How popular is the baby name Dewey 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 Dewey.

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 Dewey


Posts that mention the name Dewey

Mystery baby name: Zeline (Solved!)

Graph of the usage of the baby name Zeline in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Zeline

Time for another mystery baby name! Today’s stumper is Zeline, which charted in 1957 with a dozen baby girls:

  • 1959: unlisted
  • 1958: unlisted
  • 1957: 12 baby girls named Zeline
  • 1956: unlisted
  • 1955: unlisted

The name Zelene debuted the same year, with half as many baby girls.

I’ve done all my standard research, which includes looking at newspapers and periodicals of the era, and so far I haven’t found any notable people/characters/products named Zeline (or Zelene) in 1956-1957.

These names don’t appear to be a variant of a more popular name, though I should mention that Celine saw an uptick in usage in ’58, which is interesting.

At least three of the Zelines and two of the Zelenes were born in California, but this probably isn’t much of a clue, given the relative population of California.

Anyone have a theory about the origin of this one?

Update, Apr. 2025: I think Anonymous has figured it out!

Synopsis of "Ten Minutes to Curfew"
“Zeline”

A character named Zeline was featured in a late 1956 episode of the popular TV anthology series Climax! (1954-58).

The episode, “Ten Minutes to Curfew,” which was set in the French Quarter of New Orleans, was broadcast on December 27. The main character was ex-convict George Slattery (played by Dewey Martin), and George’s love interest was Zeline Marie Preval (played by Susan Kohner).

“Ten Minutes to Curfew” was based on a story by William Fay called “The Outcasts,” which had been published in The Saturday Evening Post just three months earlier. (In Fay’s version, the setting was New York City, and the female character was named Rose Bruno.)

Thank you again, Anonymous!

Sources:

Second image: Clipping from The Daily Reporter (27 Dec. 1956)

The trendiest baby names of all time?

I’m no stats whiz, but Nathan Yau of FlowingData and David Taylor of Prooffreader are, and each has taken a stab at determining/ranking the trendiest baby names of all time in the U.S.

The FlowingData list of trendiest baby names was published last year. Nathan analyzed girl names and boy names separately. Here are his top 5 for each gender:

Trendiest Girl NamesTrendiest Boy Names
1. Catina
2. Deneen
3. Aaliyah
4. Allisson
5. Katina		1. Jalen
2. Tevin
3. Elian
4. Demond
5. Mcarthur

The Prooffreader list of trendiest baby names was published earlier this month. David analyzed all the names together (his overall top 100 was 80% girl names, 20% boy names). Here are his top 5 for each gender (with placement on the original list in parentheses):

Trendiest Girl NamesTrendiest Boy Names
1. Linda (#1)
2. Brittany (#3)
3. Debra (#4)
4. Shirley (#5)
5. Ashley (#6)		1. Dewey (#2)
2. Jason (#11)
3. Grover (#15)
4. Mark (#20)
5. Woodrow (#30)

Click through and check out their full lists. Then come back and tell me which list/methodology you prefer, and why.

Interesting baby name analysis

I only recently noticed that Behind the Name, one of my favorite websites for baby name definitions, has a page called United States Popularity Analysis — a “computer-created analysis of the United States top 1000 names for the period 1880 to 2012.”

The page has some interesting top ten lists. Here are three of them:

Most Volatile

Boy NamesGirl Names
1. Elvis
2. Brooks
3. Santiago
4. Lincoln
5. Ernie
6. Wyatt
7. Quincy
8. Rogers
9. Alec
10. Dexter		1. Juliet
2. Lea
3. Justine
4. Martina
5. Felicia
6. Delilah
7. Selina
8. Lonnie
9. Magdalena
10. Katy

Biggest Recoveries

Boy NamesGirl Names
1. Silas
2. Isaiah
3. Caleb
4. Emmett
5. Jordan
6. Josiah
7. Harrison
8. Ezra
9. Jason
10. Jesus		1. Ella
2. Stella
3. Sadie
4. Sophie
5. Isabella
6. Lily
7. Hannah
8. Isabelle
9. Sophia
10. Lilly

