How popular is the baby name Elwood in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out all the blog posts that mention the name Elwood.

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Popularity of the Baby Name Elwood


Posts that Mention the Name Elwood

Baby names with OO: Cooper, Brooklyn, Rooney

raccoon

Looking for baby names that feature the letter-pair OO?

I’ve collected oodles of OO names for you in this post!

Before we get to the names, though, let’s get one big question out of the way…

What sound does OO make?

In today’s English, OO commonly makes the sound you hear in the words boot, food, and moon. But it can also make other sounds, such as the ones you hear in the words blood, or door, or good.

Why all this diversity?

A lot of it has to do with the Great Vowel Shift, which lasted from the late 14th century until about 1700. The GVS was a major factor in the transition from Middle English to Modern English.

In Middle English, OO tended to make a “long o” sound. (As one of my sources explained, “scribes often indicated a long vowel sound by doubling the vowel letter.”) So, in Middle English, the words boot, food, and moon sounded more like “boat,” “foad,” and “moan.”

During the Great Vowel Shift, the pronunciation of most long vowel sounds inexplicably shifted “upward” in the mouth, and the words boot, food, and moon acquired their present-day pronunciations.

But it’s not quite as simple as that. Because some words underwent multiple pronunciation changes during the GVS, while others didn’t undergo any change at all.

And this resulted in OO having a variety of pronunciations in Modern English.

Now, back to the names!

Top baby names with OO

Let’s begin with the most popular names with OO:

Top girl names with OOTop boy names with OO
Brooklyn
Brooke
Brooklynn
Noor
Cooper
Oona
Rooney
Brooks
Hoorain
Moon		Cooper
Brooks
Boone
Kooper
Booker
Woodrow
Haroon
Woods
Brooklyn
Elwood

Now here are the same names again, but this time around I’ve added some details (including definitions, rankings, and popularity graphs).

Booker

The English surname Booker, which is derived from the Middle English word bokere, originally referred to someone who worked with books (such as a scribe, or a book binder).

Graph of the usage of the baby name Booker in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Booker

Booker is currently the 1,204th most popular boy name in the nation.

Boone

The Anglo-Norman surname Boone has several potential origins, one of which is the Old French word bon, meaning “good.”

Graph of the usage of the baby name Boone in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Boone

Boone is currently the 573rd most popular boy name in the U.S.

Brooke + Brooks

The English surname Brooke is a variant of the surname Brook, which originally referred to someone who lived either near a brook or a stream, or in one of the various English villages called Brook/Brooke.

Graph of the usage of the baby name Brooke in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Brooke

Brooks is also a variant of the surname Brook.

Graph of the usage of the baby name Brooks in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Brooks

Brooks is currently the 77th most popular boy name in the nation, whereas Brooke ranks 259th for girls.

The name Brooks is also sometimes spelled Brookes or Broox.

Brooklyn + Brooklynn

The name Brooklyn comes from the name of the New York City borough, which was founded by Dutch settlers in the 17th century and named after the Dutch town of Breukelen. The town name (originally “Broecklede”) can be traced back to the Middle Dutch words broec, meaning “marshland,” and lede, which referred to a dug watercourse (as opposed to a natural one).

Graph of the usage of the baby name Brooklyn in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Brooklyn

Brooklynn is a variant of Brooklyn (likely influenced by the name Lynn).

Graph of the usage of the baby name Brooklynn in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Brooklynn

Brooklyn is currently the 63rd most popular girl name in the U.S., and Brooklynn ranks 314th. Brooklyn is also the 2,515th most popular name for boys.

Other spellings of the name include Brooklynne, Brookelyn/Brookelynn/Brookelynne, Brooklin/Brooklinn, and Brooklen/Brooklenn.

Cooper + Kooper

The English surname Cooper, which is derived from the Middle English word couper, originally referred to someone who made or repaired wooden vessels (such as casks, tubs, and buckets).

Graph of the usage of the baby name Cooper in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Cooper

Kooper is a variant of Cooper.

Graph of the usage of the baby name Kooper in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Kooper

Cooper is currently the 68th most popular boy name in the nation, and Kooper ranks 1,090th. Cooper is also the 1,597th most popular name for girls.

