How popular is the baby name George 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 George.
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In mid-1944, Willoughby Norrie — who’d served as an officer in the British Army for more than three decades, and fought in both World Wars — was appointed Governor of South Australia. (Australia was a self-governing dominion of the British Empire at that time.)
Later the same year, he relocated his family and staff to the South Australian capital of Adelaide.
In December of 1945, Norrie and his second wife, Patricia, welcomed a baby girl.
Her name?
Annabel Mary Adelaide — third given name in honor of the city of Adelaide (which was also her birthplace, of course).
The city had been named in 1836 after Queen Adelaide, the German-born wife of King William IV.
(Norrie also had five older children: Diana, Rosemary, George, Guy, and Sarah.)
The name Kennan popped up in the U.S. baby name data for the first time 1952:
1954: 11 baby boys named Kennan
1953: 6 baby boys named Kennan
1952: 8 baby boys named Kennan [debut]
1951: unlisted
1950: unlisted
If there’s a reason — and typically there’s a reason — my guess is George F. Kennan, the Russian-speaking diplomat nominated by President Truman in February of 1952 to be the U.S. Ambassador to the USSR.
He started the job in May, but didn’t last long.
Why? Because, in mid-September, while addressing the press in Berlin, Kennan “compared life in the Moscow Embassy with his internment by the Nazis at Bad Nauheim.”
Stalin wasn’t pleased.
In early October, the USSR accused Kennan of making “slanderous attacks hostile to the Soviet Union in a rude violation of generally recognized norms of international law.” He was declared a persona non grata and refused re-admittance into the country.
George Kennan making headlines throughout the year — not to mention the similarity of his surname to the then-trendy baby names Kenneth and Kevin — is likely what influenced a handful of expectant parents to name their sons Kennan in 1952.
What are your thoughts on Kennan as a first name?
P.S. Keenan’s father had a cool name: Kossuth Kent Kennan. He was born in Milwaukee in 1851, the year Hungarian freedom fighter Lajos Kossuth visited the city during a tour of the United States. (Lajos is the Hungarian form of Louis.)
P.P.S. In March of 1967, George Kennan was asked “to go to Switzerland on a secret mission to establish the bona fides of a woman who had defected from the Soviet Union and claimed to be the daughter of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.” The next month, news broke of Svetlana’s defection to the U.S.…
Sources:
Isaacson, Walter and Evan Thomas. The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986.
The Papers of George Catlett Marshall: “The Man of the Age,” October 1, 1949-October 16, 1959. Ed. Mark A. Stoler and Daniel D. Holt. Vol. 7. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016.
The island nation of New Zealand is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, about 1,200 miles east of Australia.
Last year, New Zealand welcomed a total of 59,711 babies. What were the most popular names among these babies? Isla and Oliver.
Here are New Zealand’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:
Girl Names
Isla, 246 baby girls
Amelia, 210
Charlotte, 208
Mila, 182
Lily, 180
Ava, 179
Willow, 177
Olivia, 175
Harper, 167
Sophie, 166
Hazel, 164
Mia, 161
Ella, 157
Isabella, 156
Ruby, 149
Chloe, 144
Millie, 137
Zoe, 130
Grace, 128
Lucy, 117 (tie)
Olive, 117 (tie)
Emily, 116
Aria, 115
Freya, 114
Ivy, 111
Evelyn, 110
Georgia, 105 (tie)
Sienna, 105 (tie)
Layla, 102 (tie)
Poppy, 102 (tie)
Matilda, 101 (tie)
Sophia, 101 (tie)
Frankie, 100
Luna, 96
Mackenzie, 95
Ellie, 94
Sadie, 92
Maia, 91
Florence, 87
Riley, 86
Isabelle, 85 (tie)
Margot, 85 (tie)
Maeve, 84
Evie, 83 (tie)
Violet, 83 (tie)
Aurora, 80 (tie)
Billie, 80 (tie)
Daisy, 78
Sofia, 75
Eleanor, 73
Boy Names
Oliver, 274 baby boys
Noah, 262
Leo, 243
Jack, 234
Luca, 222
Theodore, 219
George, 211
Charlie, 195
Hudson, 169 (tie)
William, 169 (tie)
Oscar, 166
Arthur, 160
Elijah, 158
Arlo, 156
Thomas, 151
James, 150
Archie, 146
Henry, 144
Lucas, 140
Hunter, 138
Liam, 136
Mason, 130
Theo, 124
Ezra, 123 (tie)
Max, 123 (tie)
Levi, 121
Cooper, 120
Carter, 114
Hugo, 112
Lachlan, 110
Asher, 109
Beau, 108
Finn, 104
Archer, 103 (tie)
Felix, 103 (tie)
Benjamin, 100 (tie)
Luka, 100 (tie)
Jasper, 94
Luke, 92
Harry, 91
Ethan, 88
Alexander, 87 (tie)
Roman, 87 (tie)
Grayson, 85 (tie)
Harrison, 85 (tie)
Jackson, 83 (3-way tie)
Lincoln, 83 (3-way tie)
Samuel, 83 (3-way tie)
Jacob, 82 (tie)
Louie, 82 (tie)
This is the tenth year in a row that Oliver has been New Zealand’s #1 boy name.
