How popular is the baby name Dick 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 Dick.

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Popularity of the baby name Dick


Posts that mention the name Dick

Popular baby names in Kent County (Michigan), 2025

Flag of Michigan
Flag of Michigan

More than 10,500 babies were born in Kent County, Michigan, during the first eleven months (or so) of 2025.*

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sophia and Henry, according to data from Kent County’s Office of Vital Records.

Here are the county’s probable top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2025:

Girl names

  1. Sophia
  2. Charlotte
  3. Emma
  4. Amelia
  5. Harper
  6. Josephine
  7. Nora
  8. Eleanor
  9. Lucy
  10. Violet

Boy names

  1. Henry
  2. James
  3. Theodore
  4. Oliver
  5. Hudson
  6. Bennett
  7. Jack
  8. Noah
  9. Wesley
  10. Levi

One year earlier, the top names state-wide were Charlotte and Noah, according to the SSA. (Sophia ranked 6th and Henry ranked 4th.)

Finally, did you know that the current Kent County clerk is named Lisa Posthumus Lyons? She wasn’t born after the death of her father, like the babies named Posthumus centuries ago; Posthumus is simply her maiden name. (Her father, Michigan politician Dick Posthumus, is still alive.)

*The rankings were posted to Kent County’s social media accounts on December 3rd, so I’m assuming they cover the year from January to November.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Michigan (public domain)

What popularized the baby name Tracy in the mid-20th century?

Actress Diana Lynn rehearsing for "The Philadelphia Story" (Dec. 1959)
Diana Lynn rehearsing “Philadelphia Story”

According to the U.S. baby name data, the usage of Tracy increased for both boys and girls during the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s.

The boys’ rise was probably bolstered by a pair of masculine associations: leading man Spencer Tracy (who’d become famous in the mid-1930s) and comic strip character Dick Tracy (who first appeared in the papers in the early ’30s).

The girls’ rise was likely influenced by fictional character Tracy Lord, the protagonist of the play The Philadelphia Story (1939), which was adapted for the big and small screens multiple times. Tracy Lord — a beautiful but self-centered heiress — was portrayed by Katharine Hepburn in 1940 (film), Barbara Bel Geddes in late 1950 (TV), Dorothy McGuire in late 1954 (TV), Grace Kelly in 1956 (film), and Diana Lynn in late 1959 (TV).

Notably, the 1959 televised production of The Philadelphia Story featured original music, including “Tracy’s Theme” [vid] — an instrumental song that peaked at #13 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in February of 1960.

Another influence on the girls’ usage may have been AP columnist Hal Boyle, who often wrote about his daughter Tracy Ann (from the time she was adopted in 1953 until the early 1970s). Photos of Tracy Ann Boyle occasionally ran in the newspapers.

Six-year old Tracy Ann Boyle interviewing actor Chuck Connors (Sept. 1959)
Tracy Ann Boyle (in 1959)

The name Tracy was being given more often to baby girls than to baby boys by 1954, and the girls’ usage was more than double the boys’ usage by the end of the 1950s:

Girls named TracyBoys named Tracy
19628,308 (rank: 55th)3,340 (rank: 111th)
19616,987 (rank: 64th)3,185 (rank: 119th)
19605,767 (rank: 84th)2,584 (rank: 137th)
19593,367 (rank: 131st)1,450 (rank: 199th)
19582,110 (rank: 178th)1,249 (rank: 212th)
19571,966 (rank: 183rd)1,156 (rank: 223rd)
19561,386 (rank: 219th)773 (rank: 261st)
1955936 (rank: 280th)526 (rank: 323rd)
1954612 (rank: 348th)445 (rank: 338th)
1953326 (rank: 477th)327 (rank: 387th)

Do you know of anything else (e.g., famous people, characters, news stories) that might have helped popularize the name Tracy in the mid-20th century? (Did I miss anything?)

Sources: The Philadelphia Story (play) – Wikipedia, Tracy’s Theme – Wikipedia, Billboard Hot 100 for the week of 22 Feb. 1960, SSA

Images: Clippings from the Oakland Tribune (6 Dec. 1959) and the Meriden Journal (17 Sept. 1959)

Where did the baby name Cavett come from in 1973?

Talk show host Dick Cavett (in 1971)
Dick Cavett

The surname Cavett made its first and only appearance in the U.S. baby name data in the early 1970s:

  • 1975: unlisted
  • 1974: unlisted
  • 1973: 5 baby boys named Cavett [debut]
  • 1972: unlisted
  • 1971: unlisted

What put it there?

My guess is Dick Cavett, host of The Dick Cavett Show.

Different versions of Cavett’s Emmy-winning talk show were broadcast on television from the late ’60s to the early 2000s, but the most popular incarnation aired late-night on ABC — opposite Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show on NBC — from 1969 to 1974.

What differentiated Cavett from Carson? Cavett had a more intellectual approach to comedy, and also interviewed a wider range of guests — not just movie stars and musicians, but also filmmakers, athletes, authors, journalists, politicians, activists, scientists, artists, and so forth. Cavett’s guests included Alfred Hitchcock, Arthur C. Clarke, Bobby Fischer, Christiaan Barnard, Harland Sanders, Hugh Hefner, Jackie Robinson, Jacques Cousteau, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon (and Yoko Ono), Louis Armstrong, Muhammad Ali, Orson Welles, and Salvador Dalí.

Cavett’s Scottish surname was derived from a similar French surname, Cavet, which originally referred to either someone who worked with a cavet (a type of hoe) or someone who lived near or in a cave.

What are your thoughts on Cavett as a first name?

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of The Dick Cavett Show

What gave the baby name Fabian a boost in 1959?

Fabian's single "Tiger" (1959)
Fabian single

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Fabian leapt into the boys’ top 1,000 in 1959:

  • 1961: 158 baby boys named Fabian [rank: 629th]
  • 1960: 186 baby boys named Fabian [rank: 575th]
  • 1959: 160 baby boys named Fabian [rank: 611th]
  • 1958: 41 baby boys named Fabian
  • 1957: 48 baby boys named Fabian

Why?

Because of mononymous Italian-American singer Fabian (pronounced FAY-bee-an), who was born Fabian Anthony Forte in South Philadelphia in 1943.

Spotted at the age of 14 by talent manager Bob Marcucci, the good-looking teenager was taught how to sing, how to dress, and how to behave. He was being groomed as a teen idol, and it worked.

He attained stardom in 1959, the year his three most successful songs came out. “Turn Me Loose” and “Hound Dog Man” each peaked at #9 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart (in May and December, respectively). Between them came his biggest hit, “Tiger,” which reached the #3 spot for two weeks in July.

Fabian also performed on television dozens of times in the late ’50s and early ’60s. Notably, he made seven appearances on The Dick Clark Show. He was even the mystery guest on an episode of What’s My Line? in November of 1959.

The name Fabian comes (via Fabianus) from the Roman family name Fabius, which was based on the Latin word faba, meaning “bean.”

What are your thoughts on the name Fabian?

P.S. Two other male pop stars of the era, Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell, were also Italian-Americans who hailed from South Philadelphia.

Sources: