How popular is the baby name Grant in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out all the blog posts that mention the name Grant.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the Baby Name Grant


Posts that Mention the Name Grant

Babies named for William Tecumseh Sherman

U.S. Army general William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891)
William T. Sherman

William Tecumseh Sherman was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

He served just under Ulysses S. Grant much of the time. In 1864, when Grant was appointed commander of all Union armies, Sherman succeeded him as the commander of the Western Theater. In 1869, when Grant began his first term as U.S. President, Sherman succeeded him as Commanding General of the U.S. Army. (He remained in that position until 1883.)

Many baby boys were named in honor of General Sherman, particularly in the mid-1860s. It’s hard to know just how many hundreds of namesakes he had, though, given all the possible permutations of his name, and the fact that both “William” and “Sherman” were quite common. Some examples…

Boys born into Sherman families simply got the given names “William Tecumseh,” or “William T.” Dozens of other families dropped “William” altogether, opting for “Tecumseh Sherman,” or just “Tecumseh.”

Speaking of Tecumseh…how did William T. Sherman come to have such a distinctive middle name?

He was born in Ohio in 1820, the middle child (#6) of 11 siblings. In his memoir, he said that his father, Charles, had “caught a fancy for the great chief of the Shawnees, “Tecumseh.””

When, in 1816, my brother James was born, he insisted on engrafting the Indian name “Tecumseh” on the usual family list. My mother had already named her first son after her own brother Charles; and insisted on the second son taking the name of her other brother James, and when I came along, on the 8th of February, 1820, mother having no more brothers, my father succeeded in his original purpose, and named me William Tecumseh.

Interestingly, one of General Sherman’s nephews — the the son of his younger brother Lampson — was was born in 1861 and named after Elmer E. Ellsworth.

Sources:

P.S. The most notable non-human thing named after General Sherman would have to be the world’s largest tree, the General Sherman Tree in California.

Babies named for Ulysses S. Grant

U.S. President Ulysses S Grant (1822-1885).
Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant is best remembered as a U.S. President…but he initially gained fame as a military leader during the American Civil War.

His victories for the Union — starting with the Battle of Fort Donelson in February of 1862 — led to a series of promotions that culminated in his being appointed commander of all Union armies in March of 1864. Ulysses S. Grant is the person to whom Confederate commander Robert E. Lee surrendered in April of 1865.

Three years after that, Grant was elected U.S. President. At 46 years old, he was, at that point, the youngest man ever elected president. His two-term presidency lasted from 1869 until 1877.

As you might imagine, Grant acquired many namesakes. Records indicate that thousands of baby boys were named “Ulysses Grant” or (more precisely) “Ulysses S. Grant” during the 1860s and 1870s. Some examples…

Those already in Grant families simply got “Ulysses S.” or some variant thereof (e.g., “Ulysses Sherman“) as given names.

Interestingly, though, Ulysses S. Grant himself was not born with the name “Ulysses S. Grant.”

His parents, Jesse Grant and Hannah Grant (née Simpson), didn’t have a name picked out when their first child arrived in 1822. He remained nameless for weeks. Finally, the couple got together with Hannah’s family to make a selection. Here’s how Jesse described the naming process:

When the question arose after his birth what he should be called, his mother and one of his aunts proposed Albert, for Albert Gallatin; another aunt proposed Theodore; his grandfather proposed Hiram, because he thought that was a handsome name. His grandmother […] was a great student of history, and had an enthusiastic admiration for the ancient commander Ulysses, and she urged that the babe should be named Ulysses. I seconded that, and he was christened Hiram Ulysses; but he was always called by the latter name, which he himself preferred when he got old enough to know about it.

(Other sources say that the names were put into a hat, and that “Ulysses” was drawn, but Jesse altered the name to “Hiram Ulysses” to please Hannah’s father.)

In 1839, Jesse wrote to Rep. Thomas Hamer — a former friend with whom he’d been quarreling — to request that Hamer nominate his teenage son, “H. Ulysses,” to be a cadet at the United States Military Academy. Hamer complied, but mistakenly wrote the boy’s name as “U. S. Grant.” Jesse guessed that Mr. Hamer, “knowing Mrs. Grant’s name was Simpson, and that we had a son named Simpson, somehow got the matter a little mixed in making the nomination.”