Elwood

The English surname Elwood is ultimately derived from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Ælfweald, which was comprised of the Old English words ælf, meaning “elf,” and weald, meaning “rule.”

Graph of the usage of the baby name Elwood in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Elwood

Elwood is currently the 2,582nd most popular boy name in the U.S.

The name is also sometimes spelled Ellwood.

Haroon

The name Haroon is the Urdu form of the Arabic name Harun, which is derived from the Biblical name Aaron (of unknown origin).

Graph of the usage of the baby name Haroon in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Haroon

Haroon is currently the 2,033rd most popular boy name in the nation.

Hoorain

The name Hoorain seems to be an Urdu name based on the Quranic phrase hoorun’een, which refers to maidens with beautiful eyes.

Graph of the usage of the baby name Hoorain in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Hoorain

Hoorain is currently the 3,396th most popular girl name in the U.S.

Moon

The name Moon refers, of course, to the moon — the round object that circles the Earth once a month and shines at night (because it reflects light from the sun). The English word moon can be traced back to the Old English word mona.

Graph of the usage of the baby name Moon in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Moon

Moon is currently the 3,455th most popular girl name in the nation.

Noor

The name Noor is a transcription of the Arabic word meaning “light.”

Graph of the usage of the baby name Noor in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Noor

Noor is currently the 857th most popular girl name in the U.S.

Oona

The name Oona is an Anglicized form of the Irish name Úna, which may be derived from the Old Irish word úan, meaning “lamb.”

Graph of the usage of the baby name Oona in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Oona

Oona is currently the 2,288th most popular girl name nation.

The name is also sometimes spelled Oonagh.

Rooney

The Irish surname Rooney is ultimately derived from the Irish word ruanaidh, meaning “champion, hero.”

Graph of the usage of the baby name Rooney in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Rooney

Rooney is currently the 2,552nd most popular girl name in the U.S.

Woodrow

The English surname Woodrow originally referred to someone who lived either by a row of trees, by a row of houses in a wood, or in one of the various English villages called Woodrow/Wood Row.

Graph of the usage of the baby name Woodrow in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Woodrow

Woodrow is currently the 1,752nd most popular boy name in the nation.

Woods

The English surname Woods, a variant of Wood, originally referred to someone who lived in or near a wood. It’s ultimately based on the Middle English word wode, meaning “wood.”

Graph of the usage of the baby name Woods in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Woods

Woods is currently the 2,205th most popular boy name in the U.S.

More names with OO

So, what other names have OO in them?

Here are some less-common choices (that are still seeing usage in the U.S. these days):

  • Ajooni
  • Alanood
  • Anoop
  • Aroosh
  • Avnoor
  • Aynoor
  • Batool
  • Bloom
  • Boomer
  • Booth
  • Brooker
  • Brooklee, Brookley, Brookleigh
  • Brookson
  • Brookston
  • Cooke
  • Dawood
  • Eastwood
  • Eknoor
  • Farooq
  • Goodness
  • Gurnoor
  • Ha-Joon
  • Harnoor
  • Haywood
  • Hooper
  • Hoor
  • Hooria, Hooriya
  • Htoo
  • Japnoor
  • Jasnoor
  • Ji-Hoo
  • Ji-Soo
  • Jood
  • Joon
  • Joory
  • Kohinoor
  • Kulsoom
  • Leeloo
  • Linwood
  • Lynwood
  • Mahmood
  • Mahnoor
  • Manroop
  • Mansoor
  • Masooma
  • Maysoon
  • Moo
  • Moosa
  • Nooh
  • Noomi
  • Noora, Noorah
  • Nooreh
  • Noori
  • Nooria, Nooriyah
  • Noorseen
  • Noorulain
  • Prabhnoor
  • Poorna
  • Roo
  • Roohi
  • Rook
  • Roop
  • Roosevelt
  • Rooster
  • Sherwood
  • Shooter
  • Sookie
  • Sun-Woo
  • Taimoor
  • Tooba
  • Trooper
  • Wood
  • Woodensley
  • Woodland
  • Woodley
  • Woodlyn
  • Woodson
  • Woody, Woodie
  • Woo-Jin
  • Yaqoob
  • Yaqoot
  • Yoona
  • Zaroon
  • Zooey

So far we’ve seen two presidential names: Woodrow and Roosevelt. Did you know that a total of five U.S. presidents had OO names, and that all five served during the first half of the 20th century?

