How popular is the baby name Joe 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 Joe.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the baby name Joe


Posts that mention the name Joe

How did Daryle Lamonica influence baby names?

Football player Daryle Lamonica (1941-2022)
Daryle Lamonica

California-born quarterback Daryle Lamonica played professional football for twelve seasons (1963-1975).

He spent seven of those seasons with the Oakland Raiders, leading the team to four consecutive division titles (from 1967 to 1970) and its first Super Bowl appearance (in January of 1968). He was also named the AFL’s Most Valuable Player twice, in 1967 and 1969. (The winner in 1968 was Joe Namath, incidentally.)

Lamonica ended up influencing both boy names and girl names during the late ’60s and early ’70s.

Usage of boy name Daryle (one of the various spellings of the top-100 name Darrell) increased in both 1968 and 1970, while usage of the girl name Lamonica more than tripled in 1968 and nearly doubled in 1971 (the year that Monica reached the girls’ top 50 for the first time).

Boys named DaryleGirls named Lamonica
197271 [rank: 960th]78
1971119 [rank: 749th]103†
1970142† [rank: 697th]56
196988 [rank: 824th]55
196895 [rank: 762nd]40
196762 [rank: 919th]12
196672 [rank: 854th]16
†Peak usage

The Italian surname Lamonica may have sounded particularly appealing to African-American parents, as adding prefixes like “La-” to traditional names was becoming fashionable among African-Americans during the latter years of the civil rights movement. (Perhaps L’Tanya Griffin helped kick off the trend in the late 1940s…?)

Speaking of Lamonica, one of the few baby boys to get the name was actor LaMonica Garrett, who was born in San Francisco in 1975. (He went on to name his own son Montana after San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana.)

What are your thoughts on the names Daryle and Lamonica? Which one would you be more likely to use?

Sources:

Image: Daryle Lamonica trading card

What gave the baby name Nile a boost in 1940?

College football player Nile Kinnick, Jr. (1918-1943)
Nile Kinnick, Jr.

According to the U.S. baby name data, the uncommon name Nile saw an uptick in usage in 1940:

  • 1942: 25 baby boys named Nile (6 born in Iowa)
  • 1941: 25 baby boys named Nile
  • 1940: 39 baby boys named Nile (12 born in Iowa)
  • 1939: 28 baby boys named Nile (7 born in Iowa)
  • 1938: 21 baby boys named Nile

Why?

Because of Nile Clarke Kinnick, Jr., who played football at the University of Iowa.

The Iowa Hawkeyes — after winning a single game in 1937, and another single game in 1938 — had an unexpectedly successful 1939 season. Under new coach Eddie Anderson, the team compiled a 6-1-1 record overall and finished second in the Big Ten Conference.

Leading the charge was senior Nile Kinnick, a halfback who — by “passing, running or kicking” — “was directly involved in 107 of Iowa’s 130 points that season.”

Thanks to his stellar performance on the field, Nile Kinnick won almost every major national award, including the Heisman Trophy, the Walter Camp Memorial Trophy, and the Maxwell Award.

Kinnick’s celebrity became so strong, he was named 1939’s top male athlete in the country by the Associated Press. The honor was particularly noteworthy considering his competition included Joe DiMaggio, Joe Louis and Byron Nelson.

Among his namesakes were Nile Clarke Andersen, born in Iowa in late 1939, and Nile Kinnick Clarke, born in Washington state in 1946 (to Nile Kinnick’s first cousin, Fred).

After college, Nile Kinnick turned down an offer to join the NFL. Instead, he went to law school.

But a year later, when it seemed likely that the U.S. would enter World War II, he left law school and enlisted in the Naval Air Corps Reserve. He died during a training flight off the coast of Venezuela in 1943.

In 1972, Iowa’s football stadium, simply called Iowa Stadium, was renamed Kinnick Stadium in honor of Nile Kinnick. And by the early 2000s, enough babies were being named after the stadium every year that the name Kinnick began popping up in the U.S. baby name data.

What are your thoughts on the name Nile? (Do you like it more or less than the similar name Niles?)

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the Imperial Valley Press (11 Dec. 1939)

How did Jess Willard influence baby names in the 1910s?

Heavyweight boxer Jess Willard (1881-1968)
Jess Willard

In late 1908, Jack Johnson became the first African-American world heavyweight boxing champion.

