How popular is the baby name Dorothy 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 Dorothy.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the baby name Dorothy


Posts that mention the name Dorothy

What turned Dodi into a boy name (briefly) in the late 1990s?

Diana, Princess of Wales (1961-1997) and businessman Dodi Al Fayed (1955-1997)
Diana and Dodi Al Fayed

The names Dodie, Dody, and Dodi are most familiar to us as nicknames for Dorothy (or Dolores).

But in 1997, Dodi popped up in the U.S. baby name data as a boy name for the first and only time:

  • 1999: unlisted
  • 1998: unlisted
  • 1997: 5 baby boys named Dodi [debut]
  • 1996: unlisted
  • 1995: unlisted

Why?

Because 1997 was the year that Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed died in a high-speed car crash in Paris. The crash happened on August 31 — almost exactly a year after Diana’s divorce from Prince Charles was finalized.

Diana and Dodi had only been together since July, but their romance quickly became the top tabloid story of the summer. CNN said on August 11 that their relationship “[was] just a few weeks old, but Monday’s headlines on Britain’s royalty-obsessed tabloids practically had them married.”

Wealthy playboy Dodi, whose full name was Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed, was the son of an Egyptian billionaire. Before Diana, he had been linked to a string famous women including Brooke Shields, Tawny Kitaen, and Tina Sinatra.

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the cover of People magazine (25 Aug. 1997)

Names from WHER, America’s first all-female radio station

Dot Fisher of the radio station WHER circa 1957
Dot Fisher of WHER

Memphis-based radio station WHER (1430 AM), which was run almost entirely by women, went on the air in October of 1955. It was billed as America’s “First All-Female Radio Station.”

The station was created and funded by legendary record producer Sam Phillips — the guy who discovered Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash, among others.

WHER’s original staff included Sam’s wife Rebecca (Becky) along with seven other women: Barbara Gurley, Donna Rae Johnson, Dorothy “Dot” Fisher, Dotty Abbott, Fay Bussell, Phyllis Stimbert, and Roberta Stout.

Six of these eight ladies were on-air personalities with their own programs, each of which emphasized “some particular subject of interest to housewives” according to a 1957 source.

Which of the original WHER names do you like best?

  • Barbara
  • Donna
  • Dorothy/Dotty
  • Fay
  • Phyllis
  • Rebecca
  • Roberta

(Dotty is usually a nickname for Dorothy, so I combined them above.)

Vida Jane Butler, who joined WHER later in the ’50s, was known on-air as “Janie Joplin.” She’d been told that Vida “was considered too old-fashioned and too Southern for WHER,” and the data backs it up: the name Vida was indeed out of fashion and associated with the south at that time. These days, though, Vida is picking up steam — particularly in California. Janie, on the other hand, saw peak usage in the mid-20th century and has been in decline ever since.

Sources:

Image: Clipping from Broadcast News magazine (Apr. 1957)

Popular girl names: Biblical vs. Non-Biblical

The ratio of Biblical names to non-Biblical names in the girl’s top 20 is about the same today as it was 100 years ago, though the ratio did change a bit mid-century.

(In contrast, there’s been a steady increase in the number of Biblical-origin names among the top boy names.)

Here’s the color-coded table — Biblical names are in the yellow cells, non-Biblical names are in the green cells, and several borderline names (which I counted as non-Biblical) are in the orange cells:

Popular girl names: Biblical vs. non-Biblical.
Popular girl names over time: Biblical (yellow) vs. non-Biblical. Click to enlarge.
  • Biblical names: Abigail, Anna, Betty (via Elizabeth), Chloe, Danielle, Deborah, Debra, Elizabeth, Hannah, Isabella (via Elizabeth), Janet, Jean, Joan, Judith, Judy, Julie, Lillian (via Elizabeth), Lisa (via Elizabeth), Lois, Marie, Marilyn, Mary, Mia (via Maria), Michelle, Nancy (via Anne), Rachel, Rebecca, Ruth, Sandra (via Alexander), Sarah, Sharon, Stephanie, Susan, Tammy (via Tamar/Tamara)
  • Non-Biblical names: Alexis, Alice, Alyssa, Amanda, Amber, Amelia, Amy, Angela, Ashley, Aubrey, Avery, Barbara, Brenda, Brianna, Brittany, Carol, Carolyn, Catherine, Charlotte, Christina, Christine, Crystal, Cynthia, Diane, Donna, Doris, Dorothy, Edna, Ella, Emily, Emma, Evelyn, Florence, Frances, Gladys, Grace, Harper, Heather, Helen, Irene, Jennifer, Joyce, Karen, Kathleen, Kayla, Kelly, Kimberly, Laura, Lauren, Linda, Lori, Louise, Madison, Margaret, Marjorie, Megan, Melissa, Mildred, Natalie, Nicole, Olivia, Pamela, Patricia, Rose, Shannon, Shirley, Sofia, Sophia, Taylor, Tiffany, Victoria, Virginia
  • Borderline names:
    • Ava (could be based on the Germanic root avi or the Biblical name Eve)
    • Jessica (literary invention, but Shakespeare may have based it on the Biblical name Iscah)
    • Samantha (possibly inspired by the Biblical name Samuel)