  • Theodore Roosevelt (in office from 1901 to 1909)
  • Woodrow Wilson (1913 to 1921)
  • Calvin Coolidge (1923 to 1929)
  • Herbert Hoover (1929 to 1933)
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933 to 1945)

(The surnames Coolidge and Hoover have been used as first names as well — just not recently.)

We’ve also seen a number of names that include the English words “wood,” “good,” and “brook.” So I combed through the earlier SSA data to find more names with these words:

  • Atwood, Brentwood, Delwood, Derwood/Durwood, Fleetwood, Garwood, Glenwood/Glennwood, Greenwood, Harwood, Heywood, Kenwood, Kirkwood, Lenwood, Lindwood, Lynnwood, Lockwood, Marwood, Maywood, Norwood, Raywood, Stanwood, Underwood, Woodard, Woodfin, Woodford, Woodruff, Woodward
  • Goodluck, Goodman, Goodwin, Hagood, Osgood, Thurgood
  • Brookelle, Brookie, Brooksie, Brooksley, Seabrooke, Westbrook

Finally, if you’d like something even more uncommon (in the U.S.) than the names above, you can look to any of the various languages around the world known to feature the letter-pair OO in personal names. Examples include:

  • Dutch (e.g., Noortje, Joost)
  • Finnish (e.g., Auroora, Roope)
  • Estonian (e.g., Loore, Toomas)
  • Arabic (e.g., Hooda, Maqsood)
  • Persian (e.g., Afsoon, Behrooz)
  • Hindi (e.g., Poornima, Saroo)
  • Korean (e.g., Kyung-Sook, Sung-Hoon)

(The Middle Eastern and Asian names — because they’re being transcribed from non-Latin scripts — can also be spelled other ways, such as “Behrouz” and “Purnima.”)

Which of the OO names above to do you like most? (Can you think of any that I missed?) Let me know in the comments!

P.S. If you’d like to see popularity graphs for any of the more common names in this post, just check below for the long list of tags. Each tag is a name, so find the name you’re interested in and click through. The graph will take a moment to load — it’s grabbing a lot of data — but it will allow you to see at a glance the name’s current and historical U.S. usage.

Sources:

Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay

Initials that spell names: Z.A.C., E.V.A., C.A.M.

In June of 1982, the Toledo Blade ran a short article about two local brothers who “enjoy the distinction of having initials which spell their names.” One was Thomas Owen Matzinger (T.O.M.), the other was James Irvin Matzinger (J.I.M.). Their dad Mike said it was “just as well” that he didn’t have any more kids, because he couldn’t think of any other sets of names to fit the pattern.

My guess is that Mike was joking, because there are several other sets of initials that could work with an M-surname like Matzinger, one of which, T.I.M., is just a letter away from T.O.M.

In fact, there are at least a couple of combinations that would work with every type of surname.

So today, in honor of the Matzingers of Toledo, I’ve come up with a long list of name-spelling initials. They’re sorted by third initial (that is, the first letter of the last name) so you can scroll straight to the set that matches up with your own surname.

Enjoy!

