if you’re having a boy, to the right if you’re having a girl…

Aaron
Albert
Alex
Alexander
Allen
Andrew
Andy
Anthony
Antonio
Arthur
Benjamin
Calvin
Charles
Christopher
Clayton
Curtis
Daniel
David
Dennis
Donald
Edgar
Edward
Edwin
Felix
Frank
George		Grant
Henry
Isaac
Jack
Jacob
James
Jay
Jerry
Jesse
Joe
Joel
John
Jose
Joseph
Juan
Julian
Kenneth
Louis
Manuel
Marcus
Mark
Martin
Marvin
Matthew
Michael		Nathan
Nathaniel
Nicholas
Oscar
Patrick
Paul
Peter
Philip
Phillip
Preston
Raymond
Richard
Robert
Ruben
Samuel
Stephen
Theodore
Thomas
Timothy
Tony
Victor
Vincent
Walter
Wesley
William		Alice
Amanda
Amelia
Amy
Anna
Anne
Annie
Caroline
Catherine
Cecilia
Charlotte
Christina
Christine
Claudia
Cynthia
Elizabeth
Emily
Emma
Esther
Eva
Evelyn
Grace
Helen
Jane
Josephine
Julia
Katherine		Kathleen
Kathryn
Katie
Laura
Leah
Lillian
Linda
Lydia
Margaret
Maria
Mary
Miriam
Molly
Nancy
Naomi
Nina
Priscilla
Rachel
Rebecca
Rose
Rosa
Ruby
Ruth
Sara
Sarah
Veronica

Honorable Mentions: Douglas, Eddie, Ivan, Lawrence, Mitchell and Russell were each out of the top 400 only once, and Nora was out of the top 500 only once.