Again, feels pretty weird to put overtly Christian names like Christina and Christine in the non-Biblical category, but oh well.

Here are the year-by-year tallies:

YearTop 20 names
given to…		# Biblical# Non-Biblical
191431% of baby girls6 (30%)14 (70%)
192431% of baby girls7 (35%)13 (65%)
193432% of baby girls9 (45%)11 (55%)
194435% of baby girls8 (40%)12 (60%)
195434% of baby girls9 (45%)11 (55%)
196424% of baby girls9 (45%)11 (55%)
197424% of baby girls8 (40%)12 (60%)
198426% of baby girls6 (30%)14 (70%)
199419% of baby girls6 (30%)14 (70%)
200414% of baby girls6 (30%)14 (70%)
201412% of baby girls5 (25%)15 (75%)

Just like with the boy names, though, there’s a big difference between the 1914 and 2014 sample sizes — 31% and 12%. So let’s also look at the 2014 top 100, which covers 31% of female births.

By my count, last year’s top 100 girl names were about a quarter Biblical, three-quarters non-Biblical:

Biblical names (27)Non-Biblical/Borderline names (73)
Isabella (via Elizabeth), Mia (via Maria), Abigail, Elizabeth, Chloe, Addison (via Adam), Lillian (via Elizabeth), Hannah, Anna, Leah, Gabriella, Sadie (via Sarah), Sarah, Annabelle, Madelyn (via Magdalene), Lucy (via Lucius), Alexa (via Alexander), Genesis, Naomi, Eva, Lydia, Julia, Khloe, Madeline (via Magdalene), Alexandra, Gianna (via Joanna), Isabelle (via Elizabeth)Emma, Olivia, Sophia, Ava, Emily, Madison, Charlotte, Harper, Sofia, Avery, Amelia, Evelyn, Ella, Victoria, Aubrey, Grace, Zoey, Natalie, Brooklyn, Lily, Layla, Scarlett, Aria, Zoe, Samantha, Audrey, Ariana, Allison, Savannah, Arianna, Camila, Penelope, Claire, Aaliyah, Riley, Skylar, Nora, Hailey, Kaylee, Paisley, Kennedy, Ellie, Peyton, Caroline, Serenity, Aubree, Alexis, Nevaeh, Stella, Violet, Mackenzie, Bella, Autumn, Mila, Kylie, Maya, Piper, Alyssa, Taylor, Eleanor, Melanie, Faith, Katherine, Brianna, Ashley, Ruby, Sophie, London, Lauren, Alice, Vivian, Hadley, Jasmine

Faith, Grace, Angela, Nevaeh, Natalie…all technically non-Biblical.

27%-73% is remarkably similar to both 25%-75% (smaller 2014 sample) and 30%-70% (1914 sample).

So here’s the question of the day: If you had to choose all of your children’s names from either one group or the other — Biblical names or non-Biblical names — which group would you stick to, and why?

Will any babies be named Quinoa?

Quinoa
Quinoa

BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse is currently hosting a “Be the First to Name Your Baby Quinoa” contest. The first person to name their baby Quinoa between June 22 and September 7 this year will win $10,000 worth of food from the company.

Will anyone take the bait?

My guess on this one is “no.” Mainly because the name Quinoa is just too unusual. But also because — judging by the apparent failure of Domino’s Pizza “Dot/Dorothy” and “Brooklyn” promotions — expectant parents seem to need more of an incentive than “free food” when it comes to contests like these. (Which is a good thing.)

Do you think we’ll be seeing any babies named Quinoa thanks to this contest?

Source: Baby Quinoa | BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse

Image: Red quinoa by blairingmedia under CC BY-SA 3.0.