How popular is the baby name Jean 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 Jean.

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Popularity of the baby name Jean


Posts that mention the name Jean

Where did the baby name Kerensa come from in 1965?

The Legend of the Seventh Virgin, a historical romance novel set in Cornwall, came out in 1964. It was written by “Victoria Holt,” one of the pen names of prolific English author Eleanor Hibbert.

The next year, not only did the book appear on the New York Times bestseller list, but two character names appeared in the U.S. baby name data.

The one that saw the most usage was Kerensa, from the name of the main character, Kerensa Carlee.

  • 1967: 15 baby girls named Kerensa
  • 1966: 12 baby girls named Kerensa
  • 1965: 8 baby girls named Kerensa [debut]
  • 1964: unlisted
  • 1963: unlisted

Then there’s Mellyora, inspired by the character Mellyora Martin It appeared in the data for the first and only time in 1965:

  • 1967: unlisted
  • 1966: unlisted
  • 1965: 5 baby girls named Mellyora [debut]
  • 1964: unlisted
  • 1963: unlisted

Kerensa (pronounced keh-REHN-zah) comes from the Cornish word kerensa, which means “love” or “charity.”

Mellyora may be based on the Latin word meliora, meaning “better.”

Which “Seventh Virgin” name do you prefer, Kerensa or Mellyora?

P.S. The author’s other pen names? Anna Percival, Elbur Ford, Eleanor Burford, Ellalice Tate, Jean Plaidy, Kathleen Kellow, and Philippa Carr.

Sources: Kerensa – Cornish Dictionary, Eleanor Hibbert – Wikipedia

Where did the baby name Catana come from in 1948?

The character Catana Perez from the movie "Captain from Castile" (1947).
Catana Perez from “Captain from Castile“

The curious name Catana* popped up in the baby name data in late 1940s:

  • 1951: unlisted
  • 1950: 6 baby girls named Catana
  • 1949: 7 baby girls named Catana
  • 1948: 8 baby girls named Catana [debut]
  • 1947: unlisted

Why?

Because of the historical adventure movie Captain from Castile, released in December of 1947.

The film’s protagonist was young Spanish nobleman Pedro de Vargas, who traveled to the New World to help Hernán Cortés conquer Mexico. Pedro’s love interest was Catana Perez.

Pedro was played by actor Tyrone Power (father of Romina and Taryn) and Catana by actress Jean Peters (who went on to marry Howard Hughes).

The movie was based on the 1945 book of the same name by Samuel Shellabarger. Captain from Castile was the 8th-best selling novel in the nation the year it came out.

*Not to be confused with Cortana…

Babies named for the Eiffel Tower

Photo of the Eiffel Tower during the Paris Exposition (1889).
The Eiffel Tower in 1889

The Eiffel Tower was created by civil engineer Gustave Eiffel for the Paris Exposition of 1889, which marked the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. It took more than two years to construct and was the tallest man-made structure in the world until 1930.

The name Eiffel has never been common enough in the U.S. to appear in the SSA’s baby name data, but I’ve found U.S. babies named Eiffel born as early as 1887 (the year that construction began*) by searching through vital records and the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).

Here are the best-documented, U.S.-born Eiffels I came across from the last years of the 1880s and the first years of the 1890s. Two-thirds of them are female.

