How popular is the baby name Dexter 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 Dexter.

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Popularity of the baby name Dexter


Posts that mention the name Dexter

Baby names needed: Boy and girl names for Beatrix’s twin siblings

A reader named Marissa, who has a daughter named Beatrix Penelope (nn Bea), is expecting twins–one boy, one girl. She’s got their middle names narrowed down (Anthony or Alexander for the baby boy, Daphne or Jillian for the baby girl) but she’d like some help with their first names.

Here’s what she’s looking for in a boy name:

For the boy I’d like names that are two syllables long and start and end in a consonant. So far I like Robert, Patrick, Daniel and Fabian. The only one he likes is Fabian, but we’re still not sure.

And here’s what she’s looking for in a girl name:

For the girl I’d like names that are three or four syllables long, and start and end in a vowel. So far I like Anastasia, Ophelia, Elena and Ursula, but he likes none of them.

The babies’ last name will sound something like Thisbe.

Here are some of the boy names I came up with:

Calvin
Clement
Chester
Conrad
Curtis
David
Declan
Dexter
Duncan
Felix
Franklin
Holden
Howard
Jasper
Kenneth
Lincoln
Linus
Lucas
Malcolm
Martin
Maxwell
Miles
Mitchell
Nathan
Nelson
Nigel
Nolan
Philip
Raymond
Reuben
Roland
Roman
Silas
Simon
Stuart
Thomas
Victor
Vincent
William
Winston

And here are some ideas for the girl name:

Acantha
Adela
Adelina
Adriana
Agatha
Alexandra
Alexina
Alicia
Allegra
Althea
Amelia
Annabella
Andrea
Angela
Antonia
Arabella
Araminta
Athena
Augusta
Aurelia
Aurora
Azalea
Eleanora
Eliana
Elisa
Eloisa
Estella
Eugenia
Eulalia
Imelda
Iona
Irena/Irina
Isabella
Isidora
Octavia
Odelia
Odessa
Olivia
Olympia
Ottilia

Which of the above do you like best with Beatrix? (And which ones make the best boy/girl pairings, do you think?)

What other names would you suggest to Marissa?

Baby names needed: “Classy, quirky” names for twins

A reader named Abbie has four children: Leo Sebastian, Henry Edward, Jasper Alaric, and Eliza Vivienne. She recently learned that she is expecting twins (congrats!) and would like some help coming up with baby names–especially boy names. She writes:

Lucy Matilda and Nora Penelope will be the twins’ names if they are both girls.

We like shorter (two to three syllables) names that are classy and old-fashioned but have a hint of eccentricity and quirkiness to them; we want them to be familiar and accepted but still be unusual enough that they’ll be the only one in their classes.

If it helps, our last name starts with Gold and is two syllables.

The very first name to pop into my head? Amory, which I know from This Side of Paradise. This made me think that other names from Fitzgerald books and stories (written during the 1920s and ’30s) might be names Abbie would like. So I flipped through the Fitzgerald books that I own, then flipped through others that I don’t own (thanks to the magnificent Project Gutenberg), and found:

Abe (Abraham)
Albert
Charlie
Chester
Dexter
Duncan
Nelson
Percy
Roscoe
Warren
Daisy
Edith
Honoria
Lorraine
Lucille
Marion
Marjorie
Rosemary
Stella
Violet

I included girl names, but I don’t think Abbie needs any. (I’m guessing that if only one twin is a girl, she’ll be named either Lucy Matilda or Nora Penelope.)

So let’s concentrate on boy names now. Here are some others that seem both old-fashioned and a bit quirky to me:

Alfred
Arthur
Avery
Bernard
Bertram
Cedric
Dexter
Ernest
Felix
Frederick
Lewis
Milo
Nolan
Owen
Philip
Roland
Rupert
Simon
Stuart
Walter

Out of these, I think my favorites (for the sib set Leo, Henry, Jasper and Eliza) would be Owen, Philip, Simon and Stuart.

Which of the names above do you like best? What other names (firsts, middles, or combinations) would you suggest?

Update – The babies have arrived! To see what their genders/names are, either scroll down through the comments or just click here.

Baby name needed: Boy name for Eliza’s twin brother

A reader named Lucas is expecting twins, one boy and one girl, and would like help choosing the boy name:

Its decided that the girl will be named Eliza, we just couldn’t resist its streamlined modernity and Eliza Doolitte charm and spunk, but when it comes to boys names we’re completely stuck. We were thinking of Joseph, its classic and timeless but perhaps a little too conservative for a twin sister named Eliza?

Personally, I think Eliza and Joseph sound great together. They’re not an exact match in terms of tone, but the difference isn’t a huge one.

