How popular is the baby name Francis 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 Francis.

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Popularity of the baby name Francis


Posts that mention the name Francis

Rory: Boy name or girl name?

The name Rory came up a few days ago in the quintuplet post, so I thought now would be a good time to take a closer look at Rory–especially at how pop culture has been tugging the traditionally male name over to the girls’ camp for quite some time.

First, the history. Rory is the Anglicized form of a Gaelic name that has been spelled various ways (e.g. Ruaidhri, Ruaidri, Ruari). Probably the most notable bearer was the last High King of Ireland, Ruaidri Ua Conchobair.

Rory was being used as a boy name in the U.S. long before it first popped up on the SSA’s baby name list in 1933. But this started to change in the late 1940s:

  • 1949: 149 boys, 45 girls
  • 1948: 123 boys, 43 girls
  • 1947: 73 boys, 41 girls [debut]
  • 1946: 37 boys
  • 1945: 20 boys

Those 41 baby girls in 1947 made Rory the top debut name for baby girls that year.

So what happened in 1947? The movie Stallion Road, starring actress Alexis Smith as rancher Rory Teller. (It also starred future president Ronald Reagan.)

(Interestingly, in the book Stallion Road, on which the movie was based, the lady rancher was named Fleace Teller. The screenplay was written by William Faulkner — he might have been the one to change it.)

Usage for boys stayed strong during the ’50s and ’60s with the help of actor Rory Calhoun (real name: Francis McCown). But, after Stallion Road faded from memory, usage for baby girls decreased so much that Rory fell off the girls’ list entirely for a few years in the 1960s.

And then, in December of 1968, Rory Kennedy came along.

  • 1970: 281 boys, 51 girls
  • 1969: 352 boys, 105 girls
  • 1968: 171 boys, 18 girls
  • 1967: 202 boys
  • 1966: 254 boys

Rory is the daughter of Ethel Kennedy and the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. She was born six months after her father, a presidential candidate, was assassinated. According to news articles announcing the birth, Ethel liked the name Rory because it was similar to Robert’s name without being “too obvious” (as the name Roberta would have been, she felt).

This time, the female version of Rory was able to hang on until the next pop culture boost: TV series Gilmore Girls (2000-2007).

  • 2002: 257 boys, 187 girls
  • 2001: 236 boys, 142 girls
  • 2000: 290 boys, 85 girls
  • 1999: 286 boys, 59 girls
  • 1998: 302 boys, 53 girls

Character Rory Gilmore was played by Alexis Bledel — yup, another actress name Alexis. (In both cases, though, Alexis was just a stage name. Alexis Bledel’s first name is actually Kimberly, and Alexis Smith was born Gladys Smith.)

And that leads us to today. How has Rory been used lately? It’s a close race:

  • 2009: 298 boys, 283 girls
  • 2008: 279 boys, 274 girls
  • 2007: 258 boys, 244 girls

It’ll be interesting to watch what happens in the next few years. Will usage for girls go back into decline? Will it overtake usage for boys? What do you think?

(Also, feel free to weigh in on Avery, Charlie, Elliot and Peyton.)

Source: “New Kennedy Girl May Be Named.” Schenectady Gazette 14 Dec. 1968: 2.

Politicians who were named after other politicians

I was just reading The Political Graveyard’s cool list of Politicians Named for Other Politicians. Many of the politicians on the list were named for U.S. presidents, but others were named for figures who aren’t as well-known today. Some examples:

  • 67 politicians were named after Henry Clay (1777-1852).
  • 48 politicians were named after DeWitt Clinton (1769-1828).
  • 43 politicians were named after Winfield Scott* (1786-1866).
  • 21 politicians were named after Abraham Gallatin (1761-1849).
  • 18 politicians were named after Francis Marion (1732-1795).
  • 17 politicians were named after John Jay (1745-1829).
  • 17 politicians were named after John Marshall (1755-1835).
  • 16 politicians were named after Patrick Henry (1736-1799).
  • 14 politicians (and the term “gerrymander”) were named after Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814).
  • 13 politicians were named after Edward Everett (1794-1865).
  • 7 politicians were named after John Calhoun (1782-1850).

Some of those numbers are impressive. Makes me wonder how many baby boys nationwide were named after these men.

*Winfield Scott lost to Franklin Pierce in the 1852 presidential election. One of his namesakes, Winfield Scott Hancock (1824-1886), lost to James Garfield in the 1880 presidential election. Not a lucky name for White House hopefuls, I’d say.

