How popular is the baby name Dennis 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 Dennis.

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Popularity of the baby name Dennis


Posts that mention the name Dennis

Where did the baby name Siedah come from in the 1980s?

American singer/songwriter Siedah Garrett
Siedah Garrett

The name Siedah was in the U.S. baby name data for a 10-year stretch, from 1984 to 1993, and saw peak usage in 1988:

  • 1989: 47 baby girls named Siedah
  • 1988: 70 baby girls named Siedah [peak]
  • 1987: 14 baby girls named Siedah
  • 1986: 10 baby girls named Siedah
  • 1985: 19 baby girls named Siedah
  • 1984: 7 baby girls named Siedah [debut]
  • unlisted

Where did it come from? And what caused that spike?

The influence was singer/songwriter Siedah (pronounced sie-ee-dah) Garrett, a protégé of hitmaker Quincy Jones.

She wrote/co-wrote hundreds of songs — including, most famously, Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” — and sang background vocals for a number of other artists (such as Madonna, Chaka Khan, Donna Summer, Wang Chung, Barbra Streisand, Peter Cetera, and Tamia).

Expectant parents wouldn’t have been aware of Siedah’s behind-the-scenes work, but they certainly would have been influenced by the hit songs that Siedah was featured on.

For instance, the name’s debut was likely due to Siedah’s 1984 duet “Don’t Look Any Further” [vid] with Dennis Edwards (formerly of The Temptations). The song reached #72 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in May.

And peak usage was no doubt fueled by an even bigger duet — this one with Michael Jackson himself. Their 1987 song “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” the lead single from the album Bad, reached #1 on the Hot 100 in September.

Siedah’s solo work may have also contributed to the name’s peak usage. Her own songs didn’t tend to perform well on the charts, but her most successful single, “K.I.S.S.I.N.G.” (1988), did manage to reach #97 on the Hot 100.

Siedah Garrett was born in Los Angeles in 1960 as Deborah Christine Garrett. She wasn’t a fan of her birth name:

It’s a pretty name but nobody called me Deborah. It was always abbreviated to Deb, Debbie, or DeeDee. I hated it.

At the age of thirteen, she adopted the name Siedah, which she defined as “shining and star-like.” (So far, I haven’t been able to verify this. The closest name I can find is the Arabic Sa’ida, which is the feminine form of Sa’id, meaning “happy, lucky.”)

What are your thoughts on the name Siedah?

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Siedah Garrett from the music video for “K.I.S.S.I.N.G.”

Popular baby names in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1868

19th-century Providence, Rhode Island
19th-century Providence

Years ago, I discovered three documents with relatively complete lists of births for the city of Providence, Rhode Island, for the years 1866, 1867, and 1868. I’ve already created Providence’s baby name rankings for 1866 and 1867 using the first two documents, and today (finally!) I’ve got the third set of rankings for you.

Let’s start with some stats:

  • 1,762 babies were born in Providence in 1868, by my count. According to the introduction of the document I’m using a source, however, the total number is 1,866. I don’t know how to account for this discrepancy.
  • 1,617 of these babies (791 girls and 826 boys) had names that were known at the time of publication. The other 145 babies got blank spaces. Either their names hadn’t been registered yet, or they hadn’t been named yet, or perhaps these babies died young and never received a name.
  • 284 unique names (143 girl names and 141 boy names) were shared among these 1,617 babies.

And now, on to the names!

Top 5

A quick look at the top 5 girl names and boy names in Providence in 1868:

Top baby girl namesTop baby boy names
1. Mary
2. Catherine
3. Sarah
4. Ellen
5. Margaret		1. John
2. William
3. James
4. Charles
5. George

