How popular is the baby name Donald 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 Donald.

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Popularity of the baby name Donald


Posts that mention the name Donald

Where did the baby name Jodeci come from in 1991?

The album "Diary of a Mad Band" (1993) by Jodeci
Jodeci album

We’ve talked about babies named after Bon Jovi, Danity Kane, Roxette, and even Starship. So today let’s look at Jodeci.

In 1990, the four-man R&B group Jodeci was formed by Joel “JoJo” Hailey, Donald “DeVante Swing” DeGrate, Dalvin “Mr. Dalvin” DeGrate, and Cedric “K-Ci” Hailey. The name of the band was pieced together from the jo of JoJo, the de of DeGrate, and the ci of K-Ci.

Jodeci’s first album, the successful Forever My Lady, was released in 1991. Sure enough, that’s the year we start seeing babies named Jodeci:

  • 1996: 29 girls, 13 boys named Jodeci
  • 1995: 32 girls, 15 boys named Jodeci
  • 1994: 19 girls, 23 boys named Jodeci
  • 1993: 33 girls, 29 boys named Jodeci
  • 1992: 77 girls, 94 boys named Jodeci
  • 1991: 13 girls, 12 boys named Jodeci [debut]
  • 1990: unlisted
  • 1989: unlisted

We also see a steep rise in the usage of DeVante, which was the fastest-rising boy name of 1991:

  • 1994: 852 baby boys named Devante [rank: 309th]
  • 1993: 961 baby boys named Devante [rank: 289th]
  • 1992: 1565 baby boys named Devante [rank: 199th] (peak)
  • 1991: 131 baby boys named Devante [rank: 923rd]
  • 1990: 9 baby boys named Devante

(And the sudden trendiness of DeVante gave big boosts to variant forms like Davante, Dvonte, Devonta, Devonte, Davonte, Davonta, Devontae, Davontae, Devontay, Dvontae, Devaunte, etc.

And in 1992, Dalvin became the second-fastest-rising boy name:

  • 1994: 143 baby boys named Dalvin [rank: 912th]
  • 1993: 179 baby boys named Dalvin [rank: 789th] (peak)
  • 1992: 132 baby boys named Dalvin [rank: 923rd]
  • 1991: 6 baby boys named Dalvin
  • 1990: 13 baby boys named Dalvin

Jodeci put out a second album in 1993, a third in 1995, then went on hiatus in 1996. After they stopped releasing new material, usage of the name declined.

A related name that was used around this time was K-Ci:

  • 2001: unlisted
  • 2000: 6 boys named K-Ci
  • 1999: 6 boys named K-Ci
  • 1998: 5 boys named K-Ci
  • 1997: unlisted
  • 1996: unlisted
  • 1995: 7 boys named K-Ci [debut]
  • 1994: unlisted

This one was helped along by the band K-Ci & JoJo, formed by two Jodeci members around 1996.

The names Jodeci and K-Ci may be down, but don’t count them out. In about a month, a reality TV show starring K-Ci and JoJo will premiere on TVOne. Also, there’s a talented high school football player out there named Jodeci Mays. (He scored seven touchdowns a couple of weeks ago.) Visibility often leads to usage, so the TV show and/or the athlete could help revive the names, you never know…

Baby name story: Tiffany

Trump Tower (Tiffany & Co. is on the left)
Trump Tower (Tiffany & Co. is on the left)

Trump Tower, located on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, was completed in late 1983 thanks in part to a $5 million deal with Tiffany & Co. to purchase the unused air space above their flagship store next door.

On October 13, 1993, almost a decade later, Donald Trump and Marla Maples had a baby girl they named Tiffany. Here’s what Trump had to say about Tiffany’s name:

Everything involved with Trump Tower has been successful. And Trump Tower was built with Tiffany’s air rights. But I’ve also always loved the name.

Tiffany was originally an English surname belonging to Charles Lewis Tiffany (1812-1902), co-founder of Tiffany & Co. It was based on the medieval female personal name Tiffania, which can be traced back to the Greek name Theophania, which is made up of the elements theos, meaning “god,” and phainein, meaning “to appear.”