Initials that Spell Names & Nicknames

Surname starts with:Potential full initials (& example combo):
AA.D.A. (Adelaide Diane A.)
A.N.A. (Anastasia Nadine A.)
A.S.A. (Asa Scott A.)
A.V.A. (Ava Virginia A.)
B.E.A. (Beatrix Elaine A.)
E.V.A. (Eva Veronica A.)
G.I.A. (Gia Idonea A.)
I.D.A. (Idabelle Daria A.)
I.N.A. (Ina Nigella A.)
I.R.A. (Ira Ralph A.)
I.S.A. (Isabel Simone A.)
K.I.A. (Kia Ianthe A.)
L.E.A. (Leah Elizabeth A.)
M.I.A. (Mia Imelda A.)
N.I.A. (Nia Ilona A.)
O.D.A. (Odalys Delfina A.)
O.R.A. (Ora Ruth A.)
U.M.A. (Uma Magnolia A.)
U.N.A. (Una Normina A.)
BD.E.B. (Deborah Ethel B.)
J.E.B. (Jeb Evan B.)
L.I.B. (Libbie Ione B.)
R.O.B. (Robert Orville B.)
S.E.B. (Sebastian Everly B.)
S.Y.B. (Sybil Yvette B.)
T.A.B. (Tabitha Araminta B.)
Z.E.B. (Zebulon Ezekiel B.)
CB.E.C. (Becky Eowyn C.)
M.A.C. (Mackenzie Anne C.)
N.I.C. (Nicole Isabelle C.)
V.I.C. (Victor Ivan C.)
Z.A.C. (Zackary Arlo C.)
DJ.E.D. (Jedidiah Easton D.)
R.O.D. (Rodney Orrin D.)
T.E.D. (Theodora Eugenia D.)
Z.E.D. (Zedekiah Ezra D.)
EA.B.E. (Abraham Benjamin E.)
A.C.E. (Ace Corbin E.)
E.V.E. (Eve Violet E.)
F.A.E. (Fae Adina E.)
I.K.E. (Isaac Keith E.)
J.O.E. (Joseph Owen E.)
L.E.E. (Lee Ethan E.)
M.A.E. (Maebelle Alice E.)
M.O.E. (Morris Oscar E.)
R.A.E. (Raelene Alicia E.)
S.U.E. (Susan Ursula E.)
Z.O.E. (Zoe Ocean E.)
FA.L.F. (Alfred Leonard F.)
D.U.F. (Duffy Ultan F.)
J.E.F. (Jeffrey Elliott F.)
GM.E.G. (Megan Emiliana G.)
P.E.G. (Peggy Elise G.)
R.E.G. (Reggie Elmo G.)
R.O.G. (Roger Olav G.)
HA.S.H. (Ashton Samuel H.)
IA.B.I. (Abigail Bailey I.)
A.L.I. (Alison Layla I.)
A.M.I. (Ami May I.)
A.R.I. (Ariana Rafaela I.)
A.V.I. (Avi Vincent I.)
E.D.I. (Edith Daisy I.)
E.L.I. (Elijah Logan I.)
E.V.I. (Evie Venetia I.)
J.O.I. (Joi Olivia I.)
K.A.I. (Kai Alexander I.)
O.L.I. (Oliver Lennox I.)
JR.A.J. (Rajesh Ajay J.)
KM.A.K. (Makayla Ashley K.)
O.A.K. (Oakley Atlas K.)
LC.A.L. (Callum Audley L.)
D.E.L. (Delaney Estelle L.)
G.I.L. (Gilbert Ishmael L.)
H.A.L. (Harry Archibald L.)
L.I.L. (Lillian Iva L.)
M.A.L. (Malcolm Angus L.)
M.E.L. (Melanie Eloisa L.)
M.O.L. (Molly Odette L.)
S.A.L. (Sally Angelica L.)
S.O.L. (Solomon Osborn L.)
V.A.L. (Valerie Annette L.)
W.I.L. (Willy Ingo L.)
Z.E.L. (Zelda Erin L.)
MC.A.M. (Cameron Aidan M.)
D.O.M. (Dominic Orson M.)
J.E.M. (Jemima Eleanor M.)
J.I.M. (James Irvin M.)
K.I.M. (Kimberly Imogene M.)
L.E.M. (Lemuel Emerson M.)
P.A.M. (Pamela Alys M.)
R.A.M. (Ramsey Archer M.)
S.A.M. (Samuel Aaron M.)
S.I.M. (Simon Isidore M.)
T.A.M. (Tammy Anita M.)
T.I.M. (Timothy Isaac M.)
T.O.M. (Thomas Owen M.)
NA.N.N. (Annie Nuala N.)
B.E.N. (Benjamin Ellis N.)
C.Y.N. (Cynthia Yelena N.)
D.A.N. (Daniel Avery N.)
D.O.N. (Donovan Oliver N.)
F.I.N. (Finley Ivor N.)
J.A.N. (Janice Andrina N.)
J.O.N. (Jonathan Octavian N.)
K.E.N. (Kenneth Eric N.)
L.E.N. (Leonard Earl N.)
L.Y.N. (Lynnette Yasmin N.)
N.A.N. (Nancy Azalea N.)
R.E.N. (Renato Elian N.)
R.O.N. (Ronald Ormond N.)
V.A.N. (Vanessa Athena N.)
W.I.N. (Winifred Inez N.)
Z.E.N. (Zenobia Evelyn N.)
OF.L.O. (Florence Lily O.)
L.E.O. (Leo Elton O.)
PC.A.P. (Caprice Amity P.)
K.I.P. (Kip Indigo P.)
QJ.A.Q. (Jaquan Anthony Q.)
R.A.Q. (Raquel Alaiah Q.)
RG.A.R. (Gareth Alfie R.)
SC.A.S. (Caspian Atticus S.)
G.U.S. (Gustavo Ulises S.)
J.E.S. (Jessica Esther S.)
L.E.S. (Lester Edward S.)
R.U.S. (Russell Upton S.)
W.E.S. (Wesley Elwood S.)
TA.R.T. (Arthur Roland T.)
C.A.T. (Catherine Aveline T.)
D.O.T. (Dorothy Olive T.)
M.A.T. (Matthew Alastair T.)
N.A.T. (Nathan Arnold T.)
P.A.T. (Patricia Ainsley T.)
UL.O.U. (Louisa Ophelia U.)
P.R.U. (Prudence Rhoda U.)
S.T.U. (Stuart Tucker U.)
T.R.U. (Trudie Rose U.)
VB.E.V. (Beverly Evangeline V.)
L.I.V. (Livia Indiana V.)
N.E.V. (Neville Eldon V.)
V.I.V. (Vivian Ingrid V.)
WL.A.W. (Lawson Amos W.)
L.E.W. (Lewis Edgar W.)
XB.A.X. (Baxter Andrew X.)
D.A.X. (Dax Alec X.)
D.E.X. (Dexter Edison X.)
J.A.X. (Jaxon Antony X.)
L.E.X. (Lexie Eliza X.)
M.A.X. (Maximus Alvin X.)
P.A.X. (Pax Amelia X.)
R.E.X. (Rex Elias X.)
R.O.X. (Roxanna Opal X.)
T.E.X. (Tex Emmanuel X.)
YA.M.Y. (Amy Michelle Y.)
G.U.Y. (Guy Urban Y.)
I.V.Y. (Ivy Verity Y.)
J.A.Y. (Jay Adam Y.)
J.O.Y. (Joyce Ondina Y.)
K.A.Y. (Katherine Addison Y.)
M.A.Y. (May Augusta Y.)
R.A.Y. (Raymond Adrian Y.)
R.O.Y. (Royce Oberon Y.)
S.K.Y. (Skylar Kerry Y.)
ZH.E.Z. (Hezekiah Ellery Z.)
J.E.Z. (Jezebel Eulalia Z.)
L.I.Z. (Lizzie Iris Z.)
K.I.Z. (Kizzy Isla Z.)
R.O.Z. (Rosalind Olga Z.)

