How popular is the baby name Ford 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 Ford.

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Popularity of the baby name Ford


Posts that mention the name Ford

Two babies born in Fords, named Ford

Ford Model T

I’ve posted about several babies (like Kia and Mondeo) who were named after the cars in which they were born. Most of these babies were born within the last few years, but the two below weren’t even born within the last few decades. They were born before WWII and both were named Ford.

The first baby Ford was born on December 15, 1929. His arrived while his mother, Ethel Hubbard, was being driven to Holdrege hospital in Nebraska.

The second baby Ford was born in August of 1938. His mother, Mrs. Robert Lignon of St. Louis, Missouri, had gone into labor and asked neighbors to drive her to the hospital.

Through stop lights, ignoring a motorcycle cop who ordered them to halt, the neighbors sped to Firmin Desloge Hospital. But their efforts were in vain, for Mrs. Lignon gave birth to an eight pound boy en route.

Many other babies were born in cars during the first half of the 20th century, but these are the only two I know of to be named after those cars.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from 1925 Ford Model T touring by ModelTMitch under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Car names as baby names

Mazda Miata
Mazda Miata

Love cars? Here are some car-related names that have been used as baby names, according to the U.S. baby name data.

  • Allante, from Cadillac Allante.
  • Aston, from Aston Martin. Inspired by Aston Hill in England.
  • Audi, German manufacturer. The name is a Latin translation of Horch, surname of founder August Horch.
  • Avanti, from Studebaker Avanti. The word avanti means “forward” in Italian.
  • Bentley, British manufacturer. Named after founder W. O. Bentley.
  • Camry, from Toyota Camry. The name is based on kanmuri, which means “crown” in Japanese. (Here’s a baby Camryn, born inside a Camry.)
  • Capri, from Lincoln Capri.
  • Caprice, from Chevrolet Caprice. Named after a New York City restaurant.
  • Catera, from Cadillac Catera.
  • Celica, from Toyota Celica. The name is based on caelica, which means “celestial” in Latin.
  • Chevelle, from Chevrolet Chevelle.
  • Chevy, nickname for Chevrolet.
  • Cooper, from MINI Cooper. Named after auto racer John Cooper.
  • Cressida, from Toyota Cressida.
  • DeLorean, from DMC DeLorean.
  • Diamante, from Mitsubishi Diamante.
  • Dino, from Fiat Dino or Ferrari Dino. Both named after V6 engine designer Alfredo “Dino” Ferrari.
  • Dodge, a division of Chrysler. (I know of two babies named after Dodge pickup trucks specifically.)
  • Elantra, from Hyundai Elantra.
  • Elise, from Lotus Elise. Named after Elisa Artioli, granddaughter of Italian entrepreneur Romano Artioli.
  • Elva, British manufacturer. The name is based on elle va, which means “she goes” in French.
  • Florian, from Isuzu Florian. Named after the fictional horse in Florian, the Emperor’s Stallion by Felix Salten.
  • Ford, American manufacturer. Named after founder Henry Ford. (I know of two babies named after Fords.)
  • Hudson, American manufacturer.
  • Jazz, from Honda Jazz.
  • Jeep, a division of Chrysler.
  • Jetta, from Volkswagen Jetta. The name is based on the phrase “jet stream.”
  • Jimmy, from GMC Jimmy.
  • Kia, South Korean manufacturer. (Here’s a baby Kia, born inside a Kia.)
  • Lexus, a division of Toyota. The name has no specific meaning, according to the company.
  • Lincoln, a division of Ford. Named after former U.S. president Abraham Lincoln.
  • Martin, from Aston Martin. Named after founder Lionel Martin.
  • Mercedes, from Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG. Named after Mercedes Jellinek, daughter of Austrian entrepreneur Emil Jellinek.
  • Miata, from Mazda Miata. Possibly means “reward” in Old High German.
  • Millenia, from Mazda Millenia.
  • Mondeo, from Ford Mondeo. The name is based on mundus, which means “world” in Latin.
  • Morgan, British manufacturer.
  • Porsche, German manufacturer. Named after founder Ferdinand Porsche.
  • Reatta, from Buick Reatta.
  • Renault, French manufacturer.
  • Royce, from Rolls-Royce. Named after founder Henry Royce.
  • Scion, a Toyota marque.
  • Shelby, from Shelby American. Named for founder Carroll Hall Shelby.
  • Torino, from Ford Torino.
  • Toyota, Japanese manufacturer. Named for founder Kiichiro Toyoda.
  • Wrangler, from Jeep Wrangler.
  • …and VW, short for Volkswagen. :)

Blog readers have also told me about babies named Riviera (after the Buick Riviera) and Axel (because of its similarity to the word axle).

