How popular is the baby name Howard 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 Howard.

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Popularity of the baby name Howard


Posts that mention the name Howard

Popular baby names in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1867

19th-century Providence, Rhode Island
19th-century Providence

The registrar of Providence, Rhode Island, published a series of documents listing all “of the names of persons deceased, born and married in the city of Providence” during years 1866, 1867 and 1868. The series may have been longer, but these are the only documents I could find online.

I’ve finally finished creating a set of rankings using one of the documents — 1867. But before we get to the rankings, here are some stats:

  • 1,547 babies were born in Providence in 1867, going by the number of babies listed in the document itself. According to the document’s introduction, though, the number is 1,625. Not sure what to make of this discrepancy.
  • 1,431 of these babies (713 girls and 718 boys) had names that were registered with the government at the time of publication. The other 116 babies got blank spaces. Either their names hadn’t been registered yet, or they hadn’t been named yet, or perhaps they died young and never received a name.
  • 254 unique names (141 girl names and 113 boy names) were shared among these 1,431 babies.

And now, on to the names…

Top 5

A quick look at the top 5 girl names and boy names in Providence in 1867:

Top baby girl namesTop baby boy names
1. Mary
2. Catherine
3. Ellen
4. Margaret
5. Sarah		1. John
2. William
3. James
4. Charles
5. George

All Girl Names

Notice how the #1 name, Mary, was bestowed three times as often as the #2 name, Catherine.

  1. Mary, 138 baby girls
  2. Catherine, 46
  3. Ellen, 37
  4. Margaret, 34
  5. Sarah, 31
  6. Annie, 19
  7. Elizabeth, 16
  8. Alice, 15
  9. Florence, 14
  10. Ann, Emma & Ida, 12 each (3-way tie)
  11. Minnie, 11
  12. Harriet & Julia, 9 each (2-way tie)
  13. Anna, Caroline, Carrie, Jennie, Joanna & Louisa, 8 each (6-way tie)
  14. Cora & Eliza, 7 each (2-way tie)
  15. Agnes, Clara, Edith, Rosanna & Theresa, 6 each (5-way tie)
  16. Bertha, Grace, Hannah, Hattie, Jane, Lillian, Maria, Martha, Nellie & Susan, 5 each (10-way tie)
  17. Eleanor, Fannie, Gertrude, Helen, Isabella, Lucy & Rosa, 4 each (7-way tie)
  18. Anne, Bridget, Ella, Emily, Esther, Eva, Lizzie, Mabel, Matilda & Ruth, 3 each (10-way tie)
  19. Ada, Amelia, Charlotte, Dora, Eleanora, Elvira, Henrietta, Jessie, Josephine, Kate, Louise, Lydia, Maggie & Rosella, 2 each (14-way tie)
  20. Abby, Addie, Adelaide, Adelia, Almina, Almira, Amanda, Amey, Amy, Anastasia, Angelie, Annis, Antoinette, Augusta, Aurelia, Bethiah, Cecelia, Celia, Clarissa, Clementina, Corielynn, Cornelia, Drusilla, Effie, Emeline, Estella, Ethelin, Fanny, Florentina, Frances, Gelie, Genevieve, Georgiana, Georgianna, Helena, Honora, Irene, Isabel, Issie, Juliann, Julietta, Katie, Laura, Leah, Leonora, Lillie, Lillis, Lily, Lottie, Luella, Margaretta, Margery, Margret, Marietta, Maude, May, Millie, Myra, Nelly, Phebe, Robie, Rosalthe, Rose, Selina, Sophia, Susanna, Susannah, Vienna, Viola, Vira, Virginia & Winifred, 1 each (72-way tie)

All Boy Names

  1. John, 87 baby boys
  2. William, 75
  3. James, 64
  4. Charles, 50
  5. George, 45
  6. Thomas, 40
  7. Joseph, 30
  8. Walter, 21
  9. Edward, 16
  10. Francis & Michael, 14 each (2-way tie)
  11. Patrick, 13
  12. Arthur & Robert, 12 each (2-way tie)
  13. Frank, Frederick & Henry, 11 each (3-way tie)
  14. Albert, 9
  15. Daniel & Peter, 8 each (2-way tie)
  16. David, Eugene, Howard & Samuel, 6 each (4-way tie)
  17. Alexander, Louis & Stephen, 5 each (3-way tie)
  18. Harry, Herbert, Hugh & Martin, 4 each (4-way tie)
  19. Carl, Edgar, Everett, Jeremiah & Willie, 3 each (5-way tie)
  20. Abraham, Alfred, Clarence, Cornelius, Dennis, Ernest, Ezra, Franklin, Freddie, Jacob, Jesse, Lewis, Luke, Nicholas, Philip, Sylvester, Theodore, Timothy, 2 each (18-way tie)
  21. Abner, Adam, Adolph, Amos, Andrew, Appleton, Archibald, Ashel, August, Benjamin, Benno, Bernard, Bertram, Burt, Byron, Clifford, Davis, Dexter, Dunlap, Edmund, Edwin, Elmer,* Embert, Forrest, Freddy, Gustav, Herman, Isaac, Jeffrey, Jerome, Josiah, Lucian, Malcolm, Matthew, Maurice, Milton, Nathan, Nehemiah, Nelson, Oren, Oscar, Otto, Owen, Paul, Ralph, Reginald, Richard, Sanford, Seth, Shirley, Sullivan, Terence, Theobald, Victor, Wanton, Warren, Weston, Wheelan, Wilford, 1 each (59-way tie)

*Elmer, who had the middle initial “E.,” was likely named after early Civil War casualty Elmer E. Ellsworth.

Twins & Triplets

Twenty-one sets of twins and two sets of triplets were born in Providence in 1867. (All of these names were accounted for above — I just thought it’d be fun to check out the sibsets.)

Girl-girl twinsGirl-boy twinsBoy-boy twinsTriplets
Annie & Fannie
Annie & Mary
Ann & Ellen
Jennie & Minnie
Margaret & Martha
(blank) & (blank)		Ann & Maurice
Grace & George
Harriet & Albert
Ida & Ashel
Mary & James		Abraham & George
Charles & George
Charles & John
Daniel & David
Dunlap & Frank
Eugene & Timothy
George & John
George & William
James & John
John & Martin		Carl, (blank) & (blank)
James, Alexander & Sarah

I’ll post Providence’s 1866 and 1868 rankings as soon I get them done. Until then, here are two older posts featuring uniquely named Rhode Islanders: Aldaberontophoscophornia (b. 1812) and Idawalley (b. 1842).

Sources:

How did Hoagy Carmichael get his name?

Composer Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael (1899-1981)
Hoagy Carmichael

No doubt you’ve heard of composer Hoagy Carmichael, who wrote the music for “Georgia on My Mind,” “Stardust,” “New Orleans,” “Lazy River,” and other classic pop/jazz songs.

But do you know where his distinctive name came from?

Hoagland Howard “Hoagy” Carmichael was born in Indiana in late 1899 to parents Howard Clyde and Lida Mary Carmichael. He had three sisters named Geogiana (nicknamed Georgia), Martha, and Joanne.

Wikipedia claims Hoagy was named for a circus troupe called “The Hoaglands,” but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

According to an autobiography, right around the time Hoagland was born “[t]here was a new railroad spur being built on the Monon line near Harrodsburg, and some of the surveyors were living in our neighborhood.” One of the railroad men, Harry Hoagland, was boarding with a relative.

Mother liked the unusual and had the imagination and the temperament of a poet, or a piano player. “Well, Hoagland sounds grand!” she said.

My father didn’t mind. “Sure, we can always use my name in the middle.”

Grandma Carmichael raised her hands in horror. “Lida, dear, please don’t name him Hoagland. They’ll nickname him Hoagy for sure. And besides, I like Taylor better.” [Taylor was Grandpa Carmichael’s name.]

Lida’s choice won, and the baby’s name became Hoagland Howard Carmichael.

His grandmother’s nickname prediction did come true, but not for a couple of decades: Hoagland didn’t start going by “Hoagy” until college.

Hoagy went on to marry a woman named Ruth. They had two sons, Hoagy Bix (born in 1938) and Randy Bob (born in 1940). Hoagy Bix’s middle name honors jazz cornetist Leon Bismark “Bix” Beiderbecke, who was a big influence on Hoagy, Sr.:


Hoagy heard a young white cornetist named Bix Beiderbecke and, “it threw my judgment out of kilter.” This was a sound like nothing he’d heard before and when Hoagy played an improvised tune for Bix, the strange young man with a magical horn said, “Whyn’t you write music, Hoagy?” The rest of his life was the answer to Bix’s question.

Randy Bob’s first name was inspired by movie actor Randolph Scott, but I’m not sure where his middle name came from.

What do you think of the name Hoagland? How about Hoagy?

Sources:

Popular baby names in New York City, 2012

Flag of New York
Flag of New York

Two years ago, New York City welcomed 123,231 babies — 63,231 baby boys and exactly 60,000 (!) baby girls.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sophia and Jayden, according to New York City’s Health Department.

Here are NYC’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2012:

Girl names

  1. Sophia, 607 baby girls
  2. Isabella, 565
  3. Emma, 480
  4. Olivia, 475
  5. Emily, 474
  6. Mia, 436
  7. Chloe, 401
  8. Madison, 392
  9. Leah, 379
  10. Ava, 339
  11. Sarah, 333
  12. Abigail, 311
  13. Sofia, 300
  14. Victoria, 265
  15. Ashley, 250
  16. Elizabeth, 248
  17. Rachel, 243
  18. Samantha, 236
  19. Zoe, 234
  20. Esther, 232
  21. Ella, 227
  22. Maya, 220
  23. Gabriella, 212
  24. Hailey, 211
  25. Grace, 182
  26. Hannah, 181 (tie)
  27. Sara, 181 (tie)
  28. Kayla, 177
  29. Chaya, 175
  30. Brianna, 172
  31. Camila, 171
  32. Alexandra, 170
  33. Amelia, 168
  34. Arianna, 167
  35. Miriam, 164
  36. Charlotte, 163
  37. Lily, 161
  38. Kaylee, 158
  39. Chana, 157
  40. Sophie, 156
  41. Melanie, 154
  42. Nicole, 147
  43. Anna, 145
  44. Michelle, 144
  45. Alexa, 142
  46. Evelyn, 141
  47. Eva, 140
  48. Angelina, 139 (tie)
  49. Genesis, 139 (tie)
  50. Aaliyah, 137

Boy names

  1. Jayden, 760 baby boys
  2. Ethan, 732
  3. Jacob, 651
  4. Daniel, 626
  5. Matthew, 596
  6. Michael, 592
  7. Aiden, 591
  8. David, 578
  9. Ryan, 565
  10. Alexander, 546
  11. Joseph, 541
  12. Justin, 465
  13. Mason, 459
  14. Noah, 451
  15. Dylan, 447
  16. Anthony, 433
  17. Joshua, 429
  18. Liam, 399
  19. Lucas, 396
  20. Benjamin, 356
  21. William, 355
  22. Samuel, 354
  23. Christopher, 352
  24. Andrew, 349
  25. Aaron, 348
  26. Kevin, 346
  27. Christian, 342
  28. Jonathan, 339
  29. James, 338
  30. Nicholas, 336
  31. Sebastian, 311
  32. Gabriel, 305
  33. Brandon, 292
  34. Jason, 286
  35. John, 283
  36. Jeremiah, 280
  37. Elijah, 267
  38. Adrian, 257 (3-way tie)
  39. Angel, 257 (3-way tie)
  40. Tyler, 257 (3-way tie)
  41. Adam, 255
  42. Isaac, 254
  43. Nathan, 244
  44. Moshe, 243
  45. Henry, 242
  46. Jack, 238
  47. Evan, 231 (tie)
  48. Julian, 231 (tie)
  49. Eric, 216
  50. Jeremy, 213

The top baby names within specific ethnic/racial groups were…

Top girl namesTop boy names
Hispanic1. Isabella, 327
2. Sophia, 236
3. Mia, 207
4. Emily, 186
5. Sofia, 165		1. Jayden, 364
2. Jacob, 293
3. Matthew, 279
4. Ethan, 254
5. Angel, 236
Asian and Pacific Islander1. Chloe, 172
2. Sophia, 144
3. Olivia, 132
4. Emily, 110
5. Emma, 97		1. Ryan, 197
2. Ethan, 187 (tie)
3. Jayden, 187 (tie)
4. Lucas, 129
5. Justin, 125
Non-Hispanic White1. Emma, 228
2. Leah, 219
3. Sarah, 209
4. Olivia, 198 (tie)
5. Sophia, 198 (tie)		1. Joseph, 300
2. David, 289
3. Michael, 245
4. Jacob, 242
5. Moshe, 238
Non-Hispanic Black1. Madison, 159
2. London, 87
3. Taylor, 71
4. Chloe, 70
5. Abigail, 66		1. Jayden, 171
2. Aiden, 156
3. Ethan, 151
4. Jeremiah, 141
5. Joshua, 124

Among the names given to just 10 babies each in NYC two years ago were the girl names Aura, Gina, Nashla, Sabine, and Zi, and the boy names Cheskel, Howard, Jencarlos, Nikolai, and Warren.

One year earlier, in 2011, NYC’s top names (overall) were Isabella and Jayden.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of New York (public domain)

[Latest update: Jan. 2026]

How did WWI affect the baby name Liberty?

"Ring it Again" poster for Second Liberty Loan of 1917

During World War I, the United States raised money for the war effort by selling Liberty Bonds to citizens.

The government offered a series of four Liberty Loans — two in 1917, two more in 1918.

“For Americans who were not inclined or able to enter into military service, fundraising offered an alternative demonstration of patriotism.”

A handful of parents took this patriotism even further by naming their babies Liberty.

How did this affect the overall popularity of the baby name Liberty?

  • 1919: 25 baby girls named Liberty
  • 1918: 150 baby girls, 14 baby boys named Liberty
  • 1917: 43 baby girls, 8 baby boys named Liberty
  • 1916: 6 baby girls, 7 baby boys named Liberty
  • 1915: (unlisted)
  • 1914: 7 baby girls named Liberty

Liberty became the 585th most popular baby girl name in 1918.

Graph of the usage of the baby name Liberty in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Liberty

(It didn’t enter the top 1,000 again until 1976, the year of the U.S. Bicentennial. It entered a third time in 2001, the year of the 9/11 attacks, and has been a fixture in the top 1,000 ever since.)

Families with the surname Bond must have been especially tempted to name their babies Liberty in 1917 and 1918.

I’ve found records for several babies named Liberty Bond, such as Liberty Lois Bond (b. 1917, California) and Liberty C. Bond (b. 1918, Michigan).

A baby girl who ended up with the name Liberty was born to Wallace and Jenny Bond of Oklahoma in 1917:

Named “Flossie Mae” at birth, her name was changed to “Liberty” when a relative told her father that she would buy Liberty Bonds in her name if he would make the switch. (She resented the name until she got a copy of her birth certificate decades later and learned that she otherwise would have gone through life as Flossie Mae.)

In the early 1950s, Ed Sullivan wrote that actor Ridge Bond had a cousin, born during the first World War, named Liberty Bond. “She married Frank Bell, and her name became Liberty Bell.”

Liberty Bond was also used more than once as a first-middle combination.

For instance, a baby named Liberty Bond Bailey, born in New York in 1918, made national headlines:

News comes from Ithaca, N.Y., that a real, live “Liberty Bond,” weighing nine pounds, arrived in that city on the morning of April 6, simultaneously with the opening of the loan drive and the anniversary of our entrance into the great war. It wasn’t of the accustomed variety, however, but a lusty, named “Liberty Bond” Bailey by his patriotic parents, Mr. and Mrs. Howard C. Bailey of 614 Utica Street. The boy’s parents were so elated by the triple significance of the day that they named the new arrival in honor of the great bond drive.

According to his wife, his name was the doctor’s idea:

“The doctor mentioned it to his mother about the bonds and as he handed (the baby) over, he said, ‘Here’s your liberty bond’,” Garetta Bailey said. “So, she named him Liberty Bond.”

And I’ve found another Liberty Bond Bailey, believe it or not, born almost exactly a year earlier in Oklahoma.

A 1918 newspaper reported that a baby boy born to Mr. and Mrs. Alex Sleime of West Virginia was named Liberty Bond.

Records suggest that around 8 other babies were also named “Liberty Bond,” including Liberty Bond Todd (b. 1917, Texas) and Liberty Bond Jones (b. 1918, North Carolina).

P.S. Another first-middle combination I spotted a handful of times was “Liberty Loan.” One example: Liberty Loan Hickman, born in Texas in 1917.

Sources:

Image: “Ring it again” poster for Second Liberty Loan of 1917 (public domain)