The news release also mentioned that the “most popular gender-neutral name for 2022 was Riley,” which ranked 40th for girls and 51st for boys.
And what about the top Maori baby names?
Maori girl names
Aroha / Te Aroha
Aria
Anahera
Maia
Moana
Kaia
Manaia
Atarangi / Te Atarangi
Ataahua
Marama
Maori boy names
Ariki / Te Ariki / Teariki
Nikau
Wiremu
Rawiri
Mikaere
Manaia
Kai
Manaaki
Kahurangi
Koa
There are a couple of things we need to note about the Maori baby name rankings, though.
First, the Maori rankings don’t cover the same period of time as the national rankings. Instead, they cover births from June 21, 2022, to July 9, 2023. Why? Because these dates are linked to Matariki, or Maori New Year. (The Maori word Matariki refers to both the Pleiades star cluster and to the yearly celebration of the Pleiades’ return to the night sky, in late June or early July).
Second, a more thorough process is now being used to determine which names to include in the Maori rankings. Previously, the only criterion was that the names be made up of letters in the Maori alphabet. Now, on top of that, the names must: end in a vowel, be “carefully considered and checked,” be discussed with a Maori elder, and be reviewed by the Maori Language Commission.
In 2021, the top names overall in New Zealand were Charlotte and Oliver.
The playful song “Jennifer Juniper” by Scottish musician Donovan was released as a single in early 1968. It peaked at #26 on the U.S. Hot 100 chart in April.
Jennifer Juniper lives upon the hill Jennifer Juniper, sitting very still
The inspiration behind the song was Jenny Boyd — the younger sister of famous English model Pattie Boyd (who, at that time, was married to George Harrison of the Beatles).
What effect did the song have on the baby names Jennifer and Juniper?
With Jennifer it’s hard to tell, as the name was already extremely trendy. It was also being featured elsewhere in pop culture (e.g., the 1968 song “Jennifer Eccles” by the Hollies).
1971: 56,775 baby girls named Jennifer [rank: 1st]
1970: 46,153 baby girls named Jennifer [rank: 1st]
1969: 33,702 baby girls named Jennifer [rank: 3rd]
1968: 26,850 baby girls named Jennifer [rank: 4th]
1967: 18,238 baby girls named Jennifer [rank: 10th]
Incidentally, Jenny Boyd’s legal name was not Jennifer Boyd, but Helen Mary Boyd. Here’s the story, according to Pattie:
She wasn’t actually christened Jenny: my mother named her Helen Mary, to please a couple of aunts, but I had a favorite teddy at the time called Jenny and I insisted my new sister be called by the same name.
It’s much easier to see the effect of “Jennifer Juniper” on the name Juniper, which debuted in the U.S. baby name data the year after the song came out:
1971: 12 baby girls named Juniper
1970: 7 baby girls named Juniper
1969: 5 baby girls named Juniper [debut]
1968: unlisted
1967: unlisted
It’s interesting that Donovan’s song “Laléna” came out months after “Jennifer Juniper,” and yet the name Lalena debuted in the SSA data a year ahead of Juniper.
Despite sounding similar, the names Jennifer and Juniper have different etymologies. Juniper, which refers to a type of tree, comes from the Latin word iuniperus. Jennifer, on the other hand, can be traced back to the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar, which is based on a pair of Celtic words that may have meant “white” and “phantom.” (The Arthuruan name Guinevere has the same origin.)
Which name, Jennifer or Juniper, do you prefer? Why?
Sources:
Boyd, Pattie and Penny Junor. Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007.
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