How popular is the baby name Jackie 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 Jackie.

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Popularity of the baby name Jackie


Posts that mention the name Jackie

What popularized the baby name Elle in 2002?

The character Elle Woods from the movie "Legally Blonde" (2001)
Elle Woods from “Legally Blonde“

The baby name Elle, which had been rising slowly since the mid-1990s, more than doubled in usage in 2002:

  • 2004: 596 baby girls named Elle [rank: 494th]
  • 2003: 497 baby girls named Elle [rank: 556th]
  • 2002: 418 baby girls named Elle [rank: 612th]
  • 2001: 197 baby girls named Elle
  • 2000: 181 baby girls named Elle

What gave Elle a boost that year?

My guess is the bubbly main character of the movie Legally Blonde, which came out in July of 2001.

At the beginning of the film, Elle Woods (played by Reese Witherspoon) — a sorority girl obsessed with the color pink — got dumped by her blue-blooded boyfriend, Warner. (“Elle, If I’m going to be a senator, well, I need to marry a Jackie, not a Marilyn.”)

Elle decided to win Warner back by following him to Harvard Law School. She managed to gain admission, but struggled to fit in once she arrived. Eventually — thanks to her positivity and determination — Elle made friends, found success, and forgot all about Warner.

Legally Blonde was a surprise hit at the box office, and its main character proved so memorable that, twenty years later, the New York Times stated: “She remains an emblem for challenging stereotypes and embracing female empowerment in the face of misogyny.”

The movie was based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Amanda Brown, who attended Stanford Law School for two years in the mid-1990s. While there, she “spent her class time thumbing through Elle magazine and lampooning her classmates in letters home.” Those letters were the basis of Legally Blonde, the protagonist of which was named after the French fashion magazine. (The French pronoun elle means “she.”)

What are your thoughts on the name Elle?

P.S. The acceleration of the rise of Ella in 2002 may have been spurred by the movie as well.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Legally Blonde

D.C. sextuplets: Emily, Richard, Octavia, Stella, Ann-Marie, Alison

Thompson sextuplets
The five surviving Thompson sextuplets

In May of 1997, Washington, D.C., couple Linden and Jacqueline “Jackie” Thompson welcomed sextuplets.

What were the names of all six babies? Here are their firsts and middles:

  • Emily Elizabeth
  • Richard Linden
  • Octavia Daniella
  • Stella Kimberly
  • Ann-Marie Amanda
  • Alison Nicole (stillborn)

Richard was named after Linden’s late brother, Octavia after Jackie’s mother, Stella after Jackie’s grandmother, and Ann-Marie after Jackie’s sister. The name of the fifth surviving sextuplet, Emily, was one that Jackie simply liked. (Emily was the #1 girl name in the nation from 1996 to 2007.)

Despite being the first black family in the U.S. to have sextuplets, the Thompsons didn’t receive much in the way of publicity or material assistance.

Six months later, the white McCaughey family of Iowa welcomed septuplets. The McCaugheys received not just media attention but “a 12-seat Chevrolet van, baby food, Pampers, clothes, car seats, strollers, milk, groceries and even funding for the children’s college education.”

Eventually — thanks to “the rage of the black community, echoing through black radio talk shows” — the mainstream media covered the Thompson family, and this “exposure forced the corporate community and others to intervene and assist the Thompsons.”

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the cover of Jet magazine (29 Dec. 1997)

What gave the baby name Sherry a boost in 1962?

The Four Seasons album "Sherry & 11 Others" (1962)
Four Seasons album

The baby name Sherry, already popular in the early 1960s, reached peak usage in 1962 specifically:

  • 1964: 8,495 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 50th]
  • 1963: 9,065 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 49th]
  • 1962: 9,226 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 48th]
  • 1961: 8,358 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 53rd]
  • 1960: 8,314 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 54th]

What accounts for that sudden jump into the girls’ top 50?

The song “Sherry” by The Four Seasons, a vocal quartet led by Frankie Valli (and his distinctive falsetto).

“Sherry,” the group’s second single, was released in July of 1962. In mid-September it reached #1 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart (dethroning “Sheila” by Tommy Roe). It remained in the top spot for five weeks straight.

Here’s what “Sherry” sounds like:

Originally entitled “Terry,” the song was written (in about fifteen minutes) by Four Seasons member Bob Gaudio. When Bob shared it with the rest of the group, the reaction was mixed: “[S]ome of the guys liked it and some didn’t.”

Unable to come to a consensus, they played it for their producer, Bob Crewe, over the phone. Crewe loved the song, but not the name. He considered replacing it with Jackie (after First Lady Jackie Kennedy) and Peri (the name of one of his record labels) before settling upon Sherry — a respelling of Cheri, the name of the daughter of one of his good friends, New York disc jockey Jack Spector.

What are your thoughts on the name Sherry? (Do you like it more or less than Sheila?)

P.S. The name’s steep rise in 1946 may be largely attributable to the baby boom, but I think a second influence was the 1946 western Abilene Town, which featured a character named Sherry (played by actress Rhonda Fleming).

Sources:

What gave the baby name Jodell a boost in 1952?

Jodell Stirmlinger (1931-2018), top 10 at Miss USA 1952
Jodell Stirmlinger

According to the U.S. baby name data, the uncommon name Jodell more than doubled in usage in 1952:

  • 1954: 31 baby girls named Jodell (8 born in Minnesota)
  • 1953: 24 baby girls named Jodell (7 born in Minnesota)
  • 1952: 37 baby girls named Jodell (16 born in Minnesota)
  • 1951: 16 baby girls named Jodell (5 born in Minnesota)
  • 1950: 19 baby girls named Jodell

Over half of the usage that year was in Minnesota. (The name seems to have been relatively popular in Minnesota to begin with, though.)

What caused the spike?

Beauty queen Jodell Stirmlinger, who represented Minnesota at the very first Miss USA pageant, held in June of 1952.

She wasn’t crowned Miss USA 1952, but she did place inside the top 10.

Interestingly, the Miss USA pageant — which does not require delegates to demonstrate a talent (e.g., singing, dancing, performing a monologue) — was founded by the Catalina swimsuit company, a former sponsor of the Miss America pageant. When Miss America 1951, Yolande Fox, refused to pose in Catalina swimsuits during the year of her reign, the company pulled its funding and launched a rival pageant.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Jodell?

P.S. The winner of Miss USA 1952, Jackie Loughery of New York, was married for several years to Jack Webb, the creator of shows like Dragnet, Adam-12, and Emergency! (which drew attention to the baby name Gage in the 1970s).

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the Jackson Sun (25 Jun. 1952)