How popular is the baby name Hugh 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 Hugh.

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Popularity of the baby name Hugh


Posts that mention the name Hugh

What popularized the baby name Corliss in the 1940s?

The character Corliss Archer (played by Shirley Temple) from the film "Kiss and Tell" (1945)
Corliss Archer from “Kiss and Tell“

After re-emerging in the U.S. baby name data in 1943, the name Corliss went on to feature in the girls’ top 1,000 from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s.

  • 1946: 182 baby girls named Corliss [rank: 591st]
  • 1945: 80 baby girls named Corliss [rank: 843rd]
  • 1944: 70 baby girls named Corliss [rank: 918th]
  • 1943: 44 baby girls named Corliss
  • 1942: unlisted
  • 1941: 6 baby girls named Corliss

(The spelling Corlis also saw higher usage during that period, and Corless was a one-hit wonder in 1947.)

What accounts for the trendiness of Corliss during those years?

A fictional teenage girl named Corliss Archer.

Created by writer F. Hugh Herbert, the “energetic and vivacious” Corliss was introduced in early 1943 as the central character of…

  • A series of six short stories published in the popular women’s magazine Good Housekeeping (starting in January),
  • The radio program Meet Corliss Archer (which also started in January), and
  • The Broadway play Kiss and Tell (which premiered in March).

In 1945, the play was adapted into a film of the same name starring 17-year-old Shirley Temple. The following year (which, admittedly, was the first year of the baby boom) the name Corliss reached peak usage.

Shirley Temple also starred in a second Corliss Archer film, A Kiss for Corliss, which was released in 1949.

The character Corliss Archer from the TV series "Meet Corliss Archer" (1954-55)
Corliss Archer from “Meet Corliss Archer“

During the 1950s, the radio program Meet Corliss Archer was adapted to television twice:

  • In the first adaptation, which was broadcast live on CBS from 1951 to 1952, Corliss was played by Lugene Sanders.
  • In the second, which was produced for first-run syndication during the 1954-55 season, Corliss was played by Ann Baker (above).

The radio program itself remained on the air for more than 13 years, until mid-1956.

I’m not sure why F. Hugh Herbert chose “Corliss” as the name of the character. (Perhaps he was inspired by Corliss Palmer?) But I do know that the character was based on his own teenage daughters, Diana and Pamela. He wrote,

I merely had to put into the lips of Corliss some of their more pungent phrases, into the life of Corliss some of their exuberant high spirits, their natural gaiety, bounce, and charm.

Sources:

Image: Screenshots of Kiss and Tell (1945) and Meet Corliss Archer (1954-55)

Baby born in Australia, named after Melbourne Cup winner (1934)

horse

In 1934, the winner of Australia’s prestigious annual horse race, the Melbourne Cup, was a horse named Peter Pan (ridden by a jockey named David Hugh “Darby” Munro).

On the day of the race, a baby boy was born to Mr. and Mrs. Frank Maloney of Meekatharra — an outback town in Western Australia.

The baby’s name? Peter Pan.

P.S. Two other Australian babies named for Melbourne Cup winners are Wotan and Patrona.

Source: “Baby Named After Cup Winner.” Daily Advertiser 8 Nov. 1934: 8.

Image: Adapted from Dealer’s pic without lead rope by Cjambla under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Where did the baby name Cavett come from in 1973?

Talk show host Dick Cavett (in 1971)
Dick Cavett

The surname Cavett made its first and only appearance in the U.S. baby name data in the early 1970s:

  • 1975: unlisted
  • 1974: unlisted
  • 1973: 5 baby boys named Cavett [debut]
  • 1972: unlisted
  • 1971: unlisted

What put it there?

My guess is Dick Cavett, host of The Dick Cavett Show.

Different versions of Cavett’s Emmy-winning talk show were broadcast on television from the late ’60s to the early 2000s, but the most popular incarnation aired late-night on ABC — opposite Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show on NBC — from 1969 to 1974.

What differentiated Cavett from Carson? Cavett had a more intellectual approach to comedy, and also interviewed a wider range of guests — not just movie stars and musicians, but also filmmakers, athletes, authors, journalists, politicians, activists, scientists, artists, and so forth. Cavett’s guests included Alfred Hitchcock, Arthur C. Clarke, Bobby Fischer, Christiaan Barnard, Harland Sanders, Hugh Hefner, Jackie Robinson, Jacques Cousteau, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon (and Yoko Ono), Louis Armstrong, Muhammad Ali, Orson Welles, and Salvador Dalí.

Cavett’s Scottish surname was derived from a similar French surname, Cavet, which originally referred to either someone who worked with a cavet (a type of hoe) or someone who lived near or in a cave.

What are your thoughts on Cavett as a first name?

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of The Dick Cavett Show

Where did the baby name Aleera come from in 2005?

The character Aleera from the movie "Van Helsing" (2004).
Aleera from “Van Helsing“

Happy Halloween! Today let’s look at the name Aleera, which first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 2005:

  • 2007: 7 baby girls named Aleera
  • 2006: 8 baby girls named Aleera
  • 2005: 12 baby girls named Aleera [debut]
  • 2004: unlisted
  • 2003: unlisted

What put it there?

The action/gothic horror film Van Helsing, which was released in mid-2004.

Set in Transylvania in the 1880s, the movie and depicted legendary monster-hunter Gabriel Van Helsing (played by Hugh Jackman) battling Dracula and his three brides: Verona, Marishka, and Aleera.

All three vampire-brides were slayed over the course of the film — Marishka first, Verona second, and Aleera third. Because Aleera (played by Spanish actress Elena Anaya) lasted the longest, it seems logical to assume that she had the biggest influence on movie-going audiences.

The name Verona saw a slight rise in usage in 2004, and this could have been due to the film as well. Same with the name Marishka, though the even-steeper rise of Mariska makes me suspect that both names were influenced by SVU actress Mariska Hargitay rather than by Dracula’s bride.

What are your thoughts on the name Aleera? Which of the three brides’ names do you like most?

Sources: Van Helsing – Rotten Tomatoes, Van Helsing (film) – Wikipedia, SSA
Image: Screenshot of Van Helsing