  • Eiffel Mae Checketts (née Napper), born in Utah in September of 1887
  • Mamie Eiffel Field (née Burk), born in California in October of 1887
  • Eiffel May Orcutt (née Stevenson), born in Missouri in June of 1888
  • Bayard Eiffel Mccanon, born in Iowa in March of 1889
  • Eiffel Dahl (née Plasket), born in Maryland in July of 1889
  • Eiffeline Blount (née Van Winkle) born in Iowa in July of 1889
  • Eiffel E. Larimer, born in July of 1889 in Kansas
  • Mary Eiffel Bessonett (née Kellogg), born in California in August of 1889
  • Tessie Eiffel Plummer (née Cahail), born in Iowa in August of 1889
  • Marcel Eiffel Taller, born in New York in September of 1889
  • Eiffel A. Perras, born in New York in September of 1889
  • Eiffel L. Hansen (née Klock), born in Illinois in Jan of 1890
  • Eiffel Warren, born in Tennessee in January of 1890
  • Eiffel Richison, born in Indiana in February of 1890
  • Eiffel B. Gale, born in New York in May of 1890
  • Eiffel Gochoel (née Palmer), born in Ohio in June of 1890
  • Mon Eiffel Anderson, born in Arkansas in June of 1891
  • Eiffel Eliza Raudio (née Henderson), born in California in August of 1891
  • Eiffel Beck (née Creer), born in Utah in February of 1892
  • Eiffel Crary (née Moats), born in Wisconsin in February of 1892
  • Eiffel Dantin (née Marionneaux), born in Louisiana in March of 1892
  • Eiffel T. Mateer, born in Virginia in April of 1892
  • Eiffel B. Hitchcock, born in Ohio in July of 1892
  • Eiffel Alfred Holm, born in Minnesota in October of 1892
  • Eiffel Tower Sutherland (née Collins), born in Indiana in January of 1894
    • In 1952, she was mentioned in a single-sentence news item: “Danville, Ind. — When Betty Jean Weesney, home from a recent European trip, brought back a souvenir replica of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, it was the logical gift for just one friend — Eiffel Tower Sutherland.”

By the way, did you know that Gustave Eiffel’s surname at birth was actually Bönickhausen?

In the early 1700s, Gustave’s ancestor Jean-Rene Bönickhausen relocated from a town in the mountainous Eifel region of Germany to the capital of France and began going by Eiffel (perhaps because it was easier to pronounce than Bönickhausen). So the official surname of this branch of the family tree became “Bönickhausen, dit Eiffel.” Gustave didn’t legally shorten it to Eiffel until 1879.

The word “Eifel” can be traced back to the Early Middle Ages, but the etymology is unknown.

What are your thoughts on Eiffel as a first name? Would you use it?

*The Eiffel Tower was being mentioned in the newspapers was early as mid-1886, but the name wasn’t set yet; it was being called things like “the Great Tower,” “the Tower of Paris,” and “the Eiffel Tall Tower.”

Sources:

Image: Eiffel Tower, with Fountain Coutan to left, looking toward Trocadéro Palace, Paris Exposition, 1889 – LOC

Where did the baby name Billie Jean come from in 1962?

Advertisement for the Billie Jean Horton song "Ocean of Tears" from Billboard Magazine (July3, 1961).
Ad for Billie Jean Horton song, 1961

When I think of the name Billie Jean, I think of the Michael Jackson song. Next, I think of the tennis player.

But the name Billiejean first appeared in the U.S. baby name data way back in 1962, decades before the song, and years before the tennis player was at the height of her fame.

  • 1964: unlisted
  • 1963: unlisted
  • 1962: 5 baby girls named Billie Jean
  • 1961: unlisted
  • 1960: unlisted

My guess on this one? Country singer Billie Jean Horton.

Today she’s best remembered for her relationships with various country singers: Faron Young, Hank Williams (married 1952-1953), Johnny Horton (married 1953-1960), and Johnny Cash.

But she was a recording artist in her own right, and her most successful single, “Ocean Of Tears,” peaked at #29 on the country chart in August of 1961. The next year, for one year only, Billiejean popped up in the data.

The name didn’t return until 1973, when tennis player Billie Jean King defeated male player Bobby Riggs in tennis’s most famous “Battle of the Sexes” match. This time it stuck around until the late ’70s.

Michael Jackson's single "Billie Jean" (1983)
“Billie Jean” single

It emerged a third time with the help of Michael Jackson, whose song “Billie Jean” was the #1 song in the nation for seven weeks straight in March and April of 1983.

What are your thoughts on the name Billie Jean? What’s your strongest association with the name?

Source: Billie Jean Horton – Wikipedia