[Latest update: June 2023]

Baby names for chocolate lovers (Namestorm #1)

chocolate

I think that baby names that come from sources you love — your family, your values, your interests — are some of the best names going. So I thought I’d write some posts that focus on drawing usable, meaningful baby names out of interests, hobbies, pastimes and other activities that many of us have in common.

I know scores of chocolate lovers, so let’s start with chocolate. Below are names I found while researching the evolution of chocolate from the bitter Mesoamerican beverage it once was to the sweet, addictive confection it now is.

Hernando
Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortés was one of the first Europeans to try (and like) chocolate, circa 1519.

Hans
Ulster-Scot physician Hans Sloane (technically) invented chocolate milk while visiting Jamaica in the 1680s.

John and James
Irish immigrant John Hannon and American physician James Baker opened America’s first successful chocolate mill in Massachusetts in 1765.

Casparus and Coenraad
Dutch father-and-son chocolate makers Casparus van Houten and Coenraad van Houten developed several chocolate manufacturing techniques, including the Dutch process, in the early 1800s.

Joseph and Francis
English chocolate maker Joseph S. Fry began was the first to use a steam engine to grind cocoa beans in 1795. His son Francis Fry was head of J. S. Fry & Sons when the company introduced the first chocolate bar in 1847.

Domingo
An anonymous worker at the Ghirardelli factory in San Francisco discovered the Broma process around 1865. (Italian-born Domingo Ghirardelli was originally known as Domenico.)

Daniel and Henri
Swiss chocolate maker Daniel Peter produced the first milk chocolate bar in 1875, after years of experimentation. He did so by using the powdered milk invented by German baby formula maker Henri Nestlé (originally named Heinrich).

Rodolphe
Swiss chocolate maker Rodolphe Lindt invented the conching machine in 1879.

Milton
American confectioner Milton S. Hershey built the world’s largest chocolate manufacturing plant in 1905 in what is today known as Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Jules
Swiss chocolate maker Jules Séchaud invented a machine for manufacturing filled chocolates in 1913.

And now, two questions for you:

  • What other chocolate-inspired names can you come up with?
  • What other interests and activities should we namestorm about next?

Sources: A Brief History of Chocolate, Chocolate, the exhibition, The History of Chocolate, Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Candies AVK by Chocklate King under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Popular baby names in 17th- and 18th-century New England

Painting of a mother and daughter in Boston (early 1670s)

Caitlin GD Hopkins posted lists of historically popular baby names in Boston, MA, and Windsor, CT, at her blog Vast Public Indifference earlier today.

Using a book of birth records for Boston, she came up with the top male and female names given to babies born in Boston in 1710:

Girl names (Boston, 1710)Boy names (Boston, 1710)
1. Mary
2. Elizabeth
3. Sarah
4. Abigail
5. Susanna
6. Hannah
7. Ann/Anna
8. Rebecca, Lydia (2-way tie)
9. Jane, Martha (2-way tie)
10. Johanna, Katherine, Lucy, Margaret, Mercy, Ruth (6-way tie)		1. John
2. William
3. Thomas
4. James
5. Samuel, Joseph (2-way tie)
6. Nathaniel
7. Jonathan
8. Richard, Henry, Daniel (3-way tie)
9. Abraham, Benjamin, Ebenezer, Edward, Francis, Josiah, Robert (7-way tie)

Then she used church records from 1635 to 1680 to come up with a similar list for Windsor, CT (which is about 100 miles southwest of Boston):

Girl names (Windsor, 1600s)Boy names (Windsor, 1600s)
1. Mary
2. Sarah
3. Elizabeth
4. Abigail
5. Hanna
6. Rebecca
7. Ann/Anna, Deborah (2-way tie)
8. Joanna, Martha (2-way tie)
9. Esther/Hester, Mindwell (2-way tie)
10. Hepzibah		1. John
2. Samuel
3. Thomas
4. Nathaniel
5. Joseph
6. Josiah
7. Benjamin
8. Jonathan
9. Isaac
10. Daniel, William (2-way tie)
11. Timothy
12. James

Caitlin noted an interesting “secular/Biblical divide” between baby names chosen at the two locations.

Update: Hopkins just posted a follow-up post with more interesting name commentary…

Image: Adapted from Elizabeth Clarke Freake (Mrs. John Freake) and baby Mary (public domain)