Ulysses was unable to get the mistake fixed while he was at West Point. After graduation, he simply adopted “Ulysses S. Grant” as the standard form of his name.

Sources:

Numerology & baby names: Number 6

Baby names with a numerological value of 6

Here are hundreds of baby names that have a numerological value of “6.”

I’ve sub-categorized them by overall totals, because I think that some of the intermediate numbers could have special significance to people as well.

Within each group, I’ve listed up to ten of the most popular “6” names per gender (according to the current U.S. rankings).

Beneath all the names are some ways you could interpret the numerological value of “6,” including descriptions from two different numerological systems.

6

The following baby names add up to 6.

  • “6” girl names: Ada
  • “6” boy names: Abba

6 via 15

The following baby names add up to 15, which reduces to six (1+5=6).

  • “15” girl names: Aida, Adia, Alaa, An, Ama, Aala, Daia, Adai, Abcde
  • “15” boy names: Jad, Gabe, Aadi, An, Ej, Alaa

6 via 24

The following baby names add up to 24, which reduces to six (2+4=6).

  • “24” girl names: Ava, Nia, Maia, Alaia, Hana, Amia, Rae, Dara, Kaci, Edna
  • “24” boy names: Ian, Dean, Aden, Dane, Kage, Kal, Abdel, Blade, Edan, Ahan

6 via 33

The following baby names add up to 33, which reduces to six (3+3=6).

  • “33” girl names: Kali, Mabel, Anahi, Mara, Alena, Shea, Aimee, Andie, Arie, Elana
  • “33” boy names: Aiden, Isaac, Wade, Fabian, Kobe, Sam, Abdiel, Amar, Shea, Don

6 via 42

The following baby names add up to 42, which reduces to six (4+2=6).

  • “42” girl names: Eliana, Maria, Cecilia, Callie, Elaina, Lilah, Maggie, Amira, Amari, Anaya
  • “42” boy names: Evan, Axel, Damian, Alex, Joel, Nash, Amari, Andre, Odin, Deacon

6 via 51

The following baby names add up to 51, which reduces to six (5+1=6).

  • “51” girl names: Layla, Lydia, Delilah, Khloe, Myla, Camilla, Phoebe, Haley, Charli, Greta
  • “51” boy names: Michael, Asher, Hugo, Raiden, Issac, Jamir, Boone, Gary, Lachlan, Deandre

6 via 60

The following baby names add up to 60, which reduces to six (6+0=6).

  • “60” girl names: Hailey, Millie, Kehlani, Miranda, Nylah, Raven, Averie, Skye, Wren, Emely
  • “60” boy names: Landon, Kayden, Silas, Grant, Thiago, Enzo, Bryan, Ibrahim, Kason, Ruben

6 via 69

The following baby names add up to 69, which reduces to six (6+9=15; 1+5=6).

  • “69” girl names: Riley, Lillian, Stella, Parker, Harley, Giselle, Rylie, Addilyn, Oakley, Maliyah
  • “69” boy names: Jeremiah, Cameron, Brayden, Parker, Jasper, Griffin, Riley, Hector, Conner, Malcolm

6 via 78

The following baby names add up to 78, which reduces to six (7+8=15; 1+5=6).

  • “78” girl names: Genesis, Kennedy, Melissa, Madilyn, Esmeralda, Scarlet, Viviana, Kayleigh, Oaklyn, Julieta
  • “78” boy names: Robert, Tucker, Patrick, Emiliano, Karson, Daxton, Troy, Dominick, Colson, Vicente

6 via 87

The following baby names add up to 87, which reduces to six (8+7=15; 1+5=6).

  • “87” girl names: Paisley, Everly, Mackenzie, Veronica, Justice, Journi, Marisol, Marlowe, Blessing, Tallulah
  • “87” boy names: Vincent, Victor, Stephen, Joaquin, Kolton, Dustin, Braylon, Justice, Layton, Sonny

6 via 96

The following baby names add up to 96, which reduces to six (9+6=15; 1+5=6).