All Girl Names

  1. Mary, 149 baby girls
  2. Catherine, 39
  3. Sarah, 38
  4. Ellen, 31
  5. Margaret, 28
  6. Elizabeth, 25
  7. Alice, 24
  8. Anna, 20
  9. Ann, 16
  10. Emma, 14
  11. Eliza, 13
  12. Clara & Martha, 11 each (tie)
  13. Hannah & Lucy, 10 each (tie)
  14. Bridget, Grace, Jennie, Julia & Maria, 9 each (5-way tie)
  15. Annie, Florence, Jane, Minnie & Susan, 8 each (5-way tie)
  16. Agnes, Caroline, Cora, Ella & Harriet, 7 each (5-way tie)
  17. Anne, Carrie, Hattie, Ida, Mabel & Nellie, 6 each (6-way tie)
  18. Eva, Joanna, Lydia & Rosanna, 5 each (4-way tie)
  19. Abby, Charlotte, Emily, Jessie, Josephine, Lillian, Lizzie, Louisa, Louise, Marion, Phebe, Rosella & Theresa, 4 each (13-way tie)
  20. Anastasia, Bertha, Edith, Gertrude, Isabella, Nettie, Pearl, Rebecca & Susanna, 3 each (9-way tie)
  21. Ada, Almira, Edna, Fannie, Flora, Frances, Helen, Henrietta, Inez, Laura, Lelia, Lillie, Lottie, Maud, Priscilla & Virginia, 2 each (16-way tie)
  22. Addie, Adelaide, Adelicia, Adeline, Agatha, Allene, Amanda, Amy, Angelica, Antoinette, Arabella, Augusta, Aurelia, B.,* Belle, Bessie, Betsey, Catharine, Celia, Claudia, Della, Eleanor, Eleanora, Estella, Estelle, Esther, Eudavelia, Eulalie, Evelyn, Francenia, Genevieve, Georgia, Honora, Imogene, Jesse, Juliette, Kate, Leonora, Lilla, Lillias, Lorena, Luella, Luetta, Magdalena, Marian, Marietta, Matilda, Mercy, Minerva, Miriam, Myra, Myrtis, Nanoan, Nora, Pauline, Reberta, Rhoda, Roberta, Rosa, Rose, Ruth, Sabrina, Sophia, Stella & Winifred, 1 each (65-way tie)

*What do you think the “B.” might have stood for?

All Boy Names

  1. John, 112 baby boys
  2. William, 68
  3. James, 64
  4. Charles, 52
  5. George, 45
  6. Thomas, 37
  7. Frederick, 25
  8. Henry, 23
  9. Joseph, 22
  10. Edward, 19
  11. Daniel & Patrick, 18 each (tie)
  12. Robert, 17
  13. Frank, 16
  14. Francis, 15
  15. Walter, 13
  16. Michael, 11
  17. Albert, 10
  18. Arthur, 9
  19. Benjamin, Peter & Samuel, 7 each (3-way tie)
  20. Freddie, Harry, Herbert & Stephen, 6 each (4-way tie)
  21. Edwin, Lawrence, Lewis, Martin & Timothy, 5 each (5-way tie)
  22. Bernard, Edmund, Eugene, Louis, Philip & Richard, 4 each (6-way tie)
  23. Alfred, Augustus, Christopher, Eben, Horace, Howard, Hugh, Jeremiah, Matthew & Willard, 3 each (10-way tie)
  24. Abel, Barney, Byron, Dennis, Edgar, Ferdinand, Gilbert, Luke, Max, Nathaniel, Owen, Roger, Solomon & Victor, 2 each (14-way tie)
  25. Alden, Alexis, Allen, Alrick, Amos, Andrew, Ansel, Anson, Archibald, Asa, Ashby, Bartholomew, Calvin, Carlos, Clarence, Clark, Clarke, Clement, Clifford, Collyer, Crolander, Darius, David, Earl, Elisha, Ellis, Eri, Ernest, Erwin, Eusebe, Everett, Felix, Forrest, Foster, Franklin, Fred, Gardner, Jacob, Jason, Jerome, Jireh, Joaneto, Josiah, Jubal, Justin, Lawson, Lodovic, Louis, Lucien, Lyman, Major, Malachi, Manuel, Melbourne, Monroe, Morey, Morris, Myron, Nelson, Nicholas, Olney, Orville, Oscar, Pendleton, Ralph, Reuben, Rolfe, Rowland, Rufus, Simeon, Simon, Steven, Stewart, Theodore, Ulysses,* Volney, Warren, Whiting, Willie & Winchester, 1 each (80-way tie)

*Ulysses was likely named in honor of Ulysses S. Grant, who was elected president in 1868.

Twins

Finally, nineteen sets of twins were born in Providence in 1868. (All of these twin names are accounted for in the rankings above.)

