How popular is the baby name Edith 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 Edith.

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Popularity of the baby name Edith


Posts that mention the name Edith

Where did the baby name Eydie come from in 1954?

Singer Eydie Gormé (1928-2013)
Eydie Gormé (in 1954)

The name Eydie first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1954:

  • 1960: 27 baby girls named Eydie
  • 1959: 37 baby girls named Eydie
  • 1958: 50 baby girls named Eydie [peak]
  • 1957: 23 baby girls named Eydie
  • 1956: 11 baby girls named Eydie
  • 1955: 10 baby girls named Eydie
  • 1954: 5 baby girls named Eydie [debut]
  • 1953: unlisted

Where did it come from?

Pop singer Eydie Gormé.

She was most famous during in the 1960s: her biggest hit was “Blame It on the Bossa Nova” (1963), and she won a Grammy Award for “If He Walked Into My Life” (1966).

But she first came to people’s attention when she started making regular TV appearances in 1953 on the The Tonight Show, originally hosted by Steve Allen. She often performed with her husband, Steve Lawrence.

Eydie was born Edith Garmezano in New York City in 1928. (Her husband’s birth name was Sidney Liebowitz.) Her family — parents Nessim and Fortune, siblings Robert and Corene — later shortened the surname to Gormé. She adopted the stage name Edie when she started singing, but was so frequently called “Eddie” that she decided to add a Y to emphasize the correct pronunciation (ee-dee).

What are your thoughts on the name Eydie?

Sources: Eydie Gormé – Wikipedia, Winners – Best Female Pop Vocal Performance – Grammy.com, Singer Eydie Gorme dies at 84
Image: Radio-TV Mirror, Aug. 1954

Game: Add 3 girl names to this 1910 list…

In 1910, the Boston-based publisher H. M. Caldwell Co. ran the following ad for its “My Own Name” series of books in American Motherhood magazine.

names from 1910

It is the purpose of these charming little books to tell girls all about their names, information about the name, its origin, the name in history, the name in poetry, fiction and romance is given, also notable namesakes past and present.

It wasn’t much of a series, though, as there were only 25 names to choose from:

  1. Alice (ranked 10th nationally in 1910)
  2. Annie (19th)
  3. Bertha (33rd)
  4. Charlotte (99th)
  5. Dorothy (4th)
  6. Edith (35th)
  7. Eleanor (55th)
  8. Elizabeth (7th)
  9. Fanny (391st)
  10. Gertrude (26th)
  11. Gladys (15th)
  12. Helen (2nd)
  13. Isabel (176th)
  14. Jane (116th)
  15. Katherine (57th)
  16. Lucy (75th)
  17. Margaret (3rd)
  18. Marion (59th)
  19. Marjorie (68th)
  20. Mary (1st)
  21. Mildred (8th)
  22. Nellie (51st)
  23. Ruth (5th)
  24. Sarah (40th)
  25. Winifred (185th)

Clearly three more names could have fit on that last line (next to Winifred), so let’s turn this into a game. Which three girl names would you add to this list? That is, give us three names you like that would also be logical additions to this list, given the time period. For instance, I think I’d add Iola, Della, and Bonnie. How about you?

(If you want to access the national rankings for 1910, click over to the SSA’s site and scroll down to “Popular Names by Birth Year.”)

Baby names from Pullman cars: Edith, Otis, Kenia, Jathniel

Pullman car

Years ago I posted about Livonia, a baby both born on and named after a Pullman car. Recently I wondered: What other Pullman car names would have made good baby names?

So I downloaded a big spreadsheet of over 12,000 Pullman car names from The Pullman Project and was slightly surprised to see that thousands of them could have been baby names, if we allow for the splitting of compound car names (like Fort Miley, Glen Norman, Meredith College, and West Willow).

Here are a handful of examples. On the left are relatively common/familiar names, and on the right are some unexpected choices.

Alana, Archer, ArnoldAdriatha, Arundel, Arvonia
Baxter, Becket, BradleyBantry, Bellonia, Besco
Calvin, Catalina, ClydeCadesia, Clarnie, Clymer
Dana, Deborah, DwightDarlow, Dathema, Dodona
Edith, Eileen, ElmoEdminster, Emalinda, Etherley
Finley, Flavia, FloydFithian, Flaxton, Florilla
Gary, Georgette, GraysonGavarnie, Gilia, Gloxinia
Harper, Harriet, HectorHarista, Humela, Hythe
Iona, Isabella, IvanIrvona, Isleta, Ixion
Jessica, Jordan, JuliaJacelia, Jathniel, Justitia
Kara, Keith, KennethKeinath, Kenia, Kittson
Laurel, Lewis, LindenLauveta, Leolyn, Lysander
Madison, Marco, MaudeMardonia, Mayence, Morganza
Nicola, Noel, NoraNarinda, Nasby, Norlina
Olivia, Omar, OtisOaklyn, Olanda, Oxus
Parker, Perry, PhilippaPenlyn, Pipila, Pixley
QuincyQuarren
Rebecca, Riley, RonaldRexis, Risley, Ruxton
Sarah, Scott, SusanneSalphrona, Sarver, Sibley
Thora, Tracy, TylerTascott, Tilden, Tisonia
Vanessa, Vernon, VictoriaVarick, Vinora, Vivita
Wesley, Wilson, WrenWelby, Wescott, Wexford

Which of the names above do you like best?

Image: Adapted from Pullman car exterior (public domain)

The first incubator baby was named Edith

Edith Eleanor McLean

On September 7, 1888 — 128 years ago today — an incubator (or “hatching cradle”) was used for the first time in the U.S. to treat a premature baby.

That baby’s name? Edith Eleanor McLean.

She was born at the State Emigrant Hospital on Ward’s Island in New York City. She arrived two months early and weighed just 2 pounds, 7 ounces.

How did the names Edith and Eleanor do on the U.S. baby name charts in 1888? Edith was the 29th most popular baby girl name in the country that year, and Eleanor ranked 128th.

Update, 9/2022: According to correspondence received by Dirk de Klein of the blog History of Sorts, Edith’s name was later changed to Myrtle Eleanor, intriguingly. (In 1888, the baby name Myrtle ranked 35th.)

Sources:

  • Accardo, Pasquale. The Medical Almanac: A Calendar of Dates of Significance to the Profession of Medicine. New York: Springer, 1992.
  • “Reared by Heat.” Evening World [New York, NY] 20 Nov. 1888: 1.