  • “96” girl names: Destiny, Mallory, Kristen, Vivianne, Shirley, Ellisyn, Kirsten, Maddilynn, Blakelynn, Journii
  • “96” boy names: Weston, Stanley, Ernesto, Turner, Jayvion, Pierson, Knowledge, Townes, Triton, Rexton

6 via 105

The following baby names add up to 105, which reduces to six (1+0+5=6).

  • “105” girl names: Wynter, Dorothy, Christine, Esperanza, Viktoria, Kristine, Alysson, Jessalyn, Huntley, Cypress
  • “105” boy names: Lorenzo, Maximilian, Gustavo, Tristen, Xzavier, Johnathon, Tytus, Huntley, Cypress, Giovonni

6 via 114

The following baby names add up to 114, which reduces to six (1+1+4=6).

  • “114” girl names: Rosemary, Jazzlyn, Josslyn, Brynnleigh, Joselynn, Vittoria, Waylynn, Treazure, Austynn, Alyssandra
  • “114” boy names: Winston, Princeton, Demetrius, Juancarlos, Townsend, Stavros, Waylynn, Sovereign, Leanthony, Moustapha

6 via 123

The following baby names add up to 123, which reduces to six (1+2+3=6).

  • “123” girl names: Monserrat, Antoinette, Riverlyn, Kimberlynn, Quetzalli, Preslynn, Joycelynn, Maryfrances, Starlynn, Rosealynn
  • “123” boy names: Maxamillion, Johnthomas, Timmothy, Greyston, Alexzavier, Grizzly, Lovensky, Cordarious

6 via 132

The following baby names add up to 132, which reduces to six (1+3+2=6).

  • “132” girl names: Westlynn, Timberlynn, Ramatoulaye
  • “132” boy names: Maximilliano, Bartholomew, Marcanthony, Apostolos, Ellsworth, Truxton, Alexanderjames, Josedejesus

6 via 141

The following baby names add up to 141, which reduces to six (1+4+1=6).

  • “141” girl names: Livingston
  • “141” boy names: Youssouf, Livingston, Fiyinfoluwa, Trystyn

6 via 150

The following baby names add up to 150, which reduces to six (1+5+0=6).

  • “150” girl names: Kourtlynn, Morireoluwa, Ibukunoluwa, Montzerrat
  • “150” boy names: Ibukunoluwa, Luisenrique, Morireoluwa, Oluwamayowa

6 via 159

The following baby names add up to 159, which reduces to six (1+5+9=15; 1+5=6).

  • “159” girl names: Krystalynn, Charlotterose

6 via 168

The following baby names add up to 168, which reduces to six (1+6+8=15; 1+5=6).

  • “168” girl names: Oluwasemilore, Chrysanthemum
  • “168” boy names: Quintavious, Oluwasemilore

6 via 177

The girl name Oluwajomiloju adds up to 177, which reduces to six (1+7+7=15; 1+5=6).

What Does “6” Mean?

First, we’ll look at the significance assigned to “6” by two different numerological sources. Second, and more importantly, ask yourself if “6” or any of the intermediate numbers above have any special significance to you.

Numerological Attributes

“6” (the hexad) according to the Pythagoreans:

  • “They rightly call it ‘reconciliation’: for it weaves together male and female by blending, and not by juxtaposition as the pentad does. And it is plausibly called ‘peace,’ and a much earlier name for it, based on the fact that it organizes things, was ‘universe’: for the universe, like 6, is often seen as composed of opposites in harmony”
  • “They also called it ‘health’ and ‘anvil’ (as it were, the unwearying one), because it is reasonable to think that the most fundamental triangles of the elements of the universe partake in it, since each triangle is six, if it is divided by three perpendiculars”
  • “It arises out of the first even and first odd numbers, male and female, as a product and by multiplication; hence it is called ‘androgynous.'”
  • “It is also called ‘marriage,’ in the strict sense that it arises not by addition, as the pentad does, but by multiplication. Moreover, it is called ‘marriage’ because it is equal to its own parts, and it is the function of marriage to make offspring similar to parents.”
  • “They also called it…’measurer of time in twos’ because of the distribution of all time, which is accomplished by a hexad of zodiacal signs over the Earth and another under the Earth, or because time, since it has three parts [past, present, future], is assimilated to the triad, and the hexad arises from two threes.”
  • “It is also called ‘Thaleia’ [etym. Greek, “the plentiful one”] because of its harmonizing different things, and ‘panacea,’ either because of its connection with health…or as it were self-sufficiency, because it has been furnished with parts sufficient for wholeness.”