Girl-girl twinsGirl-boy twinsBoy-boy twins
Caroline & Harriet
Lucy & Lydia
Mary & Rosanna
Margaret & Mary
Lizzie & Martha
(blank) & (blank)		Anne & Thomas
Emma & Charles
Florence & William
Hannah & Josiah
Ida & John
Isabella & John
Jennie & Horace		Charles & William
Francis & Robert
George & John
James & John
James & Stephen
(blank) & (blank)

Have any thoughts about these rankings, or about any of the specific names above?

Source: Snow, Edwin M. Alphabetical Lists of the Names of Persons Deceased, Born and Married in the City of Providence. Number three. Providence: Millard & Harker, 1870.

How did the movie “Giant” influence baby names in the 1950s?

The characters Bick and Leslie Benedict from the movie "Giant" (1956)
Bick and Leslie from “Giant“

One of last week’s post featured Glenna Lee McCarthy, whose father was famous Texas oil prospector and entrepreneur Glenn McCarthy (1907-1988).

Writer Edna Ferber fictionalized Glenn’s rags-to-riches life story in her novel Giant (1952) with the character Jett Rink.

The book was later made into a movie, which came out in October of 1956.

Jett was played by James Dean, who died in a car accident a month before the film premiered.

The other two main characters were Jordan “Bick” Benedict (played by Rock Hudson) and his wife Leslie Benedict (Elizabeth Taylor). Secondary characters included the Benedicts’ son Jordan, or “Jordy” (Dennis Hopper) and a neighbor named Vashti (Jane Withers).

The movie did well at the box office and was nominated for various Academy Awards, including a posthumous Best Actor nomination for Dean. It also gave a boost to several baby names.

The characters Jett Rink and Leslie Benedict from the movie "Giant" (1956)
Jett and Leslie from “Giant“

In 1957, the year after the movie was released, the name Jett saw its then-highest-ever usage (a level that wasn’t surpassed until the 1980s).

  • 1958: 17 baby boys named Jett
  • 1957: 24 baby boys named Jett
  • 1956: 14 baby boys named Jett
  • 1955: 5 baby boys named Jett
  • 1954: unlisted

The boy name Jordan more than doubled in usage in 1957, and the diminutive form Jordy debuted the same year:

JordanJordy
1958186 [rank: 567th].
1957207 [rank: 539th]5*
1956101 [rank: 733rd].
1955106 [rank: 712th].
1954109 [rank: 692nd].
*Debut

Leslie — which had started being given more often to baby girls than to baby boys about a decade earlier — saw its highest-ever usage as a girl name in 1957:

  • 1958: 6,010 baby girls named Leslie [rank: 79th]
  • 1957: 6,101 baby girls named Leslie [rank: 77th] (peak usage)
  • 1956: 4,386 baby girls named Leslie [rank: 104th]
  • 1955: 4,403 baby girls named Leslie [rank: 99th]
  • 1954: 4,148 baby girls named Leslie [rank: 99th]
Graph of the usage of the baby name Leslie in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Leslie

And Vashti, like Jordan, more than doubled in usage:

  • 1958: 10 baby girls named Vashti
  • 1957: 16 baby girls named Vashti
  • 1956: 7 baby girls named Vashti
  • 1955: 8 baby girls named Vashti
  • 1954: 8 baby girls named Vashti

Interestingly, Luz — another name that was used for two different characters in the movie — saw a slight decline in usage from 1956 to 1957.

Sources: Giant (1956) – Wikipedia, SSA

First two images: Screenshots of Giant

Popular male names in England, 1560-1621

Merton College (University of Oxford)
Merton College (University of Oxford)

A while back, I stumbled upon a register of people associated with Oxford University from the mid-16th century to the early 17th century.

Interestingly, the editor of the register decided to include a section dedicated to first names and surnames. That section included a long list of male forenames and their frequency of occurrence from 1560 to 1621.

The editor claimed that, for several reasons, these rankings were “probably…more representative of English names than any list yet published” for that span of time. One reason was that the names represented men from “different grades of English society” — including peers, scholars, tradesmen, and servants.

So, are you ready for the list?

