How popular is the baby name Jane 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 Jane.

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Popularity of the baby name Jane


Posts that mention the name Jane

Baby girl gets 139 names: Tracy Mariclaire Lisa…

John and Margaret Nelson of Chesterfield, England, welcomed a baby girl at the very end of 1985. They named their daughter Tracy, but that’s not all they named her. This is Tracy’s full name:

Tracy Mariclaire Lisa Tammy Samantha Christine Alexandra Candy Bonnie Ursala Zoe Nichola Patricia Lynda Kate Jean Sandra Karren Julie Jane Elizabeth Felicity Gabriella Jackie Corina Constance Arabella Clara Honor Geraldine Fiona Erika Fillippa Anabel Elsie Amanda Cheryl Alanna Louisa Angie Beth Crystal Dawn Debbie Eileen Grace Susan Rebecca Valerie Kay Lena Margaret Anna Amy Carol Bella Avril Ava Audry Andrea Daphne Donna Cynthia Cassie Christabel Vivien Wendy Moira Jennifer Abbie Adelaide Carrissa Carla Anne Astrid Barbara Charissa Catalina Bonny Dee Hazel Iris Anthea Clarinda Bernadette Cara Alison Carrie Angela Beryl Caroline Emma Dana Vanessa Zara Violet Lynn Maggie Pamela Rosemary Ruth Cathlene Alexandrina Annette Hilary Diana Angelina Carrinna Victoria Sara Mandy Annabella Beverly Bridget Cecilia Catherine Brenda Jessica Isbella Delilah Camila Candace Helen Connie Charmaine Dorothy Melinda Nancy Mariam Vicki Selina Miriam Norma Pauline Toni Penny Shari Zsa-zsa Queenie Nelson

That’s 139 given names and 1 surname.

Why did John and Margaret do this to their daughter? According to John, “We just wanted to give her something for when she grows up.”

A reason that makes complete sense, of course.

Speaking of things that make sense, let’s pick out some of the needless repetition:

  • Alexandra (#7) and Alexandrina (#103)
  • Amanda (#36) and Mandy (#111)
  • Angela (#89), Angie (#40) and Angelina (#107)
  • Anna (#33), Anne (#74) and Annette (#104)
  • Bella (#56), Annabella (#112), Arabella (#27) and Isbella (#119)
  • Bonnie (#9) and Bonny (#79)
  • Candace (#122) and Candy (#8)
  • Carrissa (#72) and Charissa (#77)
  • Clara (#28) and Clarinda (#84)
  • Constance (#26) and Connie (#124)
  • Corina (#25) and Carrinna (#108)
  • Elizabeth (#21) and Beth (#41)
  • Margaret (#52) and Maggie (#98)
  • Mariam (#129) and Miriam (#131)
  • Victoria (#109) and Vicki (#130)
  • Zara (#95) and Sara (#110)

If you could go back in time and rename this baby, which two names (out of the 139) would you choose as her first and middle names?

Source: “Tracy for short.” Reading Eagle 24 Jan 1986: 1.

Popular baby names in England and Wales (UK), 1837-2005

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

Civil registration began in England and Wales in 1837. Between 1837 and 2005, approximately 318,000,000 names were recorded. The most popular were:

Female names

  1. Elizabeth (1,167,650)
  2. Mary (1,128,958)
  3. Mary Ann (718,245)
  4. Margaret (692,674)
  5. Ann (610,010)
  6. Jane (560,064)
  7. Ellen (512,836)
  8. Sarah (503,947)
  9. Alice (491,250)
  10. Annie (475,101)

Male names

  1. John (2,090,961)
  2. William (1,918,538)
  3. Thomas (1,277,284)
  4. James (1,195,922)
  5. George (1,089,770)
  6. Joseph (729,456)
  7. Robert (585,341)
  8. Arthur (501,581)
  9. Charles (485,873)
  10. David (470,377)

Mary Ann makes things tricky, doesn’t it? Elizabeth took the top spot, but if you lump Mary and Mary Ann together, the total (1,847,203) trumps Elizabeth’s total by a wide margin (679,553). In my mind, this gives Mary a strong case for being declared the true #1 name. What do you think?

Source: Hale, Beth. “John and Elizabeth, most popular British names in record books as Royal monikers reign.” Daily Mail 17 Feb. 2010.

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

Popular baby names in 17th- and 18th-century New England

Elizabeth Clarke Freake (Mrs. John Freake) and Baby Mary (early 1670s)

Caitlin GD Hopkins posted lists of historically popular baby names in Boston, MA, and Windsor, CT, at her blog Vast Public Indifference earlier today.

Using a book of birth records for Boston, she came up with the top male and female names given to babies born in Boston in 1710:

Girl names (Boston, 1710)Boy names (Boston, 1710)
1. Mary
2. Elizabeth
3. Sarah
4. Abigail
5. Susanna
6. Hannah
7. Ann/Anna
8. Rebecca, Lydia (2-way tie)
9. Jane, Martha (2-way tie)
10. Johanna, Katherine, Lucy, Margaret, Mercy, Ruth (6-way tie)		1. John
2. William
3. Thomas
4. James
5. Samuel, Joseph (2-way tie)
6. Nathaniel
7. Jonathan
8. Richard, Henry, Daniel (3-way tie)
9. Abraham, Benjamin, Ebenezer, Edward, Francis, Josiah, Robert (7-way tie)

Then she used church records from 1635 to 1680 to come up with a similar list for Windsor, CT (which is about 100 miles southwest of Boston):

Girl names (Windsor, 1600s)Boy names (Windsor, 1600s)
1. Mary
2. Sarah
3. Elizabeth
4. Abigail
5. Hanna
6. Rebecca
7. Ann/Anna, Deborah (2-way tie)
8. Joanna, Martha (2-way tie)
9. Esther/Hester, Mindwell (2-way tie)
10. Hepzibah		1. John
2. Samuel
3. Thomas
4. Nathaniel
5. Joseph
6. Josiah
7. Benjamin
8. Jonathan
9. Isaac
10. Daniel, William (2-way tie)
11. Timothy
12. James

Caitlin noted an interesting “secular/Biblical divide” between baby names chosen at the two locations.

Update: Hopkins just posted a follow-up post with more interesting name commentary.

Celebrity baby name: Satyana

American actress Alyson Hannigan
Alyson Hannigan

Several weeks ago, actress Alyson Hannigan (of How I Met Your Mother) and actor Alexis Denisof welcomed their first child, a baby girl.

Her name?

Satyana Marie.

How did they come up with it? Here’s what Alyson said:

The root of her name means “truth” in Sanskrit, and we added the “ana” to make it go better with my husband’s last name, which is Russian. Her middle name is Marie after my aunt. We often call her Sati though.

What do you think of the name?

Update, May 2011: The name Satyana debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 2010!

Update, Jun. 2012: Alyson and Alexis have just welcomed a second child, a daughter named Keeva Jane.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from How I Met Your Mother cast by Francis Orante under CC BY-SA 2.0.

[Latest update: Nov. 2024]