How popular is the baby name Lucy 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 Lucy.

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Popularity of the baby name Lucy


Posts that mention the name Lucy

What gave the baby name Luci a boost in the mid-1960s?

Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of Lyndon Baines Johnson
Luci Baines Johnson

The name Lucy had been on the decline for about a decade when, in 1964, the uncommon spelling Luci nearly quadrupled in usage:

  • 1966: 78 baby girls named Luci
  • 1965: 81 baby girls named Luci
  • 1964: 42 baby girls named Luci
  • 1963: 11 baby girls named Luci
  • 1962: 8 baby girls named Luci

(Lucy itself also saw an uptick in usage that year.)

What was influencing the name Luci in the mid-1960s?

Luci Baines Johnson, the younger daughter of president Lyndon Baines Johnson and his wife Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Johnson.

Luci was regularly in the headlines while she was campaigning for her father in 1964. She was, for instance, the queen of an Apple Blossom Festival in Virginia in April, the narrator of a Peter and the Wolf concert in Michigan in July, and the guest of honor at a barbecue in Beverly Hills (attended by the likes of Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen) in August.

She was featured on the cover of Life in mid-May. In the accompanying article, the magazine noted that Luci was “the first teen-aged daughter in the White House since William Howard Taft’s 17-year-old, Helen, lived there a half-century ago.”

Lucy Baines Johnson, who was born in July of 1947, began going by “Luci” soon after moving into the White House (in late 1963). Decades later, she explained:

It was a small way to establish my independence. I didn’t have a name like Elizabeth that I could shorten, so I just changed the spelling.

What are your thoughts on the name Luci? (Which spelling do you prefer?)

P.S. Bader Howar, the flower girl at Luci’s 1966 wedding, also ended up influencing U.S. baby names…

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the cover of Life magazine (15 May 1964)

Popular and unique baby names in Alberta (Canada), 2024

Flag of Alberta
Flag of Alberta

Last year, the Canadian province of Alberta welcomed more than 50,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Noah, for the sixth year in a row.

Here are Alberta’s top 50+ girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 184 baby girls
  2. Charlotte, 164
  3. Amelia, 150
  4. Sophia, 146
  5. Emma, 145
  6. Ava, 120
  7. Harper, 115 (tie)
  8. Isla, 115 (tie)
  9. Hazel, 104 (tie)
  10. Sophie, 104 (tie)
  11. Ellie, 102 (3-way tie)
  12. Evelyn, 102 (3-way tie)
  13. Lily, 102 (3-way tie)
  14. Abigail, 98 (tie)
  15. Aurora, 98 (tie)
  16. Nora, 96
  17. Mia, 95
  18. Isabella, 90
  19. Ella, 88 (tie)
  20. Violet, 88 (tie)
  21. Elizabeth, 86
  22. Sofia, 85
  23. Chloe, 83 (tie)
  24. Scarlett, 83 (tie)
  25. Aria, 80 (tie)
  26. Emily, 80 (tie)
  27. Eleanor, 79
  28. Hannah, 76
  29. Hailey, 75 (tie)
  30. Ivy, 75 (tie)
  31. Mila, 73
  32. Grace, 72
  33. Luna, 70
  34. Maya, 69
  35. Georgia, 68 (tie)
  36. Maeve, 68 (tie)
  37. Lainey, 67
  38. Anna, 66 (tie)
  39. Eliana, 66 (tie)
  40. Emilia, 65
  41. Lucy, 64
  42. Audrey, 61 (tie)
  43. Naomi, 61 (tie)
  44. Avery, 58
  45. Rehmat, 56 (tie)
  46. Willow, 56 (tie)
  47. Adeline, 55 (tie)
  48. Zoey, 55 (tie)
  49. Sadie, 54 (tie)
  50. Stella, 54 (tie)
  51. Ayla, 53 (tie)
  52. Claire, 53 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Noah, 248 baby boys
  2. Oliver, 203
  3. Liam, 196
  4. Theodore, 187
  5. Henry, 160
  6. William, 148
  7. Ethan, 141 (tie)
  8. Leo, 141 (tie)
  9. Jack, 140
  10. Lucas, 139
  11. Levi, 138
  12. Benjamin, 133 (tie)
  13. James, 133 (tie)
  14. Adam, 126
  15. Wyatt, 119
  16. Daniel, 117
  17. Luca, 111
  18. Nathan, 108
  19. Hudson, 107 (tie)
  20. Owen, 107 (tie)
  21. Bennett, 105
  22. Elijah, 104
  23. Thomas, 103
  24. Logan, 102 (tie)
  25. Muhammad, 102 (tie)
  26. Luke, 96
  27. Beau, 95
  28. Maverick, 94
  29. Samuel, 88
  30. Arthur, 84
  31. Jacob, 83
  32. Asher, 81
  33. Cooper, 80 (tie)
  34. Jackson, 80 (tie)
  35. Caleb, 79 (3-way tie)
  36. Elias, 79 (3-way tie)
  37. Ezra, 79 (3-way tie)
  38. Gabriel, 78
  39. Alexander, 77
  40. David, 76
  41. Lincoln, 75
  42. Aiden, 74 (tie)
  43. Wesley, 74 (tie)
  44. Zorawar, 73
  45. Isaac, 71 (tie)
  46. Miles, 71 (tie)
  47. Theo, 70
  48. Carter, 68
  49. Grayson, 65 (5-way tie)
  50. John, 65 (5-way tie)
  51. Mason, 65 (5-way tie)
  52. Matthew, 65 (5-way tie)
  53. Ryan, 65 (5-way tie)

