How popular is the baby name Luther 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 Luther.

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Popularity of the baby name Luther


Posts that mention the name Luther

Baby name needed: Atlas or Finch?

A reader and her husband are expecting a baby boy in January. They’re down to two names: Atlas and Finch.

If we decide to go with Atlas, his name will be Atlas Grey. However, if we decide to go with Finch, we’re having a terrible time deciding on a middle name. My first thought is Finch Winter but I’m not sure if it’s too feminine. We would love any kind of feedback or ideas. I’m thinking it should be two syllables and obviously something out of the ordinary.

So, here are the questions:

  1. Which name do you like better, Atlas or Finch?
  2. Is Finch Winter too feminine?
  3. What middle name(s) would you suggest for Finch?

Please give us your answers in the comments!

Here’s what I think:

1. I prefer Atlas to Finch for several reasons, one being that the name Finch immediately brought to mind Stifler’s Mom from American Pie. (And another American Pie movie is due out next year. Who knows how long they’ll keep that franchise/joke alive.)

2. Finch Winter doesn’t strike me as being too “feminine” necessarily — just unisex, as nature names tend to be.

3. My first thought was Winston, which is similar to Winter, but decidedly masculine. Here are some other ideas:

Ambrose
Arthur
Clement
Cyrus
Desmond		Henry
Luther
Maxwell
Osborn
Roderick		Roland
Roman
Simon
Sinclair
Titus

What do you think?

Baby names for library lovers (Namestorm #8)

Are you a library lover? Why not show it by naming your baby after a notable librarian or fellow library-lover, such as:

Thomas

  • English diplomat Thomas Bodley began reviving Oxford’s (nearly defunct) library in 1598. It was reopened as the Bodleian Library in November of 1602.
  • English librarian Thomas James was the first librarian of the Bodleian Library.

Louis
Dutch printer Louis Timothee became the first salaried librarian in the American colonies in 1732.

Gottfried
Austrian diplomat and librarian Gottfried van Swieten created the world’s first card catalog at Austria’s Imperial Library, circa 1780.

Anthony and Antonio
Italian-born librarian Anthony Panizzi (originally Antonio Genesio Maria Panizzi) was Chief Librarian of the British Museum Library during the mid-1800s.

Melvil
American librarian Melvil Dewey (born Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey) invented the Dewey Decimal Classification system as a 21-year-old, in 1876.

“Keenly interested in simplified spelling, he shortened his first name to Melvil as a young adult, dropped his middle names and, for a short time, even spelled his last name as Dui” (OCLC).

Charles
American librarian Charles A. Cutter developed the Cutter Expansive Classification system in the 1890s.

William
American librarian William Dix was the principle author of The Freedom to Read, which was adopted by the American Library Association in 1953.

Henriette
American systems analyst Henriette Davidson Avram developed the MARC standards in the late 1960s.

Zoia
Ukrainian-American librarian Zoia Horn was the first U.S. librarian to be jailed for withholding information as a matter of conscience (by refusing to testify against library patrons, in 1972).

Judith
American librarian and anti-censorship activist Judith Fingeret Krug co-founded Banned Books Week in 1982.

Librarians of Congress
There have been 13 so far. Four were named John. The others were named Ainsworth, Daniel, George, Herbert, James, Lawrence, Luther, Patrick and Archibald. (That last one was three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Archibald MacLeish.)

And now, the same two questions as always:

  • Can you come up with any other library-related baby names?
  • What interests/activities should we namestorm about next?

Sources: List of Librarians, Library of Congress

Baby names for shoe lovers (Namestorm #2)

Love shoes as much as Imelda Marcos? If so, this post is for you.

Reader C in DC suggested last week that I brainstorm for names associated with shoes, and I thought that was a cool idea. So here’s my stab at it.

Luther
In 1938, American archaeologist Luther Cressman discovered a 10,000-year-old pair of sandals–the oldest pair of shoes ever found in North America (and maybe the world).

Louis and Nicolas
French shoemaker Nicolas Lestage designed elaborate high heeled shoes — the “Louis heel” — for Louis XIV around 1660.

Arthur
Anglo-Irish soldier/politician Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, created (with the help of his shoemaker) the Wellington boot in the early 1800s.

Charles

  • American inventor Charles Goodyear figured out how to vulcanize rubber in 1839. This discovery paved the way for the invention of sneakers.
  • Speaking of sneakers…Chuck Taylor All-Stars were named after American basketball player and shoe salesman Charles “Chuck” Taylor.

Mary Jane
Mary Janes got their name from the Buster Brown comic strip character Mary Jane in the early 1900s.

Salvatore and Judy (and Dorothy)
Italian shoemaker Salvatore Ferragamo created the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the movie The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Klaus
German army doctor Klaus Märtens started making boots in the late 1940s.

Roger
French fashion designer Roger Vivier created his iconic Pilgrim pumps in the 1960s.

Chelsea
Chelsea boots were fashionable during the 1960s.

Nancy
Nancy Sinatra helped popularize go-go boots with her song “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” (1966).

Christian
French footwear designer Christian Louboutin first introduced his red-lacquered soles in 1992.

And now, just like last time, two questions:

  • What other shoe-inspired names can you come up with?
  • What interests/activities should we namestorm about next?

Sources: History of Footwear, Wikipedia