How popular is the baby name Laurette 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 Laurette.

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Popularity of the baby name Laurette


Posts that mention the name Laurette

How did “Battlestar Galactica” influence baby names in the late 1970s?

The character Apollo from the TV series "Battlestar Galactica" (1978-1979)
Apollo from “Battlestar Galactica“

Today, Battlestar Galactica is a sci-fi media franchise. But the original TV series — about a group of humans fleeing Cylons aboard a battleship called the Galactica — wasn’t terribly successful. It aired on ABC for a single season (from September of 1978 to April of 1979) before being canceled.

Still, the show managed to have a sizeable impact on U.S. baby names. Here are the names that various Battlestar Galactica characters influenced in the late 1970s:

Adama
Adama (played by Lorne Greene of Bonanza fame) was the commander of the Battlestar Galactica. The name Adama debuted (for boys) in 1978.

Apollo
Captain Apollo (played by Richard Hatch), a fighter pilot, was the son of Commander Adama. The name Apollo saw an increase in usage in 1978, and reached then-peak usage in 1979. (The peak was eclipsed in 2002 after speed skater Apolo Ohno became famous.)

Actress Maren Jensen as character Athena in the TV series "Battlestar Galactica" (1978-1979)
Maren Jensen in “Battlestar Galactica“

Athena
Lieutenant Athena (played by Maren Jensen) was the daughter of Commander Adama. The name Athena saw a spike in usage 1979, and the name Maren nearly tripled in usage the same year. (Jensen’s first name is a Dutch diminutive of Marina or Maria.)

Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia (played by Laurette Spang) was a former “socialator” (courtesan) who worked as a Medtech aboard the Galactica. The name Cassiopeia debuted in 1979.

Starbuck
Lieutenant Starbuck (played by Dirk Benedict), a fighter pilot, was Apollo’s best friend. The name Starbuck was a one-hit wonder in the data in 1979. The Lieutanant’s name — just like the name of the famous coffee chain — was inspired by the Moby Dick character Starbuck.

Actor Terry Carter as character Colonel Tigh in the TV series "Battlestar Galactica" (1978-1979)
Terry Carter in “Battlestar Galactica“

Tigh
Colonel Tigh (played by Terry Carter) was Adama’s second-in-command aboard the Galactica. The name Tigh debuted in 1979, and the spelling Tighe saw peak usage the same year. (Carter, born John Everett DeCoste in 1928, was nicknamed “Terry” after the main character of the comic strip Terry & the Pirates when he was a teenager.)

What are your thoughts on the names above? (Would you consider using any of them?)

Sources:

Images: Screenshots of Battlestar Galactica

[Latest update: Oct. 2025]

Starlet names from the early 1900s

WAMPAS baby stars 1928

Ever heard of the WAMPAS Baby Stars?

They were young actresses on the cusp of movie stardom back in the 1920s and 1930s.

About 13 Baby Stars were selected by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers every year from 1922 to 1934 (minus 1930 and 1933).

Some of those young women did indeed achieve stardom. Among the Baby Stars were Clara Bow (’24), Mary Astor (’26), Joan Crawford (’26), Fay Wray (’26) and Ginger Rogers (’32).

I thought the names of the Baby Stars — the oldest of whom were born in the final years of the 1800s, the youngest of whom were born in the mid-1910s — would make an interesting set. But I wanted birth names, not stage names, so I tracked down as many birth names as I could. Here’s the result, sorted by frequency (i.e., seven women were named Dorothy).

  • 7: Dorothy
  • 6: Helen
  • 4: Elizabeth
  • 3: Frances, Ruth, Virginia
  • 2: Anita, Ann, Barbara, Betty, Clara, Doris, Dorothea, Eleanor, Evelyn, Gladys, Gwendolyn, Hazel, Jacqueline, Katherine, Laura, Louise, Lucille, Margaret, Maria, Marian, Marie, Marion, Mary, Patricia, Violet
  • 1: Adamae, Alberta, Alma, Anne, Audrey, Augusta, Blanche, Carmelita, Caryl, Constance, Derelys, Dolores, Duane, Edna, Eleanor, Ena, Enriqueta, Ethel, Ethlyne, Evalyn, Flora, Gisela, Gloria, Gretchen, Hattie, Helene, Ina, Ingeborg, Jacquiline, Jean, Joan, Jobyna, Josephine, Juanita, Julanne, Kathleen, Kathryn, Kitty, Launa, Laurette, Lena, Lenore, Lilian, Lola, Lu Ann, Lucile, Madeline, Marceline, Martha, Mildred, Myrna, Natalia, Natalie, Nellie, Neoma, Olive, Olivia, Patsy, Rita, Rochelle, Rose, Sally, Suzanne, Sidney, Toshia, Vera, Vina

And here are the leftover stage names:

  • 5: Sally
  • 4: Mary
  • 3: Joan, June
  • 2: Betty, Jean, Judith, Pauline
  • 1: Alice, Bessie, Boots, Claire, Colleen, Dolores, Dorothy, Elinor, Evelyn, Fay, Frances, Gigi, Ginger, Gladys, Gloria, Gwen, Iris, Janet, Joyce, Julie, Karen, Kathleen, Lila, Lina, Lois, Lona, Loretta, Lucille, Lupe, Marian, Molly, Mona, Natalie, Patricia, Sue

(Often stage names were the real-life middle names of these women.)

Finally, a few interesting details:

  • “Derelys” was Derelys Perdue, whose first name at birth was actually Geraldine. I’m not sure how she came up with her stage name, but, in March of 1923, her film studio (FBO) tried to re-rename her “Ann.” (They’d sponsored a name contest in a magazine called Film Fun. The winner got $50.) Derelys brought an injunction against the studio in April to prevent the name change from happening, and the story ended up in the newspapers. This extra visibility is likely what boosted the name Derelys into the U.S. baby name data for the first and only time in 1924.
  • “Jobyna” was Jobyna Ralston, who was named for actress Jobyna Howland, daughter of a man named Joby Howland. The name Jobyna debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1927.
  • “Sidney” was Sidney Fox, a female who was given the name Sidney long before the name (in particular, the spelling Sydney) became trendy for baby girls.

Which of all the names listed above do you like best? Why?

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