How popular is the baby name Jerry 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 Jerry.

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Popularity of the baby name Jerry


Posts that mention the name Jerry

Hotel discount for people named David

David, by Michelangelo
Statue of David

Hotel David in Florence, Italy, offers a 5% discount to guests named David. So if your name is David and you’re planning to be in Florence anytime soon, you may want to check them out. If you decide to book, remember to use the promo code “DAVID” and be prepared to prove that your name really is David when you check in.

The hotel, which has been around since the 1950s, was named after Michelangelo’s sculpture of David, which has been on display in Florence since 1504.

I don’t know if the hotel’s David offer is permanent (like the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s Isabellas Free…Forever! program) but there’s no expiration date listed.

Here’s another name-based hotel deal I discovered recently, but this one does have an expiration date, so you’ll have to act quickly if you want to take advantage of it.

From Aug. 20 until Oct. 31, Breezes Bahamas is giving $100 to any guest staying at least 5 nights whose legal first name is on the 2013 National Hurricane Center list of storm names: Andrea, Barry, Chantal, Dorian, Erin, Fernand, Gabrielle, Humberto, Ingrid, Jerry, Karen, Lorenzo, Melissa, Nestor, Olga, Pablo, Rebekah, Sebastien, Tanya, Van or Wendy.

The spelling of your name must match the storm name exactly (i.e., “Sebastian” and “Rebecca” don’t count).

Image: Adapted from ‘David’ by Michelangelo by Jörg Bittner Unna under CC BY 4.0.

Biggest changes in boy name popularity, 2012

Which boy names rose the most from 2011 to 2012?

And which ones fell?

We just looked at the girl names, so now let’s check out the boy names.

Here are the differences between the two “increases” and “decreases” lists–

My list, on the left, looks at the raw number differences between the 2011 names and the 2012 names. My analysis covers all 14,162 boy names on the 2012 list.

The SSA’s list, on the right, looks at the ranking differences between the 2011 names and the 2012 names. Their analysis covers approximately the top 500 boy names on the 2012 list.

Biggest Increases

The baby boy names that saw the biggest popularity increases from 2011 to 2012 were…

Nancy’s list (raw numbers)SSA’s list (rankings)
  1. Liam, +3,286 babies [rank: 15th to 6th]
  2. Gael, +2,044 babies [rank: 408th to 146th]
  3. Brantley, +1,583 babies [rank: 321st to 158th]
  4. Jaxon, +1,539 babies [rank: 86th to 66th]
  5. Jace, +962 babies [rank: 106th to 86th]
  6. Ethan, +911 babies [rank: 7th to 3rd]
  7. Damian, +844 babies [rank: 138th to 97th]
  8. Eli, +814 babies [rank: 58th to 44th]
  9. Henry, +795 babies [rank: 57th to 43rd]
  10. Iker, +763 babies [rank: 379th to 230th]
  11. Hudson, +761 babies [rank: 112th to 93rd]
  12. Grayson, +744 babies [rank: 97th to 85th]
  13. Colton, +739 babies [rank: 74th to 65th]
  14. Lincoln, +726 babies [rank: 178th to 132nd]
  15. Dominic, +725 babies [rank: 76th to 70th]
  16. King, +699 babies [rank: 389th to 256th]
  17. Jaxson, +684 babies [rank: 140th to 106th]
  18. Jase, +667 babies [rank: 562nd to 304th]
  19. Hunter, +633 babies [rank: 55th to 45th]
  20. Mateo, +626 babies [rank: 171st to 138th]
  1. Major, +505 (988th to 483rd)
  2. Gael, +262 (408th to 146th)
  3. Jase, +258 (562nd to 304th)
  4. Messiah, +246 (633rd to 387th)
  5. Brantley, +163 (321st to 158th)
  6. Iker, +149 (379th to 230th)
  7. King, +133 (389th to 256th)
  8. Rory, +118 (599th to 481st)
  9. Ari, +73 (508th to 435th)
  10. Maverick, +72 (428th to 356th)
  11. Armani, +70 (502nd to 432nd)
  12. Knox, +66 (434th to 368th)
  13. Gianni, +66 (515th to 449th)
  14. Zayden, +63 (292nd to 229th)
  15. August, +62 (395th to 333rd)
  16. Barrett, +61 (436th to 375th)
  17. Remington, +58 (479th to 421st)
  18. Kasen, +58 (526th to 468th)
  19. Zaiden, +56 (489th to 433rd)
  20. Orion, +52 (471st to 419th)

Looks like the movie Lincoln influenced a lot of parents last year.

Here are last year’s raw number jumps and last year’s ranking jumps.

