How popular is the baby name Fanny 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 Fanny.
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In September of 1917, in the middle of World War I, an English baby was born on the night of an air raid in the village of Newington (in Kent).
On November 4, the baby girl was christened at Newington’s Church of St. Mary the Virgin.
Her name? Raida Margaret Fanny Collins.
Source: Child named ‘Raida’ after Air Raid over Newington – First World War – Kent & Medway (timeline created by Kent City Council)
Image: Gotha RG im Flug
According to Sonoma County’s data site SoCo Data, the most popular baby names in 2015 were Ava and Olivia (tie) and Mateo and Daniel (tie).
Here are the county’s top 5 girl names and top 5 boy names of 2015:
| Girl Names | Boy Names |
|---|---|
| 1. Ava and Olivia (tie), 28 baby girls 2. Camila, 25 3. Isabella, Mia and Emma (3-way tie), 23 4. Charlotte and Sophia (tie), 21 5. Alexa, 20 | 1. Mateo and Daniel (tie), 28 baby boys 2. Jackson, 27 3. Sebastian, 25 4. Benjamin, 24 5. Julian, Jayden and Noah (3-way tie), 22 |
In 2014, the top names in the county were Emma and Logan.
Of the 1,204 girl names bestowed last year, 811 (67%) were used just once. A smaller proportion of the 919 boy names — 549 (60%) — were bestowed once. Here are a few of those single-use names:
| Unique Girl Names | Unique Boy Names |
|---|---|
| Amarilla, Antimony, Edelweiss, Ember, Fanny, Lluvia, Lovely Estrella, Mae Pearl, Magnolia, Nkirote, Reminisce, Rosalene, Rurapenthe*, Summit | Attimus, Banyan, Cypress, Cyprus, Destry, Ernestor, Fogatia, Iknav, Montgomery, Mercury, Orion, Quintil, Thornhill, Zinley |
*Looks like Rurapenthe is based on “Rura Penthe,” the name of a planetoid used as a Klingon penal colony (!) in the Star Trek universe. Its name is a nod to Rorapandi, a penal colony island in the Disney movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). Rorapandi was invented by Disney; it did not appear in the Jules Verne novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870).
Source: SoCo Data
Image: Adapted from Flag of California (public domain)
Last month we looked at the top Providence names of 1867, so today let’s check out the rankings from the year before — 1866.
First, some stats:
And here’s some extra information I forgot to mention in the last post: In 1860, the city of Providence was home to 29.0% of Rhode Island’s population. In 1870, it was home to 31.7% of the population. So each of these 3 sets of rankings (1866, 1867, 1868) ought to account for roughly 30% of the residents of the state.
Now, on to the names…
The top 5 girl names and boy names of 1866 were, unsurprisingly, very similar to the top names of 1867.
| Top baby girl names | Top baby boy names |
| 1. Mary 2. Catherine 3. Ellen 4. Margaret 5. Sarah | 1. John 2. William 3. James 4. George 5. Thomas |
The girls’ top 5 is identical, while the boys’ top 5 includes Thomas instead of George.
As expected, Mary was the front-runner by a huge margin. And, while there were dozens of Catherines, and a single Catharine, there weren’t any Katherines.
John had an even more commanding lead in 1866 than in 1867.
(I didn’t combine any variant spellings, but I did lump the abbreviated names Chas., Benj., and Fred’k in with Charles, Benjamin and Frederick.)
*Does Augustavus = Augustus + Gustav?
I counted 19 pairs of twins born in Providence in 1866. I didn’t notice any triplets this year. (All of these names have already been accounted for above.)
| Girl-girl twins | Girl-boy twins | Boy-boy twins |
| Agnes & Anna Eldora & Ellen Eliza & Mary Elizabeth & Julia Frances & Mary Josephine & Mary Mary & Sarah Theresa & (blank) | Alice & Frederick Alice & John Annie & Stephen Catherine & (blank) Sarah & Samuel | Edgar & Oscar Edward & James Francis & James James & John John & Thomas (blank) & (blank) |
I’ll try to finish/post the final set of rankings before the end of the year.
Source: Snow, Edwin M. Alphabetical Lists of Persons Deceased, Born and Married in the City of Providence During the Year 1866. Providence: Hammond, Angell & Co., 1867.
The registrar of Providence, Rhode Island, published a series of documents listing all “of the names of persons deceased, born and married in the city of Providence” during years 1866, 1867 and 1868. The series may have been longer, but these are the only documents I could find online.
I’ve finally finished creating a set of rankings using one of the documents — 1867. But before we get to the rankings, here are some stats:
And now, on to the names…
A quick look at the top 5 girl names and boy names in Providence in 1867:
| Top baby girl names | Top baby boy names |
| 1. Mary 2. Catherine 3. Ellen 4. Margaret 5. Sarah | 1. John 2. William 3. James 4. Charles 5. George |
Notice how the #1 name, Mary, was bestowed three times as often as the #2 name, Catherine.
*Elmer, who had the middle initial “E.,” was likely named after early Civil War casualty Elmer E. Ellsworth.
Twenty-one sets of twins and two sets of triplets were born in Providence in 1867. (All of these names were accounted for above — I just thought it’d be fun to check out the sibsets.)
| Girl-girl twins | Girl-boy twins | Boy-boy twins | Triplets |
| Annie & Fannie Annie & Mary Ann & Ellen Jennie & Minnie Margaret & Martha (blank) & (blank) | Ann & Maurice Grace & George Harriet & Albert Ida & Ashel Mary & James | Abraham & George Charles & George Charles & John Daniel & David Dunlap & Frank Eugene & Timothy George & John George & William James & John John & Martin | Carl, (blank) & (blank) James, Alexander & Sarah |
I’ll post Providence’s 1866 and 1868 rankings as soon I get them done. Until then, here are two older posts featuring uniquely named Rhode Islanders: Aldaberontophoscophornia (b. 1812) and Idawalley (b. 1842).
Sources:
