How popular is the baby name Holly 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 Holly.

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Popularity of the baby name Holly


Posts that mention the name Holly

Popular baby names in Scotland (UK), 2012

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

The most popular baby names in Scotland were announced last week.

According to the General Register Office, the preliminary winners were Jack for boys and Sophie for girls. Jack has been #1 for five years in a row, and Sophie for eight years in a row.

Here are Scotland’s top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of January-November, 2012:

Baby Girl NamesBaby Boy Names
1. Sophie
2. Emily
3. Olivia
4. Ava
5. Lucy
6. Isla
7. Lily
8. Jessica
9. Amelia
10. Mia
11. Millie
12. Eva
13. Ellie
14. Chloe
15. Freya
16. Sophia
17. Grace
18. Emma
19. Hannah
20. Holly		1. Jack
2. Lewis
3. Riley
4. James
5. Logan
6. Daniel
7. Ethan
8. Harry
9. Alexander
10. Oliver
11. Max
12. Tyler
13. Aaron & Charlie [tie]
15. Adam
16. Finlay
17. Alfie
18. Mason
19. Ryan
20. Liam & Lucas [tie]

Some of the names that increased in popularity from 2011 to 2012:

Lola (up 24 places to #63)
Mollie (up 24 places to #68)
Amelia (up 20 places to #9)
Orla (up 19 places to #36)
Hollie (up 18 places to #39)
Georgia (up 13 places to #58)
Lexi (up 12 places to #38)
Lacey (up 12 places to #41)
Poppy (up 11 places to #34)		Harris (up 20 places to #29)
Harrison (up 20 places to #53)
Tyler (up 20 places to #12)
Brodie (up 17 places to #54)
Max (up 15 places to #11)
Mason (up 13 places to #18)
Finn (up 13 places to #66)
Riley (up 11 places to #3)

New to the top 100 are Bella, Darcy, Emelia, Lois, Scarlett and Willow (for girls) and Alex, Blake, Calvin, George, Olly, Sebastian, Shay and Zac (for boys).

Among the names moving downward are Abigail, Chloe, Jasmine and Phoebe (for girls) and Aiden, Jayden and Mohammed for boys. (Aiden is down 16 places to #36; Jayden down 10 places to #40.)

To compare, here’s last year’s post on the top baby names in Scotland.

Scotland’s official rankings will be out after the year ends.

Sources: Jack and Sophie are Scotland’s top baby names, Jack and Sophie top Scots baby names list in 2012, Scotland’s favourite baby names revealed

Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)

Baby names typed by the right hand: Better?

computer keyboard

Years ago, I came up with a list of one-handed baby names — that is, names that are typed with either the left hand or the right hand on a QWERTY keyboard.

Turns out there may be a slight advantage to right-hand names.

According to a study published recently in Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, “the QWERTY keyboard may gradually attach more positive meanings to words with more letters located on the right side of the layout (everything to the right of T, G and B).”

Why?

It has to do with fluency.

We tend to like simplicity over complexity, and the harder-to-type letter pairs are on a QWERTY keyboard’s left side — these two facts together may lead people to prefer words (and names) that are typed on the right.

Which names are typed by the right hand only? My original list:

  • Holly
  • Io
  • Jill, Jim, Jimi, Jimmy, Jin, Jo, John, Johnny, Jon, Joni, Joy, Juho, Juli, Julio, Jun, Juno
  • Kiki, Kim, Kimi, Kimiko, Kimmy, Kimo, Kip, Kiyoko, Kojo, Kollin, Kumiko, Kyou
  • Lili, Lilly, Lilou, Lily, Lin, Lino, Loni, Lonny, Lou, Lulu, Lyn, Lynn
  • Miki, Mikki, Mikko, Milly, Milo, Mimi, Min, Minh, Miyu, Molly, Momoko
  • Nik, Nikhil, Niki, Nikki, Niko, Nikol, Nikon, Nuno
  • Olli, Olujimi, Om
  • Phil, Philip, Phillip, Pio, Polly, Poppy
  • Yoko, Yuko, Yumi, Yumiko

Can you think of any others?

Source: Mosher, Dave. “The QWERTY Effect: How Typing May Shape the Meaning of Words.” Wired 7 Mar. 2012. (h/t Anthony Mitchell, @aem76us)

Image: Adapted from Apple Macintosh Plus Extended Keyboard by MagicTom13 under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Baby born on Betsy Ross’ birthday, named Elizabeth-Ross

Elizabeth "Betsy" Ross (1752-1836)
Betsy Ross

Just 15 seconds after midnight on January 1, 1976 — the first day of the U.S. bicentennial year — Charles and Valerie Hammer welcomed a baby girl at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C.

What did they name their New Year’s Day baby?

Holly Elizabeth-Ross — Holly because she was born during the Christmas season, and Elizabeth-Ross because she was born on the same day as famous flag-maker Betsy Ross.

Here’s what Charles had to say about the middle name:

Betsy Ross also was born Jan. 1, but in 1752. She’s the mother of the flag. She picked the colors, too. She was a very well-read woman, and pretty forward-thinking for her time. That’s the way we want our daughter to be.

Source: “First Baby Named for Betty Ross.” Dispatch [Lexington] 5 Jan. 1976: 1.
Image: Adapted from Birth of Our Nation’s Flag

Baby names you can type with one hand: Carter, Tessa, John, Poppy

computer keyboard

When you sign your first name, you use one hand. But when you type it, chances are you need to use both hands — even if your name is a short as Emma, Gus or Ty.

Have you ever wondered which names can be touch-typed on the standard QWERTY keyboard with one hand only? Me too, so I came up with some lists…

Left-handed baby names

  • Ace, Ada, Adar, Adeva, Aeta, Afra, Agra, Aqsa, Ara, Arda, Ardra, Artra, Asa, Asees, Astra, Astraea, Astrea, Atef, Ava, Awa, Aza, Azeeza, Azza
  • Babette, Barbara, Barrett, Baxter, Bess, Bette, Brad, Brett
  • Cade, Caesar, Cara, Carter, Casara, Case, Cass, Castara, Cedar, Ceres, Cesar, Cresta
  • Dara, Dart, Dasza, Dat, Dave, Dawes, Dax, Deatra, Debra, Dee, Dessa, Devara, Dexter, Drew
  • Ece, Ed, Edgar, Edvards, Edward, Eevee, Efe, Egas, Erva, Esta, Estes, Etta, Eva, Evart, Eve, Everard, Everett, Everts, Evette, Ewart, Eze, Ezra
  • Faraz, Fedde, Fraser, Frazer, Freeda, Fred, Fredda
  • Gage, Garret, Garrett, Gerard, Grace, Greg, Greta, Grete, Gretta
  • Rafer, Rasa, Rava, Rebeca, Rebecca, Reece, Reed, Reese, Retta, Reva, Rever, Rewa, Rex
  • Sabra, Sada, Sadaf, Sade, Safaa, Sagar, Sage, Sara, Saras, Sardar, Sava, Savva, Sea, Seda, Stassa, Steve, Stewart, Svea, Sverre, Sveva
  • Tad, Tage, Taggart, Tara, Tate, Ted, Tera, Teresa, Terrea, Tess, Tessa, Tex, Trace, Tracee, Trava
  • Vada, Varda, Varvara, Vera, Verree, Vesta, Vester
  • Wade, Wafa, Waqas, Ward, Warre, Wes
  • Xara, Xerra, Xerxes
  • Zada, Zara, Zed, Zedd, Zera

How funny is it that Dexter, which comes directly from the Latin word for “right,” is typed with the left hand only?

Right-handed baby names

  • Hli, Hoku, Holli, Holly, Huy
  • Io, Ioli
  • Jill, Ji-Min, Jim, Jimi, Jimmy, Jin, Jo, John, Johnny, Jon, Joni, Joy, Juho, Juli, Julio, Jun, Juni, Juno
  • Khoi, Kiki, Kiko, Kilik, Kim, Kimi, Kimiko, Kimmy, Kimo, Kin, Kip, Kipp, Kippy, Kiyoko, Kiyomi, Kojo, Kollin, Kumiko, Kuno, Kuuipo, Kyou
  • Lili, Lilikoi, Lilio, Lilly, Lilou, Lily, Lin, Linh, Lino, Loki, Loni, Lonny, Lou, Lulu, Lumi, Lyn, Lynn
  • Miki, Mikki, Mikko, Milly, Milo, Mimi, Min, Minh, Minokimin, Miyu, Molly, Momoko
  • Nhi, Nhu, Nik, Nikhil, Niki, Nikki, Niko, Nikol, Nikon, Nikunj, Niilo, Ninon, Nipin, Nolon, Nuno
  • Olli, Olujimi, Om, Onno
  • Phil, Philip, Phillip, Philo, Phu, Pio, Pliny, Plum, Pol, Polly, Pono, Poppy
  • Umiko, Ummul, Umu, Union
  • Yoko, Yuko, Yumi, Yumiko, Yun

I realize that QWERTY “handedness” is not a major baby-naming factor for most people, but I do think it would be cute to pair a one-handed name with another one-handed name — maybe a surname (Teresa Garza, Phillip Hill) or a twin name (Edward & John, Grace & Lily, Zara & Milo). What do you think?

Image: Adapted from Apple Macintosh Plus Extended Keyboard by MagicTom13 under CC BY-SA 3.0.