Biggest Decreases

The baby boy names that saw the biggest popularity decreases from 2011 to 2012 were…

Nancy’s list (raw numbers)SSA’s list (rankings)
  1. Jacob, -1,370 babies [rank: 1st to 1st]
  2. Justin, -1,238 babies [rank: 59th to 74th]
  3. Tyler, -1,178 babies [rank: 38th to 50th]
  4. Christopher, -1,168 babies [rank: 21st to 23rd]
  5. Joshua, -1,162 babies [rank: 14th to 17th]
  6. Anthony, -1,117 babies [rank: 11th to 15th]
  7. Hayden, -1,068 babies [rank: 90th to 109th]
  8. Daniel, -1,063 babies [rank: 10th to 11th]
  9. Jaden, -994 babies [rank: 100th to 140th]
  10. Jonathan, -925 babies [rank: 31st to 35th]
  11. Jayden, -913 babies [rank: 4th to 7th]
  12. Nicholas, -908 babies [rank: 42nd to 49th]
  13. Gabriel, -850 babies [rank: 24th to 24th]
  14. Brandon, -795 babies [rank: 47th to 56th]
  15. Gavin, -789 babies [rank: 36th to 40th]
  16. Evan, -776 babies [rank: 40th to 47th]
  17. Jose, -762 babies [rank: 65th to 72nd]
  18. Christian, -747 babies [rank: 30th to 33rd]
  19. David, -743 babies [rank: 18th to 19th]
  20. Ashton, -735 babies [rank: 109th to 141st]
  1. Braeden, -105 (476th to 581st)
  2. Yahir, -85 (429th to 514th)
  3. Kieran, -82 (474th to 556th)
  4. Cullen, -79 (472nd to 551st)
  5. Brayan, -73 (426th to 499th)
  6. Jalen, -70 (400th to 470th)
  7. Amare, -70 (425th to 495th)
  8. Trey, -69 (324th to 393rd)
  9. Casey, -62 (424th to 486th)
  10. Payton, -60 (398th to 458th)
  11. Jakob, -60 (335th to 395th)
  12. Randy, -57 (356th to 413th)
  13. Zackary, -56 (451st to 507th)
  14. Eddie, -56 (488th to 544th)
  15. Jerry, -53 (394th to 447th)
  16. Jaylen, -51 (206th to 257th)
  17. Ernesto, -50 (491st to 541st)
  18. Devon, -46 (351st to 397th)
  19. Braylon, -46 (233rd to 279th)
  20. Braden, -45 (258th to 303rd)

Here are last year’s raw number drops and last year’s ranking drops.

Source: SSA’s Change In Popularity From 2011 To 2012

Where did the baby name Torchy come from in 1939?

The character Torchy Blane
Torchy Blane

In 1939, the name Torchy made its one and only appearance in the U.S. baby name data:

  • 1941: unlisted
  • 1940: unlisted
  • 1939: 8 baby girls named Torchy [debut]
  • 1938: unlisted
  • 1937: unlisted

Two years later, variant spelling Torchie did the same thing.

Where did these two one-hit wonders come from?

My guess is fast-talking fictional newspaper reporter Torchy Blane, the heroine of nine low-budget movies released in the late ’30s with titles like Torchy Gets Her Man (1938), Torchy Blane in Chinatown (1939) and Torchy Runs for Mayor (1939). All of the films “followed the same formula — the nimble-minded, intuitive Torchy (who never bothered to take notes when she interviewed a person) would end up solving a crime way before her lunkhead boyfriend, police Det. Steve McBride.”

Ironically, Torchy Blane’s real first name wasn’t Torchy. According to two of the films, her first name was actually Theresa.

Most of the time the Torchy was played by actress Glenda Farrell, though twice she was played by other actresses (Lola Lane and Jane Wyman, respectively).

And that reminds me — did you know that Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel was inspired by Torchy Blane to create the character Lois Lane? He’s how he puts it:

Our heroine was of course a working girl whose priority was grabbing big scoops. What inspired me in the creation was Glenda Farrell, the movie star who portrayed Torchy Blane. Because of the name Lola Lane, who also played Torchy, appealed to me, I called my character Lois Lane.

P.S. Speaking of Glenda Farrell…she was behind the Glenda trend that lasted from 1933 (she appeared in a whopping 11 movies that year) until the middle of the century.

Sources:

Update, 10/2017: I may have discovered an even better explanation for Torchy! In 1939, the soap opera Guiding Light introduced a new character named Torchy Reynolds. (This was back when the soap was radio-only.) Torchy, a former showgirl from San Francisco, was part of the story until 1942. Her time on the show (1939-1942) matches up better with the 1939 and 1941 single-year appearances of Torchy and Torchie than the film series (1937-1939) does. What do you think?

Where did the baby name Tunney come from in 1926?

American boxer Gene Tunney (1897-1978)
Gene Tunney

The name Tunney was being used often enough in the 1920s to register in the U.S. baby name data for three years straight:

  • 1929: unlisted
  • 1928: 9 baby boys named Tunney
  • 1927: 23 baby boys named Tunney
  • 1926: 8 baby boys named Tunney [debut]
  • 1925: unlisted

The variant spelling Tunny also popped up just once, in 1927.

Where did these names come from?

Professional boxer James Joseph “Gene” Tunney, who held the World Heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928.

He won the title by defeating Jack Dempsey in 1926, retained the title by defeating Dempsey again in 1927 (in a famous match now known as “The Long Count Fight”), and retired in 1928 after defeating Tom Heeney of New Zealand.

Gene Tunney in the movie serial "The Fighting Marine" (1926)
Gene Tunney in “The Fighting Marine“

Another factor that could have influenced the name in 1926 was the 10-episode film serial The Fighting Marine, which starred Tunney. (Tunney had served as a Marine during World War I.)

The Irish surname Tunney is ultimately based on the personal name Tonnach, which may have meant either “billowy” or “shining.”

What do you think of Tunney as a baby name?

Sources:

P.S. In the 1952 movie Sailor Beware, the characters played by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis had a short conversation in which they mixed up the similar names of boxer Gene Tunney and actress Gene Tierney — who was not behind the debut of the baby name Tierney, incidentally.