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.

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Popularity of the baby name Dewey


Posts that mention the name Dewey

Babies named for the Klondike Gold Rush

Klondikers ascending to the summit of Chilkoot Pass in Alaska in 1898.
Klondikers on Chilkoot Pass

Did you know that many dozens of U.S. babies were given names inspired by the Klondike Gold Rush (1896-1899)?

Though the baby name Klondike has never appeared in the U.S. baby name data, it certainly would have (in both 1897 and 1898) had complete sets of data been collected during those years.

Here’s a list of many of the Klondikes (and Klondykes) I was able to find in the records. Most of the below were born in the U.S., but I threw in a couple of Canadians as well. :)

  • Klondyke A. Applegate, b. 1897 in Kansas
  • Klondike D. Ator, b. 1898 in Texas
  • Lorenson Klondike Bandy, b. 1898 in Illinois
  • Walter Klondike Boehm, b. 1897 in Missouri
  • Klondike Earl Bogardeus, b. 1897 in Ohio
  • Klondyke Gold Brown, b. 1897 in Ontario
  • Klondyke Buckles, b. 1897 in Oklahoma
  • Walter Klondike Carter, b. 1897 in Maine
  • Goda Klondike Clark, b. 1897 in Missouri
  • Clyde Klondike Counsell, b. 1897 in Utah
  • Klondike T. Crowley, b. 1897 in Yukon
  • Joseph Klondike Dawson, b. 1898 in Tennessee
  • Rufus Klondyke Derry, b. 1897 in Iowa
  • Klondike J. Dodd, b. 1898 in Texas
  • Mabel Klondike Elkins, b. 1897 in West Virginia
  • Goldy Klondike Fletcher, b. 1897 in Nebraska
  • Klondike P. Flint, b. 1897 in Ohio
  • Klondike Gray, b. 1896 in North Carolina
  • John Klondike Griffith, b. 1898 in Massachusetts
  • Klondyke Hardin, b. 1897 in Ohio
  • Harold Klondike Hathaway, b. 1897 in Massachusetts
  • Harry Klondike Hayes, b. 1897 in Washington
  • Kittie Klondike Hughes, b. 1898 in Texas
  • Klondike Goldy Kelly, b. 1897 in Ohio
  • Earl Klondike Kinahan, b. 1898 in Illinois
  • Klondyke Kirkendall, b. 1898 in West Virginia
  • Pearl Klondike Lincoln, b. 1897 in Pennsylvania
  • Chester Klondike Lindsay, b. 1897 in Missouri
  • Dewey Klondike Livingston, b. 1898 in Oklahoma
  • George Klondike Lynch, b. 1897 in Texas
  • Klondyke Moore, b. 1897 in California
  • Loren Klondike Philleo, b. 1898 in Washington
  • Klondike Schneider, b. 1897 in Illinois
  • Klondike Dewey Sengelmann, b. 1898 in Texas
  • Jack Klondyke Shriver, b. 1897 in Kansas
  • Klondyke Alaska Slaughter, b. 1897 in Kentucky
  • Klondike McKinley Smith, b. 1897 in Oregon
  • Vannie Klondyke Smith, b. 1898 in West Virginia
  • Roy Klondike Temple, b. 1898 in Oregon
  • Klondike McKinley Thomas, b. 1897 in Vermont
  • Klondike DeMoss Tucker, b. 1897 in Indiana
  • Klondike Van Horn, b. 1897 in Arkansas
  • Klondike B. Winter, b. 1897 in Michigan
  • Klondike Wymore, b. 1897 in Nebraska

I love how some parents took the theme even further with additional given names like “Goldy” and “Alaska.” Others decided to commemorate war hero George Dewey or U.S. President William McKinley.

The alternative spelling, Klondyke, was almost as prevalent in the records as the standard spelling. No doubt the newspapers — which regularly spelled the word with a “y” for some reason — were an influence here.

"Klondyke" headlines from the San Francisco Call (Aug. 1897) and the Los Angeles Herald (Jul. 1898).
Pair of “Klondyke” newspaper headlines (late 1890s)

So, how did the Klondike River — after which Klondike Gold Rush is named — come to be called “Klondike”?