Lainey (ranked 37th) was one of Canada’s fastest-rising girl names, and Zorawar (ranked 44th) was one of Canada’s fastest-rising boy names.

What about the names at the other end of the spectrum? Here’s a selection of the baby names that were bestowed just once in Alberta last year:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Aapistsisskitsi, Brevity, Cleofe, Datura, Edrielle, Frishta, Guidance, Hivirikee, Ilunga, Jinanshi, Katawasisin, Luladay, Milto, Nocturna, Olithea, Persimmyn, Quindy, Rhodalyn, Sora, Tezlie, Urenna, Viridis, Waseskwan, Xaeia, Yarrow, ZanessraAalto, Behxhet, Cedar-Sage, Delaneaux, Entz, Fomo, Gloriliel, Haoqi, Invictus, Joonharu, Kamharida, Luigi, Miekkonen, Nîmihitow, Okimâw, Piyêsiw, Qyler, Ryunosuke, Shinichi, Tobit, Urvil, Valo, Woodland, Xevreau, Yipei, Zildjian

Some explanations for a few of the above:

  • Aapistsisskitsi means “flower blossom” in Blackfoot.
  • Invictus means “unconquered” in Latin.
  • Katawasisin means “it is beautiful” in Cree.
  • Meikkonen means “little man” in Finnish. (The word mies means “man.”)
  • Nîmihitow means “he/she dances” in Cree.
  • Okimâw means “chief, leader” in Cree.
  • Piyêsiw means “thunderbird” in Cree.
  • Viridis means “green, youthful” in Latin.
  • Waseskwan means “the sky is clear” in Cree.
  • Zildjian is a musical instrument maker specializing in cymbals.
    • The company was founded in the 1620s by Avedis, an Armenian metalsmith based in Constantinople. In 1623, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa I, granted Avedis the family name Zildjian, meaning “son of [the] cymbal maker.”

Finally, here’s a link to Alberta’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Alberta (public domain)

Popular baby names in Kent County (Michigan), 2025

Flag of Michigan
Flag of Michigan

More than 10,500 babies were born in Kent County, Michigan, during the first eleven months (or so) of 2025.*

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sophia and Henry, according to data from Kent County’s Office of Vital Records.

Here are the county’s probable top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2025:

Girl names

  1. Sophia
  2. Charlotte
  3. Emma
  4. Amelia
  5. Harper
  6. Josephine
  7. Nora
  8. Eleanor
  9. Lucy
  10. Violet

Boy names

  1. Henry
  2. James
  3. Theodore
  4. Oliver
  5. Hudson
  6. Bennett
  7. Jack
  8. Noah
  9. Wesley
  10. Levi

One year earlier, the top names state-wide were Charlotte and Noah, according to the SSA. (Sophia ranked 6th and Henry ranked 4th.)

Finally, did you know that the current Kent County clerk is named Lisa Posthumus Lyons? She wasn’t born after the death of her father, like the babies named Posthumus centuries ago; Posthumus is simply her maiden name. (Her father, Michigan politician Dick Posthumus, is still alive.)

*The rankings were posted to Kent County’s social media accounts on December 3rd, so I’m assuming they cover the year from January to November.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Michigan (public domain)

Unusual real name: Leicester Railway

train engine

Sometime during the summer of 1863, Ann and Joseph Cope of Derbyshire, England, welcomed their second child, a baby boy.

He was born in the adjacent county of Leicestershire, and when he was baptized in late August, he was given the name Leicester Railway.

Now, Ann and Joseph weren’t partial to inventive names. Their eldest child was named Ann Lucy, and their later children were named Eliza, John William, and Lucy. So they must have had a good reason to choose something as unusual as Leicester Railway.

I wasn’t able to find Leicester Railway’s birth record, or any mention of him in contemporary newspapers, but I do think it’s safe to assume that he was born at the Leicester railway station while his family (or perhaps just his mother) was traveling.

About a decade ago, an article about odd 19th-century baby names that ran in various British newspapers (e.g., Metro, Mirror, Daily Mail) claimed Leicester Railway Cope was born inside a train car specifically. While this could be the case, we have no way of knowing for certain.

P.S. Leicester is pronounced just like the name Lester.

Sources: FamilySearch.org, Family of Joseph Cope and Ann Wain – Glynn Roe’s Ancestors and Family

Image: Adapted from O&W Engine #143 (public domain)