It’s too bad Joseph doesn’t offer much more than Joe and Joey in terms of nicknames, though. Eliza is a pet form of Elizabeth, so I wish Joseph shortened to something with more verve (e.g. Benji, Theo). But that’s the only drawback I can think of; it’s hard to go wrong with Joseph.

As for other boy name ideas, how about…

Amos
Asher
Benedict
Benjamin
Caleb
Calvin
Curtis
Cyrus
Declan
Desmond
Dexter
Duncan
Dwight
Felix
Frank
Gideon
Graham
Grant
Grover
Harvey
Henry
Hugh
Jasper
Levi
Maxwell
Malcolm
Milo
Monroe
Nigel
Nolan
Oscar
Otis
Owen
Roland
Roscoe
Silas
Simon
Stuart
Theodore
Tobias

So now, three questions for you: Does Joseph sound good with Eliza? Do any of the non-Joseph names listed above sound good with Eliza? And, finally, what other names would you suggest to Lucas?

Baby names you can type with one hand: Carter, Tessa, John, Poppy

computer keyboard

When you sign your first name, you use one hand. But when you type it, chances are you need to use both hands — even if your name is a short as Emma, Gus or Ty.

Have you ever wondered which names can be touch-typed on the standard QWERTY keyboard with one hand only? Me too, so I came up with some lists…

Left-handed baby names

  • Ace, Ada, Adeva, Aeta, Afra, Aqsa, Ara, Arda, Ardra, Artra, Asa, Astra, Astraea, Astrea, Atef, Ava, Awa, Aza, Azeeza, Azza
  • Babette, Barbara, Barrett, Baxter, Bess, Bette, Brad, Brett
  • Cade, Caesar, Cara, Carter, Casara, Case, Cass, Cedar, Ceres, Cesar, Cresta
  • Dara, Dasza, Dave, Dawes, Dax, Deatra, Debra, Dee, Dessa, Dexter, Drew
  • Ece, Ed, Edgar, Edward, Eevee, Efe, Egas, Erva, Esta, Estes, Etta, Eva, Eve, Everard, Everett, Evette, Eze, Ezra
  • Faraz, Fedde, Freeda, Fred, Fredda
  • Gage, Garret, Garrett, Gerard, Grace, Greg, Greta, Grete, Gretta
  • Rafer, Rava, Rebeca, Rebecca, Reece, Reed, Reese, Retta, Reva, Rever, Rewa, Rex
  • Sabra, Sada, Sade, Safaa, Sagar, Sage, Sara, Saras, Sardar, Stassa, Steve, Stewart, Svea, Sverre, Sveva
  • Tad, Tage, Taggart, Ted, Tara, Tate, Tera, Teresa, Tess, Tessa, Tex, Trace, Tracee, Trava
  • Vada, Varda, Varvara, Vera, Verree, Vesta, Vester
  • Wade, Wafa, Ward, Wes
  • Xerra, Xerxes
  • Zada, Zara, Zed, Zera

How funny is it that Dexter, which comes directly from the Latin word for “right,” is typed with the left hand only?

Right-handed baby names

  • Holli, Holly
  • Io
  • Jill, Ji-Min, Jim, Jimi, Jimmy, Jin, Jo, John, Johnny, Jon, Joni, Joy, Juho, Juli, Julio, Jun, Juni, Juno
  • Kiki, Kiko, Kilik, Kim, Kimi, Kimiko, Kimmy, Kimo, Kin, Kip, Kipp, Kippy, Kiyoko, Kiyomi, Kojo, Kollin, Kumiko, Kuuipo, Kyou
  • Lili, Lilly, Lilou, Lilikoi, Lily, Lin, Lino, Loki, Loni, Lonny, Lou, Lulu, Lumi, Lyn, Lynn
  • Miki, Mikki, Mikko, Milly, Milo, Mimi, Min, Minh, Minokimin, Miyu, Molly, Momoko
  • Nik, Nikhil, Niki, Nikki, Niko, Nikol, Nikon, Niilo, Nolon, Nuno
  • Olli, Olujimi, Om
  • Phil, Philip, Phillip, Philo, Pio, Pliny, Plum, Pol, Polly, Pono, Poppy
  • Umiko, Umu
  • Yoko, Yuko, Yumi, Yumiko

I realize that QWERTY “handedness” is not a major baby-naming factor for most people, but I do think it would be cute to pair a one-handed name with another one-handed name — maybe a surname (Teresa Garza, Phillip Hill) or a twin name (Edward & John, Grace & Lily, Zara & Milo). What do you think?

Image: Adapted from Apple Macintosh Plus Extended Keyboard by MagicTom13 under CC BY-SA 3.0.