Here’s the top 100:

  1. John, 3,826 individuals
  2. Thomas, 2,777
  3. William, 2,546
  4. Richard, 1,691
  5. Robert, 1,222
  6. Edward, 957
  7. Henry, 908
  8. George, 647
  9. Francis, 447
  10. James, 424
  11. Nicholas, 326
  12. Edmund, 298
  13. Anthony, 262
  14. Hugh, 257
  15. Christopher, 243
  16. Samuel, 227
  17. Walter, 207
  18. Roger, 195
  19. Ralph, 182
  20. Peter (and Peirs/Pers), 175
  21. Humphrey, 168
  22. Charles, 139
  23. Philip, 137
  24. David, 129
  25. Matthew, 116
  26. Nathaniel, 112
  27. Michael, 103
  28. Alexander, 98 (tie)
  29. Arthur, 98 (tie)
  30. Laurence, 90
  31. Giles, 88
  32. Stephen, 86
  33. Simon, 83
  34. Daniel, 79
  35. Joseph, 78 (tie)
  36. Lewis, 78 (tie)
  37. Andrew, 69
  38. Roland, 65
  39. Griffith (and Griffin), 60
  40. Evan, 55
  41. Abraham, 54 (tie)
  42. Leonard, 54 (tie)
  43. Owen, 53
  44. Gilbert, 52
  45. Morris (and Maurice), 51
  46. Bartholomew, 46 (3-way tie)
  47. Oliver, 46 (3-way tie)
  48. Timothy, 46 (3-way tie)
  49. Morgan, 45
  50. Martin, 44 (tie)
  51. Rice, 44 (tie)
  52. Gabriel, 41
  53. Benjamin, 40
  54. Jeffrey/Geoffrey, 38
  55. Ambrose, 36
  56. Adam, 35
  57. Toby (and Tobias), 34
  58. Jerome, 33
  59. Ellis, 30
  60. Paul, 29
  61. Bernard, 28 (3-way tie)
  62. Gregory, 28 (3-way tie)
  63. Isaac, 28 (3-way tie)
  64. Jasper (and Gaspar), 26 (3-way tie)
  65. Josiah (and Josias), 26 (3-way tie)
  66. Randall (and Randolph), 26 (3-way tie)
  67. Miles, 24
  68. Lancelot, 23
  69. Austin (and Augustine), 22 (tie)
  70. Jarvis (and Gervase), 22 (tie)
  71. Brian, 21
  72. Matthias, 20 (tie)
  73. Reginald (and Reynold), 20 (tie)
  74. Jeremy, 19
  75. Theophilus, 19
  76. Joshua 18 (3-way tie)
  77. Marmaduke, 18 (3-way tie)
  78. Valentine, 18 (3-way tie)
  79. Fulke, 17 (tie)
  80. Sampson (and Samson), 17 (tie)
  81. Clement, 16 (4-way tie)
  82. Ferdinando, 16 (4-way tie)
  83. Herbert, 16 (4-way tie)
  84. Zachary, 16 (4-way tie)
  85. Cuthbert, 15 (3-way tie)
  86. Emanuel, 15 (3-way tie)
  87. Vincent, 15 (3-way tie)
  88. Adrian, 14 (3-way tie)
  89. Elias, 14 (3-way tie)
  90. Jonah (and Jonas), 14 (3-way tie)
  91. Tristram, 13
  92. Allan, 12 (6-way tie)
  93. Ames, 12 (6-way tie)
  94. Barnaby (and Barnabas), 12 (6-way tie)
  95. Gerard (and Garret), 12 (6-way tie)
  96. Lionel, 12 (6-way tie)
  97. Mark, 12 (6-way tie)
  98. Abel, 11 (3-way tie)
  99. Erasmus, 11 (3-way tie)
  100. Roderic, 11 (3-way tie)

Did the relative popularity of any of these names surprise you?

The editor did note that “the more common names occur more frequently than they ought to…from the tendency to confuse less common names with them.”

For example, a person called ‘Edmund,’ if he is frequently mentioned in the Register, is almost certain to be somewhere quoted as ‘Edward,’ ‘Gregory’ as ‘George,’ ‘Randall’ or ‘Raphael’ as ‘Ralph,’ ‘Gilbert’ as ‘William,’ and so on.