Biggest Flash-in-the-Pans

Boy NamesGirl Names
1. Dewey
2. Woodrow
3. Dale
4. Barry
5. Rick
6. Greg
7. Roosevelt
8. Shannon
9. Kim
10. Darrin		1. Debra
2. Lori
3. Tammy
4. Pamela
5. Tracy
6. Cheryl
7. Beverly
8. Dawn
9. Diane
10. Kathy

I wonder what the formulas were. I’d love to try the same analysis on the SSA’s full list, using raw numbers instead of rankings. Wonder how much overlap there’d be…

Road trip names: Uneeda, Askew, Bovina

Last week we went on a road trip, mainly to Minnesota and Missouri. Here are some names I spotted while we were out and about:

Ole & Lena

At the Mall of America, I noticed a display of “Ole and Lena” branded items — joke books, mugs, jams, jellies, even fortune cookies. Apparently the characters Ole and Lena are well-known in the Upper Midwest, where there are a number of Scandinavian-Americans.

Ole is a short form of Olaf.

Lena is short form of Helena, Magdalena, and other names that end with -lena.

Dewey

In Kansas City, we toured the Money Museum at the Federal Reserve Bank.

Federal Reserve Bank, Kansas City
Federal Reserve Bank, Kansas City

We saw the huge cash vault, and the three robots that carry large containers of cash into and out of storage.

I noticed that robot #2 was named Dewey. That made me think of George Dewey, so I told my husband, “I bet all three names have some sort of military connection. Maybe they’re all named after naval commanders, or war heroes.”

And then we saw car #1, Huey. Then car #3, Louie.

He laughed at me.

Not war heroes. Just Disney. Figures.

Uneeda

Also at the money museum, we watched a short movie about how Kansas City fought to be chosen as one of the nation’s Federal Reserve cities back in early 1914.

The movie featured a lot of old black-and-white photographs, one of which was a building with “Uneeda Biscuit 5¢” painted on the side.

That reminded me about the baby name Uneeda, which has popped up in the U.S. baby name data a handful of times:

  • …
  • 1968: 5 baby girls named Uneeda
  • …
  • 1962: 5 baby girls named Uneeda
  • 1961: 7 baby girls named Uneeda
  • …
  • 1931: 9 baby girls named Uneeda
  • …
  • 1929: 5 baby girls named Uneeda [debut]
  • …

In fact, the popular Uneeda Biscuit was probably the very thing that inspired parents of the ’20s and ’30s to try out Uneeda as a first name.

The biscuit was a product of the National Biscuit Company, later shortened to “Nabisco.”

I’m thinking the ’60s usage was more likely inspired by the Uneeda Doll Company.

Askew

Of course, since we were in KC, we had to go and test out Google Fiber at the Google Fiber Space.

While we were there, I noticed a big map of the city on the wall. And that’s where I spotted Askew Avenue:

Askew Avenue, Kansas City
Askew Avenue, Kansas City

It goes on for blocks and blocks, perfectly straight, never veering east or west. Not askew at all! I found that funny.

Have babies ever been named Askew? Yes, hundreds. A few examples:

  • Askew Mathew, born in 1611 in Hertfordshire, England
  • Askew Beards Burbidge, born in 1751 in Warwickshire, England
  • Askew Peacock, born in 1888 in Alabama
  • Askew Kenneth Edward Taylor Askew, born in 1996 in Texas

Askew beards! What a visual.

I’m sure that in most (if not all) cases, the first name Aksew was inspired by the surname Askew, which referred originally to the village of Aiskew in North Yorkshire, England.

Bovina

We’ve taken I-80 a bunch of times, but never I-70, so the town names on this trip were all new to me.

One of the names I noticed was Bovina, which is a town in eastern Colorado. The name was surely inspired by the word “bovine.”

The states of Mississippi, New York, Texas, and Wisconsin also have places called Bovina.

And dozens of U.S. babies have been named Bovina, believe it or not. Some examples:

  • Bovina Lemming, born in 1846 in Indiana
  • Bovina Wheeler, born in 1878 in Vermont
  • Bovina Parmer, born in 1910 in Texas

…And that’s most of the names I spotted. There are a few others (e.g. Cabela) but I’ll give them their own posts.