Know any babies that were named for automobiles?

Update, 2016 – Here’s a baby whose middle name, Megan, was inspired by a Renault Megane.

Reduplicated names: Asher Asher, Owen Owen

oystercatcher birds

I find it interesting that some people are given forenames that exactly match their surnames. A few historically significant examples include:

(Ford Madox Ford and Horst P. Horst don’t count. They were born Ford Hermann Hueffer and Horst Paul Albert Bohrmann.)

There are also many forename/surname sets out there that are partially reduplicated, such as:

Have you ever met someone whose first name and last name were identical (or nearly so)? Do you like these sorts of names?

P.S. The name Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan (which belonged to a guy who served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior for a few weeks in 1850) is as close to a double double as I’ve ever seen!

Image: Adapted from Two Variable Oystercatchers standing close to each other (public domain)

[Last update: October 2023]

One-syllable boy names: Colt, Wynn, Dax, Zane

single tree

Looking for a boy name that’s short and to-the-point? Something that might work particularly well as a middle name?

Check out this list of several hundred one-syllable boy names:

  • Abe, Alf, Arch, Ace/Ayce, Ames, Ash/Ashe
  • Baine/Bane/Bayne, Banks/Banx, Bar, Barnes, Bash, Bates, Bay, Baz, Bear, Beau/Bo/Bow, Beck, Becks/Bex, Ben, Benz, Birch, Blade/Blayde, Blain/Blaine/Blayne/Blane, Blair/Blaire, Blaise/Blaze/Blayze/Blaize, Bless, Blessed, Blake/Blayke, Bliss, Blitz, Blue/Blu, Blythe, Bond, Boone, Booth, Boyce, Boyd, Brad, Bram, Brance, Brave, Brax, Bray, Breck, Breeze/Brees, Brent, Brett/Bret, Brex, Brick, Brix/Brixx, Brigg, Briggs, Bright, Brock/Broc, Bronx, Bronze, Brook, Brooks, Bruce, Bryce/Brice, Buck, Burk/Burke, Burl/Berl, Burns
  • Cade/Cayde, Cain/Caine, Cale, Camp, Carl, Carr, Case, Cash/Cache, Catch, Caz, Chad, Chance, Chap, Charles, Chase, Chaz, Chen, Chet, Chez, Chip, Chris, Church, Clark/Clarke, Clash, Claude, Claus, Clay, Clayt, Cliff, Clint, Clive, Cloud, Clutch, Clyde, Coast, Cole, Colt, Cord, Court, Cove, Craig, Crane, Cree, Creed, Creek, Crew, Crews, Croix, Cross, Crown, Cruz, Czar
  • Dahl, Daire/Dare, Dale, Dan, Dane/Dain/Daine/Dayne/Dayn, Dart, Dash, Dawes, Dax, Dean, Dee, Del/Dell, Derl, Deuce, Din, Dirk, Doc/Dock, Dolph, Don, Dor, Dov, Doyle, Drake, Dream, Dre, Drew/Dru, Dodge, Dowd, Duane/Dwayne, Duff, Duke, Dune, Dutch
  • Earl, East, Ebb, Edge, Ernst
  • Fate, Finch, Finn, Fitz, Fjord, Fleet, Flex, Flint, Flip, Floyd, Flynn, Ford, Fox, Frank, Franz, Fred, Friend, Fritz, Frost
  • Gabe, Gad, Gage/Gauge, Gaines/Gains, Gal, Gale, Garth, Gates, Gay, Gent, Geoff, George, Gibb, Gibbs, Gil/Gill, Giles, Glade, Glenn/Glen, Graham, Grant, Graves, Gray/Grey, Great, Green/Greene, Griff, Grimm/Grim, Gur, Gus, Gust, Guy
  • Haines, Hale, Hall, Hank, Hans, Hatch, Hawk/Hawke, Hayes/Haze/Hayze/Haize, Heath, Heir, Hicks, Hill, Hines, Hoke, Holmes, Holt, Hoss, Hoyt, Hud, Hugh, Hume, Hunt, Hyde
  • Ives
  • Jacques, Jace/Jayce/Jase, Jack, Jake, James/Jamez, Jax, Jay/Jae, Jazz/Jaz, Jeff, Jess, Jin, Jett, Job, Joe/Jo, Joel, John/Jon, Jones, Josh, Joss, Jove, Juan, Judd/Jud, Jude, Judge, June, Jung
  • Kace/Kayce/Kase, Kade/Kayde, Kai, Kale, Kane/Kayne/Kaine, Karl, Kash, Kaz/Kazz, Keane/Kean/Keene, Keats, Keith, Kemp, Kent, Kern, Key, Kidd, Khan, Kim, King, Kip/Kipp, Kirk, Klaus, Klark, Klein, Knight, Knox, Kole, Kreed, Kris, Krish, Kurt, Kyle
  • Ladd, Lafe, Laird, Laith, Lake, Lance, Lane/Layne/Laine, Lark, Lars, Lee/Leigh, Leib, Leif/Leaf, Leith, Lev, Lex, Light, Lloyd, Locke/Lock, Lord/Lorde, Lorne, Lot/Lott, Luc, Luke, Lux, Lyle, Lynn/Lin, Lynx
  • Mace, Mack/Mac, March, Mark/Marc, Mars, Max, Mayes/Mays/Maze, Meade/Mead, Merle, Mike, Mills, Mitch, Moe/Mo, Moss, Myles/Miles
  • Nash, Nate, Naz, Neil/Neal, Neils, Nels, Ness, Nick, Nile, Niles/Nyles, Nils, Nir, Noel, Noor, North, Noyes
  • Oak, Oakes/Oaks, Om, Or, Oz
  • Pace, Page, Park, Parks/Parx, Parth, Patch, Paul, Pax, Paz, Peace, Peer, Penn, Pierce, Piers, Praise, Pratt, Pride, Priest, Prime, Prince, Psalm, Psalms
  • Quaid/Quade, Quest, Quill, Quinn, Quint
  • Ra, Race, Rage, Raines, Raj, Ralph, Ram, Rance, Rand, Range, Ray, Raz, Reece/Reese/Rhys, Reef, Reeve, Reeves, Reid/Reed, Reign, Rell, Ren, Rex, Rey, Rhett, Rhodes, Ridge, Riggs, Rip/Ripp, Roche, Rock, Rogue, Rolf/Rolfe, Rome, Ross, Roth, Rowe, Roy, Royce, Rudd, Rune, Rush, Rye/Ry, Ryne
  • Sage, Saint, Sam, Saul, Sayre, Scott, Seth/Set, Shade, Shane/Shayne/Shaine, Shaw, Shawn/Shaun/Sean, Shay/Shaye, Sky, Slate, Sloan/Sloane, Smith, South, Spade, Sprague, Steel, Stone, Storm, Styles/Stiles/Stylez, Suede, Swain/Swayne, Swan, Sway, Swift
  • Tad, Tadhg, Taft, Tai, Taj/Tahj/Tajh, Tal, Tank, Tate/Tait/Tayt, Tay/Taye, Taz, Teague, Tex, Thad, Thane/Thaine, Thames, Thor, Thorn/Thorne, Tighe, Todd, Tom/Thom, Townes/Towns, Trace, Track, Trent, Trey, Trigg, Tripp, Tris, Troy, Troyce, True/Tru, Truce, Trust, Truth, Twain, Ty/Tye
  • Val, Vale, Van, Vance, Vane, Vaughn, Vic/Vick, Vince, Von, Voss
  • Wade/Wayde, Wales, Ward, Wayne, Webb, Welch, Wells, West, Wilde, Wilks, Will, Wing, Witt/Whitt, Wolf/Wolfe, Wood, Woods, Worth, Wraith, Wray, Wren, Wright, Wynn/Winn
  • Yale, Yann, Yates, York, Young, Yves
  • Zack/Zach/Zac, Zade/Zaide/Zayde/Zayd, Zale, Zam, Zane/Zain/Zayne/Zaine/Zayn, Zeal, Zed/Zedd, Zell, Zen, Zeth, Zeus, Zev, Ziv, Zvi, Zyn

Please note that I did include names in the gray area between one syllable and two syllables. The deciding factor on these particular names (such as Charles, Miles, and Noel) will be your own interpretation/accent, so be sure to test the names out loud before making any final decisions.

Many of these names also happen to be unisex, so they appear on the one-syllable girl names list as well.

What’s your favorite one-syllable boy name?

Image: Adapted from 1 Drvo 06241 by Olja Simovic under CC BY-SA 4.0.

[Latest update: July 2023]