Can you come up with other good ones? If so, please leave a comment!

Source: “So Named.” Toledo Blade 29 Jun. 1982: P-1.

Baby name needed: Boy name similar to William

light bulbs

A reader named Ashley writes:

I have a nearly 4 year old named William Benjamin, both family names. For the next child, we are considering Gillian (with a traditional J sound) for a girl. I would like another boy name that has an L in the middle, to sound similar to Will. I’ve considered Dillon, Elliot, Nolan, Nelson, Phillip. I know there must be others out there I’m not thinking of. Which one would match well?

This is a fun question. :)

Here’s a bunch of other names with an L-sound in the middle. (I left off W-names, figuring Ashley wouldn’t be interested in those.)

Alan
Albert
Alfred
Alistair
Alvin
Caleb
Calum
Calvin
Coleman
Collin
Colvin
Cullen		Delton
Delvin
Ellis
Ellsworth
Elton
Elwood
Felix
Fuller
Galen
Gilbert
Gilford
Gilman		Halbert
Halsey
Holden
Hollis
Julian
Kellen
Kelton
Kelvin
Malcolm
Malachi
Melvin
Milburn		Milford
Milton
Millard
Miller
Raleigh
Roland
Sheldon
Solomon
Salvador
Tilman
Tolbert
Volney

The names in boldface are the ones I personally like best with William. (I also think Elliot would be a great choice.)

Which name(s) do you guys like best with William? What other names would you suggest?