How popular is the baby name Harbor 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 Harbor.
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Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese on December 7, 1941 — 77 years ago today.
The next year, usage of the baby name Pearl, which had been trending downward since the 1920s, increased nearly 31%:
1945: 654 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 265th]
1944: 757 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 238th]
1943: 878 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 223rd]
1942: 1,092 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 191st]
1941: 835 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 212th]
1940: 908 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 197th]
1939: 901 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 198th]
Some of these post-1941 babies got first-middle combos like “Pearl Victory” and “Pearl Harbor.” (Here’s a “Victory Pearl Harbor.”)
After that 1942 uptick, Pearl’s downward trend continued. Usage was lowest during the last three decades of the 20th century. Since then, usage has picked up somewhat.
Unusual baby names are discussed regularly in the media these days, but I don’t often see the topic come up in old newspapers, which is why I was surprised to find the following in a paper printed in early 1942:
News pictures recently gave publicity to a baby who was born during a practice air-raid blackout and whose mother hit on the expediency of naming her Dawn Siren. Another baby has been named Victory Pearl Harbor.
These names did not impress our anonymous reporter:
Herewith is a brief for all children whose parents give them unusual mirth-provoking or humiliating names. The offending fathers and mothers may be well meaning enough and in some cases the names have significance at the time they are given, but before long the child is hanging his head in shame under the storm of derision of his playmates, or blushing when he gives his name for the roll at school.
Dawn and Victory seem tame nowadays…makes me wonder what this person would have had to say about today’s unusual names.
Speaking of Dawn and Victory, here’s a bit more about them…
Dawn Siren was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Lingerman of Buffalo, New York. She was born “in Lafayette General Hospital during Buffalo’s test blackout Friday night.”
Victory Pearl Harbor was the son of William and Annie Moore of McComb, Mississippi. In the Social Security Death Index (SSDI), he’s listed simply as “Victor Moore.”
“What’s in a name? Plenty.” Spokane Daily Chronicle 6 Jan. 1942: 4.
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