The word is derived from the river’s original name: Tr’ondëk in the Hän language. Tr’ondëk means “hammerstone,” which refers to the large stones used to hammer stakes into the riverbed to create fishing weirs (which trapped fish such as salmon).

What are your thoughts on the name Klondike?

Sources: The Dawson City Museum – South Gallery, SSA, FamilySearch.org

Image: Klondikers ascending to the summit of Chilkoot Pass, Alaska, 1898 (public domain) by Eric A. Hegg

What happened to the baby names Hillary and Chelsea in 1993?

Hillary Clinton (in 1992)
Hillary Clinton

A blog post about the 14 most “poisoned” baby names by data scientist Hilary Parker reminded me that I haven’t yet written about the demise of the baby name Hillary.

So let’s travel back to 1992 for a minute.

In mid-July, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton was selected as the Democratic candidate for the presidency. His wife Hillary and daughter Chelsea were now in the national spotlight.

In early November, Bill managed to beat Republican incumbent George H. W. Bush to become the 42nd president of the United States. Hillary and Chelsea would now stay in the national spotlight.

And in late November, a few weeks after the election, the Miami Herald printed this:

Now that the Clinton women are set to move into the White House, both names are becoming more popular among new parents.

For the first time, Chelsea has cracked the top 10 list of the most popular girl names in Florida. Name expert Leonard R. N. Ashley, a Brooklyn College professor, said he expects Hillary to also catch on.

[…]

The popularity of Chelsea, on the rise long before the presidential pre-teen made her Democratic convention appearance, is likely to get a boost from the first family pedigree, Ashley said.

The “name expert” got it wrong, of course.

Hillary did not catch on. Nor did Chelsea. Both names had been on the rise, but usage declined significantly after 1992. Here’s the data…

Hillary (and Hilary)

The name Hillary saw a 58% drop in usage from 1992 to 1993:

  • 1995: 310 baby girls named Hillary [rank: 686th]
  • 1994: 408 baby girls named Hillary [rank: 566th]
  • 1993: 1,064 baby girls named Hillary [rank: 261st]
  • 1992: 2,521 baby girls named Hillary [rank: 132nd] (peak usage)
  • 1991: 1,789 baby girls named Hillary [rank: 166th]
  • 1990: 1,524 baby girls named Hillary [rank: 192nd]
Graph of the usage of the baby name Hillary in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Hillary

The spelling Hilary saw an even steeper drop of 71% of from 1992 to 1993:

  • 1995: 125 baby girls named Hilary [rank: 1,326th]
  • 1994: 145 baby girls named Hilary [rank: 1,210th]
  • 1993: 343 baby girls named Hilary [rank: 651st]
  • 1992: 1,170 baby girls named Hilary [rank: 234th]
  • 1991: 1,149 baby girls named Hilary [rank: 242nd]
  • 1990: 1,216 baby girls named Hilary [rank: 232nd]

Hilary Parker noted that her own name was “clearly the most poisoned.”

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

Chelsea

The popular name Chelsea — which had been on track to reach the top ten — saw a 30% drop in usage from 1992 to 1993:

  • 1995: 6,760 baby girls named Chelsea [rank: 47th]
  • 1994: 7,717 baby girls named Chelsea [rank: 38th]
  • 1993: 11,288 baby girls named Chelsea [rank: 25th]
  • 1992: 16,174 baby girls named Chelsea [rank: 15th] (peak usage)
  • 1991: 13,511 baby girls named Chelsea [rank: 18th]
  • 1990: 12,782 baby girls named Chelsea [rank: 24th]

It was out of the top 100 by the end of the decade.

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

Why?

Why did the name Hillary slip after Hillary Clinton became a fixture in the White House?

Because she violated gender norms — that’s my guess.

Hillary Clinton was a new kind of First Lady. She was a lawyer, a businesswoman, a scholar and an activist. She was the first First Lady with an earned (vs. honorary) post-graduate degree, and the first to have her own professional career.

