How popular is the baby name Ferlin 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 Ferlin.

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Popularity of the baby name Ferlin


Posts that mention the name Ferlin

Where did the baby name Ferlin come from in 1954?

Ferlin Husky's album "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (1957)
Ferlin Husky album

We’ve talked about Faron, so now let’s talk about Ferlin — a similar name that debuted for a similar reason during the very same decade.

  • 1959: 22 baby boys named Ferlin
  • 1958: 26 baby boys named Ferlin (peak)
  • 1957: 15 baby boys named Ferlin
  • 1956: 17 baby boys named Ferlin
  • 1955: 9 baby boys named Ferlin
  • 1954: 7 baby boys named Ferlin [debut]
  • 1953: unlisted
  • 1952: unlsted

The name Ferlin was inspired by American country singer Ferlin Husky. His 1953 singles “A Dear John Letter” and “Forgive Me, John” — both duets with Jean Shepard — are what put him, and his name, on the map.

He went on to have hits like “Gone” in 1957 and “Wings of a Dove” in 1960, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010.

But the name Ferlin would never have come to anyone’s attention if Ferlin Husky had stuck with the stage name Terry Preston, which he began using in the late ’40s. Some sources say he used a stage name because he felt his real name “sounded too rural.” He was convinced by record producer Ken Nelson to revert to his birth name in the early ’50s:

[Nelson] pushed Terry Preston to drop his stage name and use his given name, Ferlin Husky. “I thought, ‘Oh, my god, Terry Preston, my goodness’ sake’ — it sounded too sweet for a country singer. So I said, ‘Ferlin, why don’t you use your right name? It’s a good masculine name, and it’s an unusual name.’ And he didn’t want to do it. One day, he and his father and I were riding in the car, and I mentioned it to his father, and his father said, ‘Ferlin, you’re never gonna be a success until you use your right name.'”

Ironically, Ferlin’s “right name” was invented by a wrong spelling. His father had intended to name him Ferland after a friend, but the name was misspelled “Ferlin” on the birth certificate.

Do you like the name Ferlin? Do you like it more or less than Faron?

Sources:

Where did the baby name Shaye come from in the 1950s?

Singer and actress Shaye Cogan (1923-2009)
Shaye Cogan (circa 1952)

The names Shea, Shae, Shay, and Shaye began appearing (as girl names) in the U.S. baby name data in the early ’50s — right around the time singer and actress Shaye Cogan (born Helen J. Coggins) first became famous.

  • 1959: unlisted
  • 1958: 10 baby girls named Shaye
  • 1957: unlisted
  • 1956: unlisted
  • 1955: unlisted
  • 1954: unlisted
  • 1953: 5 baby girls named Shaye
  • 1952: unlisted
  • 1951: 12 baby girls named Shaye [debut]
  • 1950: unlisted

In fact, the three initial appearances of the spelling “Shaye” happen to correspond to three high points of Shaye Cogan’s career.

First, she was a regular on the The Vaughn Monroe Show (1950-1951), a television variety show that included musical numbers and skits.

Second, she was in a pair of Abbott and Costello movies: Comin’ Round the Mountain (1951) and Jack and the Beanstalk (1952).

And third, she sang in the Alan Freed movie Mister Rock and Roll (1957), which featured future legends Little Richard and Chuck Berry (along with less-well-remembered stars like Clyde McPhatter and Ferlin Husky). Shaye wasn’t terribly “rock and roll,” but she was married to a music industry executive, which is no doubt how she landed the part.

Singer Shaye Cogan (1923-2009)
Shaye Cogan (circa 1957)

How do you feel about the baby name Shaye? How do you prefer to spell it?

Sources: Shaye Cogan – AllMusic, Shaye Cogan – Wikipedia, SSA