How popular is the baby name Kathleen 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 Kathleen.

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Popularity of the baby name Kathleen


Posts that mention the name Kathleen

Baby girl gets 49 names: Princess India Rosa…

This baby didn’t get 139 names, but 49 is still excessive, don’t you think?

Diana and Arthur Martello of New Brighton, Pennsylvania, had a baby girl in May of 1989 and gave her 49 names. (Initially it was just 43, but they added 6 more a few weeks later.)

Here are all 49 names:

Princess India Rosa Kathleen Pearla Meshelle Suzanne Luchianna Irena Iris Veronica Donna Holly Robin Concha Kristian Tonya Elizabeth Joana Magali Lavinia Ruth Sandy Lori Appolonia Concepteone Stephenie Victoria Ira Maria Jane Claudia Pamela Shirley Mellissa Leah Rebecca Simone Alana Loren Joy Angie Pheonix Cynthia Christine Eleanor Meg Sophia Eunice

Diana was the one who came up with them. She said her inspiration included TV shows like Matt Houston, T.J. Hooker, Santa Barbara, and The Young and the Restless.

If you could go back in time and rename this baby girl, which two names (out of the 49) would you choose as her first and middle names?

Sources:

  • Musala, Jane C. “A Nickname Makes it 45.” Allegheny Times 30 May 1989: A3.
  • Musala, Jane C. “The Good News is Short-Lived.” Allegheny Times 28 Jun. 1989: A3.

Babies born on days of eclipses, named Eclipse

Lunar eclipse (Dec. 2011)
Lunar eclipse

This Saturday’s lunar eclipse will be the last total lunar eclipse until 2014, so today is a good day to post about people who have been named Eclipse!

Below are people with Eclipse as either a first or a middle name. I’ve even matched a few with specific historical solar eclipses listed on NASA’s website.

1700s

  • Maria Eclipse Moor, born in England on September 5, 1793, the day of a partial solar eclipse.

1800s

  • Emma Eclipse Earl, born in England on September 7, 1820, the day of a partial solar eclipse.
  • William Moore Eclipse Reddall, born in England in 1820.
  • Eclipse Mitchell, born in South Carolina circa 1828.
  • Eclipse Sabourin, born in Quebec circa 1823.
  • Eclipse Thomas, born in North Carolina in 1829. (Father of Eclipse J. Thomas, below.)
  • Eclipse Northeast, born in England circa 1831.
  • Charles Eclipse Bennett, born in England in 1836.
  • Maria Eclipse Wilson, born in England in 1836.
  • Augusta Caroline Eclipse Golden, born in England in 1837.
  • Eclipse Scott, born in Virginia on May 26, 1854, the day of a partial solar eclipse.
  • Eclipse Hilsden, born in England circa 1862.
  • Eclipse J. Thomas, born in Georgia in 1867. (Son of Eclipse Thomas, above.)
  • Eclipse Smith, born in Kentucky circa 1869.
  • Eclipse Newton, born in Missouri circa 1871.
  • Nina Eclipse Gain, born in Canada circa 1873.
  • Luna Eclipse Hill, born in Texas on October 24, 1874. (Daughter of Luna Eclipse Weaver, birth date unknown.)
  • Ida/Ada Eclipse Wade, born in Massachusetts in 1874. (I found records for both Ida and Ada — could be a misspelling, or could mean twins.)
  • Eclipse Green, born in Mississippi in 1877.
  • Lily Eclipse Monks, born in England circa 1878.
  • Henry Eclipse Monheim, born in Utah on July 29, 1878, the day of a partial solar eclipse.
  • Marvin Eclipse Wallace, born in Texas on July 29, 1878, the day of total solar eclipse.
  • Sanford Eclipse Gantt, born in Texas on July 29, 1878, the day of a total solar eclipse.
  • May Eclipse Glass, born in England circa 1890.
  • Essie Eclipse McGill, born in Tennessee on January 29, 1892.
  • Eclipse Blackman, born in Georgia circa 1898.

1900s

  • Eclipse Eley, born in Georgia circa 1900.
  • Eclipse Ruth Green, born in Mississippi circa 1914.
  • Vivian Eclipse Cubine, born in Oklahoma on May 2, 1920.
  • Eclipse Deutschman, born in New York circa 1925.
  • Eclipse De Marco, born in Rhode Island circa 1925.
  • Angelina Eclipse Ramos, born in Hawaii on May 5, 1941.
  • Jennifer Eclipse Kerr, born in Texas on July 6, 1982, the day of a total lunar eclipse.
  • Kathleen Eclipse Hernandez, born in Texas on July 11, 1991, the day of a partial solar eclipse.
  • Kathleen Eclipse Long, born in Texas on June 12, 1992.

2000s

What are your thoughts on the name Eclipse? Would you ever consider using it?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from December 10th Lunar Eclipse by SteveB under CC BY 2.0.

[Latest update: Feb. 2025]

Baby name story: Bailey

American cardiac surgeon Charles Bailey (1910-1993)
Dr. Charles P. Bailey

In 1984, Sports Illustrated published the story behind the name of tennis reporter Bailey Breene:

As for her own name, it’s really Claire. Bailey is her middle name, a tribute to heart surgeon Charles P. Bailey. In March of 1957, Dr. Bailey appeared on the cover of TIME, and three months later he operated on Kathleen Breene’s ailing heart. Less than two years later, Kathleen gave birth to her third child. Mother was fine, and baby was named in honor of the doctor.

In case you were wondering, Dr. Charles P. Bailey’s middle name was Philamore.

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the cover of Time magazine (25 Mar. 1957)

Baby name story: Pannonica

Pannonica de Koenigswarter (1913-1988)
Pannonica de Koenigswarter

Baroness Pannonica “Nica” de Koenigswarter was a wealthy jazz enthusiast who befriended and supported Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and others.

Nica knew all the great New York jazzmen and helped them, whether by buying groceries, acting as an occasional ambulance service, paying overdue rent, getting musicians’ instrument out of hock or making hospital visits.

She was born Kathleen Annie Pannonica Rothschild in late 1913, the fourth child of banker and naturalist Charles Rothschild (of the Rothschild family) and Hungarian baroness Rozsika Edle von Wertheimstein.

The story behind her second middle name isn’t quite clear.

At the beginning of this live recording of his song “Pannonica” [vid], Thelonious Monk says, “I think her father gave her that name after a butterfly that he tried to catch. I don’t think he caught the butterfly.”

Nica’s great niece Hannah Rothschild says it wasn’t a butterfly, but a rare type of moth, Eublemma pannonica.

According to The Gallery at Hermès, which exhibited some of Pannonica’s photographs in 2008, she was “named for a wild plant of eastern Europe’s Pannonia Plain, noted as a habitat of moths – which were a passion of her father’s.”

The specifics of Pannonica’s name story may not be known, but any species called “pannonica” would indeed be endemic to the Pannonian Plain in east-central Europe. The Plain was named after the ancient Roman province Pannonia, which in turn was named after the Pannonians of Illyria.

Nica de Koenigswarter passed away in 1988, but her name lives on the titles of several jazz songs including “Pannonica” by Monk (mentioned above), “Nica’s Tempo” [vid] by Gigi Gryce, “Nica Steps Out” by Freddie Redd and “Nica’s Dream” by Horace Silver.

It also lives on in the name of a great-granddaughter, Pannonica Fabien “Nica” de Koenigswarter, born in 1987. (And this Pannonica has a younger brother fittingly named Jonah Thelonius.)

Sources:

Image: Pannonica de Koenigswarter