But, instead of being praised for her intelligence and ambition, she was criticized for it.

Just two months after the inauguration, Anna Quindlen of the New York Times made note of the double standard:

Maybe some of our daughters took notice of how Hillary Clinton was seen as abrasive, power-hungry and unfeminine when to some of us she seemed merely smart, outspoken and hard-working. Maybe they saw the masquerade and recognized intuitively the age-old message about how much more attractive women are when they are domestic, soft, contented, the message aimed over the years at Susan B. Anthony, Margaret Sanger, Eleanor Roosevelt and many, many others.

To expectant parents, it didn’t matter that Hillary Clinton was smart and successful. They began avoiding the name Hillary in 1993 because the First Lady — the most high-profile Hillary in the nation — was making her name seem “unfeminine.”

Do you agree? Disagree?

P.S. What were the 13 other “poisoned” names in Parker’s analysis? The 9 to drop since the 1960s are Ashanti, Catina, Deneen, Farrah, Iesha, Infant, Katina, Khadijah, and Renata. The other four — Celestine, Clementine, Dewey, and Minna — are from the 1800s, a time when SSA data wasn’t very reliable.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Hillary Clinton in 1992 (public domain)

[Latest update: Jun. 2024]

How did Douglas MacArthur influence baby names in the early 1940s?

American military leader Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964)
Douglas MacArthur

Douglas MacArthur was the popular U.S. Army General who received the Medal of Honor in 1942 for his service in the (first) Philippines Campaign of World War II.

How many babies were named in honor of Douglas MacArthur in 1942?

Quite a few. The number of babies named Douglas nearly tripled that year:

  • 1944: 6,996 baby boys named Douglas [rank: 34th]
  • 1943: 8,231 baby boys named Douglas [rank: 28th]
  • 1942: 11,234 baby boys named Douglas [rank: 23rd]
  • 1941: 4,149 baby boys named Douglas [rank: 53rd]
  • 1940: 3,729 baby boys named Douglas [rank: 56th]

And the number of baby boys named MacArthur (or some variant thereof) also swelled:

McarthurMacarthurMcartherMacarther
194413338..
19431736013.
194229014223*10*
1941145*..
19409...
*Debut

Variant Mcarther was the top debut name for baby boys in 1942, and variant Macarther was a one-hit wonder.

It’s curious that Mcarthur became more popular than Macarthur itself, but this probably reflects the fact that his surname was often misspelled in the newspapers of the day.

Speaking of the media, many publications made note of the sudden trendiness of “Douglas MacArthur” as a baby name. For instance, here’s a small item from an April, 1942, issue of Time magazine:

“Born. Douglas MacArthur Brotherson, Douglas MacArthur Bryant, Douglas MacArthur Francis, Douglas MacArthur Miller, Douglas MacArthur Gunner, Douglas MacArthur Salavec, Douglas MacArthur Thompson, and Douglas Harold MacArthur; all in New York City.”

Finally, a few MacArthur-related asides:

  • Did you know that a string of men in Douglas MacArthur’s family had the partially reduplicated name Arthur MacArthur?
  • MacArthur was the one in charge of clearing the Bonus Expeditionary Force out of Washington, DC, back in 1932.
  • Another U.S. military man whose name became a trendy after a battle in the Philippines was George Dewey.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Douglas MacArthur (public domain)

Baby born to Jackson Daily News reporters, named Jackson Daily

Often I blog about baby names I spot in old newspapers. This one is no different, except it’s the first newspaper-inspired newspaper baby name that I’ve seen.

The parents are Dewey and Janet English, who met while working for the Jackson Daily News in Jackson, Mississippi. They had a son around 1990 and named him Jackson Daily “Jack” English.

The Jackson Daily News no longer exists, but Dewey is still in the newspaper business. He’s now the managing editor of the Press-Register in Mobile, Alabama.

Source: “One baby’s name tells a story of strength, caprice and the romance of a special kind of business.” Press-Telegram [Long Beach, CA] 6 Sep. 1990.