Now here are some of the less-common names, grouped by number of appearances in the register:

10 appearancesIsrael, Luke
9 appearancesCadwalader, Jenkin, Percival
8 appearancesBennet/Benedict, Godfrey, Howell, Jonathan, Raphael, Theodore
7 appearancesBaldwin, Gawen/Gavin, Hercules, Job, Kenelm, Meredith, Silvester, Solomon, Watkin
6 appearancesAlban, Basil, Caleb, Cornelius, Dennis, Guy, Jacob, Patrick
5 appearancesDudley, Edwin, Eustace, Ezechias/Hezekiah, Ezekiel, Hannibal, Joel, Moses, Peregrine, Simeon, Thurstan, Zacchaeus
4 appearancesFelix, Maximilian, Phineas
3 appearancesAaron, Abdias, Amos, Arnold, Baptist, Barten, Devereux, Diggory, Eleazer, Elisha, Ely, Ephraim, Euseby, German, Hamnet, Hilary, Hopkin, Jevan (“a form for Evan”), Justinian, Lemuel, Osmund, Pexall, Shakerley, Swithin
2 appearancesAngell, Audley, Avery, Bruin, Caesar, Calcot, Carew, Carr, Cecil, Cheyney, Clare, Collingwood, Conon/Conan, Darcy, Dominic, Elkanah, Emor, Ethelbert, Fitz-William, Frederic, Gamaliel, Gideon, Gifford, Goddard, Gray, Hamlet, Hammond, Harvey, Hastings, Hatton, Hector, Isaiah, Jethro, Joscelyn, Julius, Knightley, Mordecai, Morton, Nathan, Nevell, Obadiah, Otho, Pascho, Philemon, Polydor, Price, Raleigh, Raymond, Reuben, Rouse, Sabaoth, Sebastian, Seth, Silas, Silvanus, Tertullian, Umpton, Warren, Wortley, Zouch

Finally, lets check out some of the single-appearance names.

Over 250 names were in the register just once. I won’t include all of them, but here are about half:

  • Accepted, Aegeon, Albinus, Alford, Algernon, Ammiel, Arcadius, Arundel, Atherton, Aubrey, Aunstey, Aymondesham*
  • Bamfield, Beauforus, Bezaliel, Blaise, Bulstrod, Burgetius
  • Cadoc, Calvin, Candish, Cannanuel, Chiddiock, Chilston, Chrysostom, Conrad (“probably a foreigner”), Cosowarth, Creswell, Cyprian
  • Dabridgcourt, Darby, Delvus, Deodatus, Dier, Donwald, Dunstan
  • Elihu, Erisy, Esdras, Everard
  • Fernand, Fettiplace, Fines, Florice, Fogge, Fulbert
  • Geraint, Gerald, Glidd, Gourneus, Granado, Grange, Gratian
  • Hattil, Haut, Hercius, Hodges
  • Jarniot, Jephson, Jerameel, Jeremoth, Jolliffe
  • Kelamus, Killingworth, Kingsmell
  • Lambard, Leoline, Levinus, Leyson, Livewell
  • Maior, Maniewe, Marchadine, Mardocheus, Mattathias, Moyle
  • Nargia, Nizael, Norwich, Noye
  • Ogier, Olliph, Otwell
  • Pancras, Peleger, Periam, Person, Phatnell, Poynings, Purify
  • Renewed, Rheseus (“a Latinism for Rice”), Rimprum, Rollesley, Rotheram, Rumbold
  • Sabinus, Scipio, Sefton, Slaney, Snappe, Southcot, St. John, Stockett, Stukeley
  • Tanfield, Thekeston, Thrasibulus, Timoleon, Tournie, Tupper
  • Ulpian, Utred
  • Wallop, Walsingham, Warian, Warnecombe, Whorwood, Willgent
  • Yeldard
  • Zorobabel

*Could “Aymondesham” be a typo for Agmondesham?

Which of these uncommon names do you find the most intriguing?

Source: Register of the University of Oxford, vol. 2, part 4, edited by Andrew Clark, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1889.

Image: Merton College from Merton Field by Jonas Magnus Lystad under CC BY-SA 4.0.

[Latest update: Dec. 2022]