“6” according to Edgar Cayce:

  • “Six – the strength of a three, with a helpful influence” (reading 261-14).
  • “Six being the changes that have been made in the double strength of three” (reading 261-15).
  • “Six – again makes for the beauty and the symmetrical forces of all numbers, making for strength” (reading 5751-1).
Personal/Cultural Significance

Does “6” — or do any of the other numbers above (e.g., 33, 42, 96, 123) — have any special significance to you?

Think about your own preferences and personal experiences: lucky numbers, birth dates, music, sports, and so on. For example, maybe your favorite book is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which highlights the number 42.

Also think about associations you may have picked up from your culture, your religion, or society in general.

If you have any interesting insights about the number 6, or any of the other numbers above, please leave a comment!

Source: Theologumena Arithmeticae, attributed to Iamblichus (c.250-c.330).

Name Spotting: Malancthon

sign, colorado, names
Sign inside Garden of the Gods

We visited the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs recently and, inside this park, we spotted a “What’s In a Name?” sign that described how the park got its name back in the 1850s:

As they looked over this area of cathedral-like rock spires, one man, Malancthon Beach, commented that the spot would be a great place for a beer garden someday. His friend, a poetic young man named Rufous Cable, replied that it was a place “fit for the Gods.”

It’s a cool story, but, to me, that first name “Malancthon” is way more interesting than the origin of the park name. Where did it come from?

My best guess is that Malancthon is a tribute to 16th-century German theologian Philipp Melanchthon, one of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation. His surname at birth was Schwartzerd (“black earth” in German), but as a young man he Latinized his name to the classical equivalent Melanchthon (“black earth” in Greek).

CCC Company 1848, Camp SP-13-C, Morrison, Colorado

We also saw some names at Red Rocks, which is both a park and a famous amphitheater.

The amphitheater was constructed from 1936 to 1941 by men in the Civilian Conservation Corps, a work relief program that existed during the Great Depression. One display included a photo of 124 of the men in the local CCC. Here are their first names, sorted by frequency:

  • 5: Joe, Raymond
  • 4: Charles
  • 3: Arthur, Clarence, Edward
  • 2: Bill, Byron, Carl, David, Earnest, Edwin, Everett, Jack, James, Leo, Maurice, William
  • 1: Aaron, Albert, Aldine, Alfonso, Allen, Alva, Amos, Ancelmo, Arleigh, Aubrey, Audrey, Barnett, Blaine, Calvin, Celestino, Charley, Claud, Claude, Clayton, Cleston, Dale, Damas, Dan, Darold, Dick, Don, Donald, Ed, Elden, Elias, Elipio, Emerson, Emilio, Eric, Ernest, Eston, Fares, Frank, Fred, Glenn, Grant, Gust, Guy, Horace, Hubert, Irvin, Jake, Jasper, Jesse, Jim, John, Jose, Kenneth, Lawrence, Leland, Leonard, Lester, Louis, Lyman, Manual, Marvin, Max, Merce, Noah, Norman, Orval, Pasqual, Paul, Pete, Richard, Rowland, Rudolfo, Russel, Russell, Sandeford, Trenton, Willard

…What interesting names have you spotted while out and about recently?

Name quotes #49: Stan, Alessia, Nanu

From “Dido: My Son Is Not Named After My Hit Song” at People‘s Celebrity Babies blog:

Dido’s duet with Eminem…”Stan,” [was] a collaboration which she never imagined fans would connect to her son’s moniker.

“Stanley was actually our favorite name, coincidentally both of our favorite names. He could never have been called anything else to be honest,” Dido shares. “I’m so stupid, I didn’t think anyone would make the connection.”