The name became popular in the U.S. following the release of the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). It was one of the top 100 girl names in the nation from 1970 until 1999.

Journalist Walter Shapiro wasn’t too keen on Trump’s choice back in 1993. “How much more tasteful had the parents simply explained that Tiffany rhymes with epiphany,” he wrote. He also gave us these prophetic lines:

Picture a kindergarten of the future as the teacher calls the alphabetical roll: “Armani, Burberry, Cartier, Fendi, Gucci, Hermes…” all the way down to “…Valentino, Vuitton and Zabar.” Instead of superhero lunch boxes, these kids will tote personalized shopping bags.

That future is getting closer, Walt. In 2009, hundreds of babies were named Armani and Valentino, and dozens more were named Cartier and Hermes…

Sources:

  • Boyle, Robert H. “The USFL’s Trump Card.” Sports Illustrated 13 Feb. 1984: 53-63.
  • Brozan, Nadine. “Chronicle.” New York Times 14 Oct. 1993.
  • “Donald and Marla have a baby Tiffany.” Reading Eagle 13 Oct. 1993: A10.
  • NYC – Zoning Glossary
  • Shapiro, Walter. “The Importance of Being Tiffany.” TIME 15 Nov. 1993.
  • “Tiffany.” Dictionary of American Family Names. Vol. 3. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Image: Adapted from New York City Mai 2009 by Bin im Garten under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Finnish baby named after Donald Duck

Finnish professional golfers Minea Blomqvist and Roope Kakko welcomed their first child, a baby boy, on the last day of March.

They were going to name their son Elmeri Mikael, but right after he was born they threw in a third name: Aku — in honor of Donald Duck.

The Disney character Donald Duck, who is something of a cultural icon in the Nordic countries, is called Aku Ankka in Finland. Aku is short for the name Aukusti, the Finnish form of Augustus, while ankka is the Finnish word for duck.

The baby’s birth date (in European format) is 31/3, which immediately reminded Minea of Aku Ankka’s license plate, 313. So she and Roope added “Aku” to their son’s name, making it Elmeri Aku Mikael.

Which is rather fitting, as Roope and Minni (Minea’s nickname) are the Finnish names of Scrooge McDuck (Donald’s wealthy uncle) and Minnie Mouse.

But they’re going to call Elmeri by the nickname “Elmo.” Here’s why:

In Finland we have a sport book that’s called Elmo. He’s a sport person. He wins everything. Even in hundred meters he falls, but he still wins. It’s kind of like a magical book when you are a big sport hero. My boyfriend loves sport, and we follow ice hockey, so we thought that’s a great name for my son.

Sources:

Reduplicated names: Asher Asher, Owen Owen

oystercatcher birds

I find it interesting that some people are given forenames that exactly match their surnames. A few historically significant examples include:

(Ford Madox Ford and Horst P. Horst don’t count. They were born Ford Hermann Hueffer and Horst Paul Albert Bohrmann.)

There are also many forename/surname sets out there that are partially reduplicated, such as:

  • Alastair McAllister, Australian harpsichord builder
  • Aleksandr Aleksandrov, Soviet cosmonaut
  • Anders Andersen, Norwegian politician
  • Antonis Antoniadis, Greek soccer player
  • Damiano Damiani, Italian film director
  • David Davidson, Canadian baseball player
  • Donagh MacDonagh, Irish writer
  • Donald MacDonald, Canadian politician
  • Dru Drury, British entomologist
  • Filip Filipovic (several people)
  • Fiodar Fiodarau, Soviet physicist
  • Friðrik Friðriksson, Icelandic film director

Have you ever met someone whose first name and last name were identical (or nearly so)? Do you like these sorts of names?

P.S. The name Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan (which belonged to a guy who served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior for a few weeks in 1850) is as close to a double double as I’ve ever seen!

Image: Adapted from Two Variable Oystercatchers standing close to each other (public domain)

[Last update: October 2024]