How popular is the baby name Jacqueline 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 Jacqueline.

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Popularity of the baby name Jacqueline


Posts that mention the name Jacqueline

Which 1940s teenager name do you like best?

Six 18-year-olds from Omaha, 1941
Six 18-year-olds from Omaha, 1941

Omaha’s WOW radio station went on the air on April 2, 1923. The day it turned 18, the station threw a party and invited six teenage girls who were born in Omaha on the very same day.

The young lassies shown toasting WOW with a glass of punch and a piece of birthday cake are, left to right: Blanche Zaloudek, Roslyn Levy, Jacqueline Giles, Helen Rummelhart, Elaine Kinzli, and De Lorse McCarty.

My guess is that “De Lorse” is a variant of Delores, which was trendy in the 1920s.

Which name do you like best? Why?

  • Blanche
  • De Lorse
  • Elaine
  • Helen
  • Jacqueline
  • Roslyn

The fun call letters “WOW” were a reference to Omaha’s Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society, which owned the radio station.

Source: “”Sextuplets” Guests at Radio WOW Birthday Part.” Radio News Tower [Omaha, Nebraska] 1 May 1941: 1.

Unusual baby name: Jacomyn

The female name Jacomyn caught my eye as I was browsing through Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature by Charles W. Bardsley recently

Jacomyn, part of the massive James/Jacob name-group, fell out of usage in England centuries ago (though an equivalent name, Jacomijn, still sees usage among the Dutch).

I’m not sure how the final syllable would have been pronounced — short like Evelyn? long like Adeline? — but I do know that the name was spelled all sorts of ways back in the 16th and 17th centuries:

  • Jacomyn Prentis, born in 1568 in London
  • Jacomin Tapshall, born in 1638 in Dover
  • Jacomyne Slade, born in 1614 in London
  • Jackomyn Boxsall, born in 1564 in Lodsworth
  • Jackamin Greene, born in 1672 in London
  • Jackamyn Wodestock, born in 1562 in Croydon
  • Jackemyne Trovell, born in 1576 in Ullingswick

I wonder if modern parents would be interested in Jacomyn as an alternative to more common James/Jacob-based feminine names like Jamie and Jacqueline…?

Would you consider using the name Jacomyn?

Most popular lengths for baby names, 2016

The long and short of it is that U.S. parents don’t choose long and short baby names as often as they choose mid-length baby names. The most popular lengths for baby names in 2016? 6 letters, followed by 5 letters, followed by 7 letters…yet again.

Here’s a chart showing the length breakdown for girl names:

lengths, girl names, baby names, 2016, chart

The most-used girl names per length (from 2 to 10 letters) last year were…

And here’s the breakdown for boy names:

lengths, boy names, baby names, 2016, chart

The most-used boy names per length (from 2 to 10 letters) were…

Finally, here are both genders on the same chart:

lengths, boy names, baby names, girl names, 2016, chart

Here’s last year’s post on the top name lengths of 2015, if you’d like to compare.

How did John F. Kennedy influence baby names in the 1960s?

President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)
John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy was elected U.S. president in late 1960, and began serving his term in early 1961.

He was assassinated while riding in a motorcade through the streets of Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963 — 53 years ago today.

During the first half of the 1960s — especially around the time of the assassination — all three of his names saw increased usage on the U.S. baby name charts. In fact, both Fitzgerald and Kennedy (as a male name) saw their highest-ever usage in 1964:

Boys named JohnBoys named FitzgeraldBoys named Kennedy
196571,563 [rank: 2nd]58 [rank: 970th]122 [rank: 674th]
196482,541 [rank: 2nd]125† [rank: 691st]230† [rank: 516th]
196378,645 [rank: 2nd]52 158 [rank: 624th]
196278,450 [rank: 3rd]1085 [rank: 828th]
196179,910 [rank: 3rd]24177 [rank: 592nd]
196076,124 [rank: 4th].117 [rank: 723rd]
195976,425 [rank: 4th].21
†Peak usage

Intriguingly, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum maintains a small collection of correspondence regarding babies named after JFK. The collection consists of 34 items (mostly typewritten and handwritten letters/telegrams) delivered from 1960 to 1963 that document eight specific JFK namesakes. Here are most of them:

  • John Kennedy Adjei, born circa 1961 in Kumasi, Ghana
  • John Kennedy Grant, born in July, 1960, in Haverstraw, New York
  • John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jones, born on July 15, 1960, in Massillon, Ohio
  • John Fitzgerald Kennedy, born on August 17, 1960, at Minot AFB in North Dakota
  • John Fitzgerald Kennedy, born on September 8, 1960, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania
  • John Kennedy Twyman, born on May 15, 1960, in Cincinnati, Ohio

JFK’s wife Jacqueline and daughter Caroline also influenced U.S. baby names during the early 1960s:

Girls named JacquelineGirls named JackieGirls named Caroline
19659,412 [rank: 47th]2,443 [rank: 156th]1,815 [rank: 187th]
196411,976† [rank: 37th]3,235 [rank: 128th]2,106 [rank: 179th]
19638,561 [rank: 51st]2,821 [rank: 142nd]1,690 [rank: 208th]
19629,833 [rank: 44th]3,611 [rank: 126th]1,989 [rank: 186th]
196110,982 [rank: 37th]4,257† [rank: 112th]2,199 [rank: 176th]
19605,652 [rank: 85th]2,983 [rank: 144th]1,209 [rank: 254th]
19594,324 [rank: 111th]2,737 [rank: 155th]1,043 [rank: 274th]
†Peak usage

P.S. Did you know that Jacqueline Kennedy pronounced her name “JAK-uh-leen“?

Source: SSA

Image: John F. Kennedy – U.S. National Archives

[Latest update: May 2024]