How popular is the baby name Marian in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out all the blog posts that mention the name Marian.
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.
In July of 1954, Mr. and Mrs. A. Maher welcomed the first baby to be born in the new maternity ward at Toosey Memorial Hospital in Longford, Tasmania.
What was the baby girl named?
Sonia Anne Marian Toosey Maher — fourth given name in honor of the hospital.
(The Toosey Memorial Hospital was established in the 1920s with money donated by James Denton Toosey, Jr. Today, the facility is a nursing home.)
Source: “Baby Named after Hospital.” Mercury [Hobart, Tasmania] 6 Jul. 1954: 12.
Years ago, I discovered three documents with relatively complete lists of births for the city of Providence, Rhode Island, for the years 1866, 1867, and 1868. I’ve already created Providence’s baby name rankings for 1866 and 1867 using the first two documents, and today (finally!) I’ve got the third set of rankings for you.
Let’s start with some stats:
And now, on to the names!
A quick look at the top 5 girl names and boy names in Providence in 1868:
| Top baby girl names | Top baby boy names |
| 1. Mary 2. Catherine 3. Sarah 4. Ellen 5. Margaret | 1. John 2. William 3. James 4. Charles 5. George |
*What do you think the “B.” might have stood for?
*Ulysses was likely named in honor of Ulysses S. Grant, who was elected president in 1868.
Finally, nineteen sets of twins were born in Providence in 1868. (All of these twin names are accounted for in the rankings above.)
| Girl-girl twins | Girl-boy twins | Boy-boy twins |
| Caroline & Harriet Lucy & Lydia Mary & Rosanna Margaret & Mary Lizzie & Martha (blank) & (blank) | Anne & Thomas Emma & Charles Florence & William Hannah & Josiah Ida & John Isabella & John Jennie & Horace | Charles & William Francis & Robert George & John James & John James & Stephen (blank) & (blank) |
Have any thoughts about these rankings, or about any of the specific names above?
Source: Snow, Edwin M. Alphabetical Lists of the Names of Persons Deceased, Born and Married in the City of Providence. Number three. Providence: Millard & Harker, 1870.
Ortrude is one of the many girl names tied for top one-hit wonder of 1916.
Where did it come from?
A serialized story called Marrying for Money by Mrs. Eva Leonard. It ran in various U.S. newspapers during the first half of 1916.
In the story, Ortrude was a self-centered woman who married a wealthy older man with two adolescent children (Marian and Dudley). Ortrude’s bad behavior did not endear her to anyone in her new family, husband included. By the end of the tale, she’d had an epiphany and changed her ways.
Do you like the name Ortrude? Do you like it more or less than the similar name Gertrude?
Within the next few years, it’s very possible that the baby name Jubilee will enter the girls’ top 1,000:
(The jump in 2012 was thanks to Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee — thanks Fiona for reminding me to mention it!)
Though Jubilee is seeing a good amount of birth-certificate usage these days, it only began popping up in the U.S. baby name data relatively recently, in 1975:
I don’t think that year is a coincidence; it lines up perfectly with one of the Roman Catholic Church’s more recent jubilee years.
Speaking of special Roman Catholic years…the church has also celebrated a total of two Marian years, the first of which was in 1954. That year, the baby name Marian saw a sharp rise in usage and nearly returned to top 100:
The other Marian year lasted from mid-1987 to mid-1988 and had no effect on the name.
Which of these two names do you prefer, Jubilee or Marian?
Update, 10/22/2020 – I spoke too soon regarding Jubilee! Turns out peak usage was in 2015-2016 — likely because of the Catholic Church’s “Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy” that was announced in early 2015 and lasted from late 2015 to late 2016. After that, usage began dropping:
