Caitlin GD Hopkins posted lists of historically popular baby names in Boston, MA, and Windsor, CT, at her blog Vast Public Indifference earlier today.
Using a book of birth records for Boston, she came up with the top male and female names given to babies born in Boston in 1710:
| Girl names (Boston, 1710) | Boy names (Boston, 1710) |
| 1. Mary 2. Elizabeth 3. Sarah 4. Abigail 5. Susanna 6. Hannah 7. Ann/Anna 8. Rebecca, Lydia (2-way tie) 9. Jane, Martha (2-way tie) 10. Johanna, Katherine, Lucy, Margaret, Mercy, Ruth (6-way tie) | 1. John 2. William 3. Thomas 4. James 5. Samuel, Joseph (2-way tie) 6. Nathaniel 7. Jonathan 8. Richard, Henry, Daniel (3-way tie) 9. Abraham, Benjamin, Ebenezer, Edward, Francis, Josiah, Robert (7-way tie) |
Then she used church records from 1635 to 1680 to come up with a similar list for Windsor, CT (which is about 100 miles southwest of Boston):
| Girl names (Windsor, 1600s) | Boy names (Windsor, 1600s) |
| 1. Mary 2. Sarah 3. Elizabeth 4. Abigail 5. Hanna 6. Rebecca 7. Ann/Anna, Deborah (2-way tie) 8. Joanna, Martha (2-way tie) 9. Esther/Hester, Mindwell (2-way tie) 10. Hepzibah | 1. John 2. Samuel 3. Thomas 4. Nathaniel 5. Joseph 6. Josiah 7. Benjamin 8. Jonathan 9. Isaac 10. Daniel, William (2-way tie) 11. Timothy 12. James |
Caitlin noted an interesting “secular/Biblical divide” between baby names chosen at the two locations.
Update: Hopkins just posted a follow-up post with more interesting name commentary…
Image: Adapted from Elizabeth Clarke Freake (Mrs. John Freake) and baby Mary (public domain)
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