The presidential election of 1880 involved two men with “-field” names: Republican candidate James A. Garfield, and Democratic candidate Winfield S. Hancock.
The nominees were chosen in June of 1880, the votes were cast in November, and Garfield was declared the winner — but it was a close race. (“Among presidents who won the popular vote, Garfield’s margin of victory remains the narrowest in history.”)
And the closeness of the race was mirrored in the resultant increases in usage of the baby names “Garfield” and “Winfield” in 1880. (Unfortunately, it’s hard to gauge how much higher this usage was than usual because the SSA data only goes back to 1880.)
Garfield
According to the SSA data, the name Garfield was the 111th most popular baby name in the U.S in 1880. It rose even higher the next year — no doubt because James Abram Garfield was the winner of the election, though perhaps also because he was assassinated in September — a mere 6 months after being sworn in. After that, the name saw a steep drop in usage.
Here’s the data, both from the Social Security Administration and from the Social Security Death Index:
| Boys named Garfield, SSA | People with the first name Garfield, SSDI | |
| 1883 | 49 (rank: 222nd) | 48 |
| 1882 | 69 (rank: 190th) | 91 |
| 1881 | 147* (rank: 88th) | 153 |
| 1880 | 122 (rank: 111th) | 141 |
| 1879 | ? | 24 |
| 1878 | ? | 4 |
The surname Garfield originally referred to a triangle-shaped field. The Old English word gara, meaning “triangular piece of land,” is related to gar, “spear” (as spearheads were triangular).
Winfield
The SSA data shows that the name Winfield was the 122nd most popular baby name in the U.S. in 1880. Unlike Garfield, though, it began slipping in 1881 — right after Winfield Scott Hancock lost the election.
Here’s the data, again both from the SSA and the SSDI:
| Boys named Winfield, SSA | People with the first name Winfield, SSDI | |
| 1883 | 46 (rank: 236th) | 58 |
| 1882 | 39 (rank: 276th) | 57 |
| 1881 | 65 (rank: 183rd) | 65 |
| 1880 | 108 (rank: 122nd) | 106 |
| 1879 | ? | 32 |
| 1878 | ? | 16 |
Winfield Scott Hancock was a lifelong military commander, so it’s fitting that he was named in honor of an earlier military commander: Winfield Scott. (Scott’s first name was his maternal grandmother’s maiden name.)
(Hancock also had an identical twin brother, Hilary Baker Hancock, who seems to have been named after former Philadelphia mayor Hilary Baker.)
The surname Winfield could refer to any of various locations in England. Depending upon the specific location, the Old English first element of the name could be wynn, meaning “meadow, pasture”; wince, short for hleapwince, “lapwing“; weoh, “(pre-Christian) temple”; or Wiga, a personal name derived from wig, “war.”
Which of these two candidate names, Garfield or Winfield, do you prefer? Why?
Sources:
- United States presidential election of 1880 – Britannica
- James A. Garfield – Wikipedia
- Winfield Scott Hancock – Wikipedia
- Hanks, Patrick. (Ed.) Dictionary of American Family Names. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
- SSDI (via FamilySearch.org)
- SSA
Images: Adapted from James Abram Garfield and Winfield Scott Hancock
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