During Johnson’s reign, promoters actively searched for a “great white hope” — a white contender to defeat him.

Several white boxers (including former title holder James Jeffries) challenged Johnson, but were unsuccessful.

The one who finally triumphed? Jess Willard.

In April of 1915, Willard — a six-and-a-half-foot-tall Kansas-born wheat farmer — fought Johnson in Havana, Cuba. Upon knocking Johnson out in the 26th round, Willard became the new heavyweight champion.

Boxing match between Jack Johnson and Jess Willard in Cuba (Apr. 1915)
Jack Johnson vs. Jess Willard

The same year, the baby names Jess and Willard both reached peak usage (and Willard its highest-ever ranking) among U.S. babies:

Boys named JessBoys named Willard
1917352 (rank: 273rd)2,188 (rank: 80th)
1916485 (rank: 220th)2,413 (rank: 69th)
1915577† (rank: 193rd)2,889† (rank: 58th)
1914258 (rank: 271st)1,302 (rank: 92nd)
1913180 (rank: 296th)926 (rank: 99th)
†Peak usage

(The rise of both names during first half of the 1910s was also likely fueled by Jess Willard, who’d been boxing professionally since early 1911.)

“Jess” and “Willard” were particularly popular in a handful of U.S states:

Rank of Jess in 1915Rank of Willard in 1915
West Virginia64th (35 boys)19th (117 boys)
Oklahoma71st (56 boys)33rd (100 boys)
Kentucky89th (37 boys)36th (113 boys)
Virginia200th (13 boys)39th (90 boys)
Kansas120th (20 boys)40th (82 boys)
Tennessee78th (41 boys)41st (89 boys)
Missouri108th (40 boys)42nd (134 boys)

According to records, hundreds of the baby boys named Jess in 1915 were also given the middle name Willard. Some examples…

Many other babies were also given the first-middle combo “Jess Willard” during the ensuing years of Willard’s reign, which ended in July of 1919 (when Willard was knocked out by Jack Dempsey).

What are your thoughts on the boy names Jess and Willard? (Which one do you prefer?)

P.S. The second African-American to win the title of world heavyweight boxing champion was Joe Louis, in 1937.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Jess Willard 1915 (LOC) and Knockout – Willard-Johnson fight, Havana (LOC)

What gave the baby name Dorinda a boost in 1944?

The character Dorinda from the movie "A Guy Named Joe" (1943)
Dorinda from “A Guy Named Joe“

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Dorinda saw a sharp spike in usage in the mid-1940s:

  • 1946: 72 baby girls named Dorinda [rank: 989th]
  • 1945: 81 baby girls named Dorinda [rank: 841st]
  • 1944: 147 baby girls named Dorinda [rank: 607th]
  • 1943: 22 baby girls named Dorinda
  • 1942: 24 baby girls named Dorinda

It was the fastest-rising baby name of 1944, in fact.

Several Dorinda-like names got a boost around that time as well:

194319441945
Drenda.50†37
Drinda.22*20
Dorenda.11*5
Darenda.9*.
Derinda.7*6
Dirinda.7*.
Durinda.7*6
Derenda.7*6
Darinda..6*
*Debut, †Peak usage

(Dirinda was a one-hit wonder.)

The name Dorinda would have sounded fashionable in the 1940s — a decade during which names like Linda, Brenda, Glenda, and Wanda ranked inside the girls’ top 100. But its sudden trendiness can be traced back to a specific influence: a movie character.

The romance/fantasy film A Guy Named Joe (which did not feature any characters named Joe, incidentally) was released in March of 1944. It went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of the year.

The main character was WWII bomber pilot Pete Sandridge (played by Spencer Tracy). After being killed in action — and leaving behind his girlfriend Dorinda (played by Irene Dunne) — he found himself in the afterlife, where he was told to return to Earth as a guardian angel. His first assignment was a young military pilot named Ted (played by Van Johnson). Eventually, Ted happened to meet, and fall for, a grieving Dorinda — which made things complicated for Pete.

What are your thoughts on the name Dorinda? Would you use it?

Sources: A Guy Named Joe – Wikipedia, A Guy Named Joe (1944) – Turner Classic Movies, 1944 in film – Wikipedia, SSA

Image: Screenshot of A Guy Named Joe