How popular is the baby name Joan 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 Joan.
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Usage of the unisex name Terry was rising fast for both genders during the ’40s and ’50s, but I think the debuts of Terrea and Terria in the early ’50s had a more specific explanation than the trendiness of Terry.
Girls named Terrea
Girls named Terria
1956
10† [9 born in CA]
18
1955
.
10
1954
9
15
1953
6
16
1952
.
17*
1951
6
.
1950
5* [all born in CA]
.
1949
.
.
1948
.
.
*Debut, †Peak usage
I think the influence was Missouri-born folksinger Terrea Lea, who was closely associated with the Southern California folk scene starting in the early ’50s — long before folk music became trendy in the U.S. in the mid-’60s.
Terrea Lea was born Bette June Nutz in Liberty, Missouri, in 1922. I’m not sure how she chose her stage name or when she started using it, but she was being mentioned as “Terrea Lea” in Billboard magazine by mid-1950 and was appearing on television, performing on radio, and putting out singles by 1951. In April of 1951, Billboard described her as “local TV folk chirper billed as the fem[inine] Burl Ives.”
Her own Terrea Lea Show could be heard on the East Coast radio by 1952, but the newspapers often misspelled her name (e.g., “Terria Lea,” “Terrea Lee”) in the broadcast schedules. Typos like these, combined with the fact that the shows were (of course) audio only, probably account for why the name Terria was the top debut name of 1952.
Misspelling (Billboard, 1952)
In 1956 and 1957, Terrea Lea put out her first two full-length albums. In late 1958, she and some friends opened a coffee house in West Hollywood called The Garret. (The name was inspired by Puccini’s La bohème.) She regularly performed there, and it was frequented by popular folk singers of the day, including Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell. The Garret existed until 1971.
There’s a website dedicated to The Garret, and the guest book includes six comments from people named after Terrea Lea. They are: Terra Lea, Terrea Lee, Terrea Lea (b. 1954, Calif.), Terrea Lea (b. 1951, Oregon), and Terria Leigh. Another comment is from someone whose son has the middle name Garret.
What are your thoughts on the name Terrea?
Sources:
“Aladdin Pacts 3 Folk Attractions.” Billboard 14 Apr. 1951: 16.
Did you know that you can find old New York City vital statistics reports (going all the way back to the 1960s!) on the city’s website? And that, from 1991 onward, these annual reports include baby name rankings?
I don’t want you to have to comb through a whole bunch of PDFs to find the city’s historical top-ten lists, though, so I gathered all the lists into a single blog post.
The name tables in the reports also incorporate several older sets rankings (from 1990, 1985, 1980, 1948, 1928, and 1898 specifically) for comparison, and those are here well — just scroll to the bottom.
2019
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2019. (Here’s my post about the 2019 NYC rankings.)
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2019)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2019)
1. Emma 2. Olivia 3. Sophia 4. Mia 5. Isabella 6. Leah 7. Ava 8. Chloe 9. Amelia 10. Charlotte
1. Liam 2. Noah 3. Ethan 4. Jacob 5. Lucas 6. Aiden 7. Daniel 8. Michael 9. David 10. Matthew
2018
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2018. (Here’s my post about the 2018 NYC rankings.)
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2018)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2018)
1. Emma 2. Isabella 3. Sophia 4. Mia 5. Olivia 6. Ava 7. Leah 8. Sarah 9. Amelia 10. Chloe
1. Liam 2. Noah 3. Ethan 4. Jacob 5. Aiden 6. David 7. Lucas 8. Matthew 9. Daniel 10. Alexander
2017
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2017. (Here’s my post about the 2017 NYC rankings.)
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2017)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2017)
1. Emma 2. Olivia 3. Mia 4. Sophia 5. Isabella 6. Ava 7. Leah 8. Emily 9. Sarah 10. Abigail
1. Liam 2. Noah 3. Jacob 4. Ethan 5. David 6. Lucas 7. Matthew 8. Jayden 9. Aiden 10. Daniel
2016
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2016. (Here’s my post about the 2016 NYC rankings.)
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2016)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2016)
1. Olivia 2. Sophia 3. Emma 4. Isabella 5. Mia 6. Ava 7. Emily 8. Leah 9. Sarah 10. Madison
1. Liam 2. Jacob 3. Ethan 4. Noah 5. Aiden 6. Matthew 7. Daniel 8. Lucas 9. Michael 10. Dylan
2015
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2015. (Here’s my post about the 2015 NYC rankings.)
