How popular is the baby name Don 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 Don.

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Popularity of the baby name Don


Posts that mention the name Don

Baby named after Notre Dame football coach

Football coach Frank Leahy (1908-1973)
Frank Leahy

Francis William “Frank” Leahy, who played football at Notre Dame under Knute Rockne, went on to coach the Notre Dame football team himself for 11 seasons (1941-43, 1946-53).

“While at Notre Dame, Leahy had six undefeated seasons, five national championship teams and an unbeaten string of 39 games in the late 1940s.”

Leahy retired for health reasons in 1954.

A week after he retired, Arnold and Mildred Penza of Kenosha, Wisconsin — parents of Don Penza, captain of Leahy’s 1953 Notre Dame team — welcomed their 10th child.

The baby boy was named Frank Leahy Penza, after Coach Leahy.

(The names of all 10 Penza kids, from oldest to youngest, were Donald, John, George, Dennis, Thomas, Joan, James, Mary Lynn, Diane, and Frank.)

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Bill Nicholas and Frank Leahy 1947

Which “Mod Generation” sticker name do you like best?

mod generation stickers

In 1969, dozens of “Mod Generation” stickers — each of which featured a drawing of a young person, and a first name — were distributed inside packs of Topps chewing gum.

Female names used on the stickers included Alice, Ann, Barbara, Betty, Connie, Diane, Donna, Dotty, Ellen, Esther, Fay, Frances, Gloria, Helen, Jackie, Joan, Judy, Lois, Marie, Mary, Millie, Minda, Nancy, Natalie, Phyllis, Rose, Shelly, and Susan.

mod generation stickers

Male names used on the stickers included Barry, Bert, Bill, Charlie, Chris, Dave, Don, Fred, George, Herb, Irv, Jerry, Joe, John, Larry, Louis, Michael, Paul, Pete, Ray, Richard, Roy, Teddy, and Tony.

mod generation stickers

While of these female and male names do you like most? How about least?

Sources: 1969: “Mod Generation” Stickers, Mod Generation – 1969

The (rhyming) children of Don Ameche

Actor Don Ameche (1908-1993)
Don Ameche

In yesterday’s post about the name Drene, I mentioned actor/entertainer Don Ameche.

Don, born Dominic Felix Amici in 1908, married his wife Honoré in 1932. They had six children:

  • Dominic
  • Ronald
  • Thomas
  • Lawrence
  • Barbara (adopted)
  • Cornelia (adopted)

The kids were known by nicknames, though, and most of those nicknames were perfect rhymes:

  • Donnie
  • Ronnie
  • Tommie
  • Lonnie
  • Bonnie
  • Connie

What do you think about a sibset with rhyming nicknames: yea or nay? (Does it depend upon the size of the sibset?)

Source: Houseman, Victoria. Made in Heaven: The Marriages and Children of Hollywood Stars. Chicago: Bonus Books, 1991.

Where did the baby name Drene come from in 1946?

Drene Shampoo

The first and only time the baby name Drene made it into the U.S. baby name data was 1946:

  • 1948: unlisted
  • 1947: unlisted
  • 1946: 6 baby girls named Drene [debut]
  • 1945: unlisted
  • 1944: unlisted

The inspiration?

My guess is Drene shampoo, sort of.

Drene, the first shampoo to use synthetic detergent instead of soap, had been introduced by Procter & Gamble in 1934. So the product had been on the market for more than a decade by the mid-1940s.

So what was drawing people’s attention to Drene in 1946 specifically?

Drene Time (NBC), the Sunday night radio series sponsored by Procter & Gamble. The 30-minute variety show featured singing and comedy and was co-hosted by Don Ameche and Frances Langford. It only lasted from mid-1946 to mid-1947, but that gave it enough time to influence the baby name charts, if only slightly.

Don Ameche and Frances Langford went on to co-star in the sketch comedy radio series The Bickersons (1947-1951), which featured characters they’d played on Drene Time.

Drene shampoo continued to be sold until the 1970s, at which point P&G stopped production in the U.S.

Update, Feb. 2024: I’m a little less confident about this theory since noticing that the similar name Drena saw peak usage one year earlier, in 1945.

Source: Drene Shampoo, Medium, 3 oz. | National Museum of American History