Proud of her choice, Dido jokes the name game in her family is always a fun affair. “It’s fine,” she says of her final decision. “I was named after a crazy queen who threw herself on a fire.”

(Here’s more on Dido’s name.)

From “An Open Letter to Anyone Considering a Unique Name For Their Baby” by Alessia Santoro at PopSugar:

I’m 26 years old and I can probably count on two hands the number of times a person has gotten the pronunciation of my name right on the first go — a surprising minority, considering it has the word “less” right in it. Whenever someone does get it right, my jaw drops, because these moments are few and very far between — I often consider hugging the person for making me feel so normal. But the other 99 percent of the time, people get my name wrong.

From the Kent City Council’s online timeline of the First World War:

Raida Margaret Fanny Collins…was born on the night of an air raid over Newington in September.

Her christening on 4th November 1917 is recorded in the diary of Florence Fitch Palmer, organist at the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Newington.

From the chapter about Clara Louise Burnham in the 1918 book The Women who Make Our Novels by Grant Martin Overton:

The beginning of this capital story [The Opened Shutters] was not with Tide Mill, however, but with the name Thinkright Johnson. Like certain persons whose appearance before Mrs. Burnham’s mind’s eye has compelled her to write about them, this New Englandish appellation gave birth to a book. Thinkright Johnson–Thinkright Johnson; the name haunted Mrs. Burnham for days and weeks, “till I knew that the only way I could have any peace was to write something about him.”

From “A Puppy Called Marvin” by Julie Lasky in the New York Times:

Clara is my 2-year-old Wheaten terrier and one of several dogs in my neighborhood with a name that sounds as if it came from a shuffleboard tournament on a golden-years cruise. Among her pals, Fern is red-nose pit bull, Alfie is (mostly) a black lab and Eleanor is a mix of Bernese mountain dog and poodle.

This pack has led me to conclude that whereas we look back to remote centuries when giving children trendy names like Emma, Sebastian, Julian or Charlotte, we name our dogs after our grandparents.

[…]

This means that future generations of dogs should be prepared to be called the mom-and-dad names of today. Names like Kimberly, Jason and Heather.

From “If it’s forbidden to call a baby Cyanide, should Chardonnay be allowed?” by Charles Moore in The Spectator:

The country nowadays is full of children burdened with grotesque names. Are we to ban them? If you forbid Cyanide, should you permit Chardonnay? A further complication is that the little girl is a twin, and her mother wanted to call her twin brother Preacher. This too Lady Justice King forbade because, although Preacher ‘might not be an objectionable name’, ‘there was considerable benefit for the boy twin to be in the same position as his sister’ and for both to be named, as was proposed, by their half-siblings. We are not told what names the half-siblings want. I do hope it is something kind and simple, like Jack and Jill.

From “France names row: Politician hits back over criticism of daughter’s name” at the BBC:

Rachida Dati reacted angrily after journalist Eric Zemmour criticised her choice of name for seven-year-old daughter Zohra.

He said it was unpatriotic because it did not come from an official list of French Christian names.

[…]

He added: “I consider that by giving Muslim first names, you are refusing to accept the history of France.”

[…]

“Do you find it scandalous to give your mother’s name to your children?” [Rachita Dati] asked, in a vigorous defence of her choice of name.

“I loved my mother. I have a little girl, and I called her after my mother. Like millions of French people do every day.”

From the 2013 book The Lahu Minority in Southwest China: A Response to Ethnic Marginalization on the Frontier by Jianxiong Ma:

When a baby is born, his or her name is decided by the birthday tiled by the twelve zodiac days together with gender, so he or she will normally be named Za Birthday for male or Na Birthday for female. For example, if two babies were born on the rat day (fa ni) and the ox day (nu ni) respectively, if they are boys, their names should be Zafa and Zanu, but if they are girls, their names should be Nafa and Nanu, and so on. […] In general, there are about 45 names that can be used in the village for individual persons, even though the very basic names total 24, twelve days for both male and female members.

(The extra baby names used by the Lahu are essentially replacement names used in case of childhood sickness. These replacement names also follow specific formulas.)