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2015)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2015)
1. Olivia 2. Sophia 3. Emma (tie) 4. Mia (tie) 5. Isabella 6. Leah 7. Emily 8. Ava 9. Chloe 10. Madison
1. Ethan 2. Liam 3. Noah 4. Jacob 5. Jayden 6. Matthew 7. David 8. Daniel (tie) 9. Dylan (tie) 10. Aiden
2014
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2014. (Here’s my post about the 2014 NYC rankings.)
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2014)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2014)
1. Sophia 2. Isabella 3. Olivia 4. Mia 5. Emma 6. Emily 7. Leah 8. Ava 9. Sofia 10. Chloe
1. Ethan 2. Jacob 3. Liam 4. Jayden 5. Noah 6. Daniel 7. Michael 8. Alexander 9. David 10. Matthew
2013
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2013.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2013)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2013)
1. Sophia 2. Isabella 3. Emma 4. Olivia 5. Mia 6. Emily 7. Leah 8. Sofia 9. Madison 10. Chloe
1. Jayden 2. Ethan 3. Jacob 4. Daniel 5. David 6. Noah 7. Michael 8. Matthew 9. Alexander 10. Liam
2012
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2012.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2012)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2012)
1. Sophia 2. Isabella 3. Emma 4. Olivia 5. Emily 6. Mia 7. Chloe 8. Madison 9. Leah 10. Ava
1. Jayden 2. Ethan 3. Jacob 4. Daniel 5. Matthew 6. Michael 7. Aiden 8. David 9. Ryan 10. Alexander
2011
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2011. (Here’s my post about the 2011 NYC rankings.)
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2011)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2011)
1. Isabella 2. Sophia 3. Olivia 4. Emma 5. Mia 6. Emily 7. Madison 8. Leah 9. Chloe 10. Sofia
1. Jayden 2. Jacob 3. Ethan 4. Daniel 5. Michael 6. Matthew 7. Justin 8. David 9. Aiden 10. Alexander
2010
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2010.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2010)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2010)
1. Isabella 2. Sophia 3. Olivia 4. Emily 5. Madison 6. Mia 7. Emma 8. Leah 9. Sarah 10. Chloe
1. Jayden 2. Ethan 3. Daniel 4. Jacob 5. David 6. Justin 7. Michael 8. Matthew 9. Joseph 10. Joshua
2009
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2009.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2009)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2009)
1. Isabella 2. Sophia 3. Mia 4. Emily 5. Olivia 6. Madison 7. Sarah 8. Ashley 9. Leah 10. Emma
1. Jayden 2. Daniel 3. Ethan 4. Michael 5. David 6. Justin 7. Matthew 8. Joshua 9. Alexander 10. Christopher
2008
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2008.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 2008)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 2008)
1. Sophia 2. Isabella 3. Emily 4. Olivia 5. Sarah 6. Madison 7. Ashley 8. Mia 9. Samantha 10. Emma
1. Jayden 2. Daniel 3. Michael 4. Matthew 5. David 6. Joshua 7. Justin 8. Anthony 9. Christopher 10. Ethan/Ryan (tied for 10th)
2007
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2007. (Here’s my post about the 2007 NYC rankings.)
1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Kevin 4. Daniel 5. Jonathan 6. Joseph 7. Anthony 8. Matthew 9. David 10. Justin
*The name was spelled “Sara” (without the h) in the 1995 annual report, but “Sarah” (with the h) on all the other reports. So, assuming that “Sara” was a typo, I’ve spelled it with the h here.
1994
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1994.
1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Kevin 4. Anthony 5. Jonathan 6. Daniel 7. Joseph 8. Matthew 9. David 10. Brandon
1993
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1993.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1993)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1993)
1. Ashley 2. Stephanie 3. Jessica 4. Amanda 5. Samantha 6. Nicole 7. Jennifer 8. Michelle 9. Melissa 10. Christina
1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Kevin 4. Jonathan 5. Anthony 6. Daniel 7. Joseph 8. David 9. Matthew 10. John
1992
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1992.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1992)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1992)
1. Ashley 2. Stephanie 3. Jessica 4. Amanda 5. Samantha 6. Jennifer 7. Nicole 8. Michelle 9. Melissa 10. Christina
1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Jonathan 4. Anthony 5. Joseph 6. Daniel 7. David 8. Kevin 9. Matthew 10. John
1991
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1991.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1991)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1991)
1. Stephanie 2. Ashley 3. Jessica 4. Amanda 5. Samantha 6. Jennifer 7. Nicole 8. Michelle 9. Melissa 10. Christina
1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Jonathan 4. Anthony 5. Joseph 6. Daniel 7. David 8. Matthew 9. Kevin 10. John
1990
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1990.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1990)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1990)
1. Stephanie 2. Jessica 3. Ashley 4. Jennifer 5. Amanda 6. Samantha 7. Nicole 8. Christina 9. Melissa 10. Michelle
1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Jonathan 4. Anthony 5. David 6. Daniel 7. Joseph 8. Matthew 9. John 10. Andrew
1985
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1985.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1985)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1985)
1. Jennifer 2. Jessica 3. Christina 4. Stephanie 5. Melissa 6. Nicole 7. Elizabeth 8. Amanda 9. Danielle 10. Lauren
1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Daniel 4. David 5. Anthony 6. Joseph 7. Jonathan 8. Jason 9. John 10. Robert
1980
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1980.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1980)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1980)
1. Jennifer 2. Jessica 3. Melissa 4. Nicole 5. Michelle 6. Elizabeth 7. Lisa 8. Christina 9. Tiffany 10. Maria
1. Michael 2. David 3. Jason 4. Joseph 5. Christopher 6. Anthony 7. John 8. Daniel 9. Robert 10. James
1948
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1948.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1948)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1948)
1. Linda 2. Mary 3. Barbara 4. Patricia 5. Susan 6. Kathleen 7. Carol 8. Nancy 9. Margaret 10. Diane
1. Robert 2. John 3. James 4. Michael 5. William 6. Richard 7. Joseph 8. Thomas 9. Stephen 10. David
1928
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1928.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1928)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1928)
1. Mary 2. Marie 3. Annie 4. Margaret 5. Catherine 6. Gloria 7. Helen 8. Teresa 9. Joan 10. Barbara
1. John 2. William 3. Joseph 4. James 5. Richard 6. Edward 7. Robert 8. Thomas 9. George 10. Louis
1898
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1898.
Top Girl Names (NYC, 1898)
Top Boy Names (NYC, 1898)
1. Mary 2. Catherine 3. Margaret 4. Annie 5. Rose 6. Marie 7. Esther 8. Sarah 9. Frances 10. Ida
1. John 2. William 3. Charles 4. George 5. Joseph 6. Edward 7. James 8. Louis 9. Francis 10. Samuel
NYC typically waits until the following December to release their baby name rankings, so I don’t expect the 2020 rankings to be available until the end of this year.
According to IBESTAT, the most popular baby names on the Balearic Islands two years ago were Julia and Marc.
(The Balearic Islands are part of Spain. We’ve already seen Spain’s rankings for 2019 and 2020, but I thought this deserved its own post because there’s an island-by-island breakdown.)
Here are the Balearic Islands’ top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2019:
Girl names
Julia, 93 baby girls
Emma, 89
Martina, 77
Sofia, 75
Paula, 72
Lucia, 69
Maria, 60
Laia, 52
Lara, 50
Carla, 48
Boy names
Marc, 136 baby boys
Hugo, 70
Lucas, 65
Leo, 60
Pau, 58
Alejandro, 54
Mateo, 48
Marti, 47
Daniel, 45
Joan, 44
Girl names within the top 100 include…
Aina – Catalan form of Anna
Ainara – a form of Enara, Basque for “swallow” (the bird)
Actor Keir Dullea, whose first big movie role was the lead part in an offbeat romance called David and Lisa (1962). He ended up winning a Golden Globe for “Most Promising Newcomer – Male” in early 1963.
He went on to appear in other movies, none more successful than Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), in which he played another David: astronaut David Bowman, who spoke the famous line, “Open the pod bay doors please, HAL.”
Keir Dullea in “2001: A Space Odyssey“
The classic science-fiction flick gave Keir’s name a boost in the late ’60s:
His full name is pronounced KEER duh-LAY, which is easy to remember if you think of the Noel Coward witticism, “Keir Dullea, gone tomorrow.” I’m not sure how his parents came up with the name Keir, but it could be an Anglicized form of the Irish name Ciar, which means “black.”
(Keir was also on TV a lot, and once appeared in an episode of the short-lived show Channing — just like Joan Hackett, whose character Djuna Phrayne had a big impact on the baby name Djuna.)
Images: Screenshots of David and Lisa and 2001: A Space Odyssey
[Latest update: Feb. 2025]
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