How popular is the baby name Marie 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 Marie.

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Popularity of the baby name Marie


Posts that mention the name Marie

California family with 20 children

kinderfest

In late 1966, Jim and Eldora Parnell of Bakersfield, California, welcomed their 20th child.

Here are the names of all twenty kids, plus their 1966-ages:

  • Robert, 26
  • James, 24
  • Edwina, 21
  • Marie (nn Baby Doll, “because we were sure she’d be our last one”), 19
  • Eddie, 18
  • Bill, 17
  • Charlotte, 16
  • Chris (female), 15
  • Elledie, 13
  • Patrick, 12
  • Wanetta, 11
  • Peggy, 9
  • Gail, 8
  • Donna, 7
  • Steve, 5
  • Logan, 4
  • Gil, 3
  • Daryl (twin), 18 months
  • Gerald (twin), 18 months
  • Teri Kay, newborn

Which girl name is your favorite? How about boy name?

Bonus: The article included name stories for Charlotte and Logan. Charlotte “was born in the family car during a visit to Los Angeles. The police officer delivering the baby was named Charley–so, Charlotte.” Logan “was named after Dr. Lloyd Q. Logan, who delivered eight of his older brothers and sisters. But when Logan was born, Dr. Logan was out of town and another doctor delivered him.”

Source: Hillinger, Charles. “Managing a Family of 20 Poses Big, Happy Problem.” Spokesman-Review 11 Dec. 1966: 7.

Image: Ein Kinderfest (1868) by Ludwig Knaus

Wisconsin family with 22 children

Some of the Schoville family of Wisconsin (in 1950)
Some of the Schoville family (in 1950)

Fred and Edith Schoville of Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin, had their first child in 1926, their last in 1952, and 20 in between. That’s a total of 22 children. All were single births.

Here are the names of all 22, plus as many of the birth years as I could verify.

  1. Marjorie Maxine (born in 1925)
  2. Freddie (b. 1926)
  3. Lola Jean (b. 1928)
  4. Betty Lavonne (b. 1929)
  5. Marlin Dwayne (b. 1932)
  6. Phyllis Marie (b. 1933)
  7. Donna Mae (b. 1934)
  8. Annabelle
  9. Patsy L.
  10. Larry Lee (b. 1938)
  11. Janice P. (b. 1939)
  12. Sharon H.
  13. Frederick P. (b. 1941)
  14. Susan Kay (b. 1942)
  15. Ronald A.
  16. Robert A. (b. 1945)
  17. Karen C. (b. 1946)
  18. Linda Lou (b. 1947)
  19. Gary G. (b. 1948)
  20. Charles William (b. 1949)
  21. Steven (b. 1951)
  22. Randy Joe (b. 1952)

More than half of the Schoville children are listed on the 1950 U.S. Census:

The Schoville family on the 1950 U.S. Census
The Schoville family (1950 U.S. Census)

Which girl name is your favorite? How about boy name?

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the Spokane Daily Chronicle (18 Apr. 1950)

[Latest update: Oct. 2024]

How has Halley’s Comet influenced U.S. baby names?

Photograph of Comet 1P/Halley (March 8, 1986)
Halley’s Comet (photographed in 1986)

In 1705, English astronomer Edmond Halley theorized that three historical comets that had appeared in 1531, 1607, and 1682 were actually the same comet returning over and over again. He calculated that the comet would return yet again in 1758.

And he was correct! The comet reappeared in 1758, just as Halley had predicted. So comet was named Halley in his honor in 1759.

Since then, Halley’s Comet has flown through the inner Milky Way three more times: in 1835, 1910 and 1986.

The U.S. Social Security Administration has been collecting baby name data since 1880, so let’s check out how the two most recent appearances have affected the usage of the baby name Halley…

Halley’s Comet in 1910

Halley appeared on the U.S. baby name data for the very first time, both for boys and for girls, in 1910. In fact, it was the top debut name for boys that year.

Boys named HalleyGirls named Halley
19126.
19115.
191012* [rank: 951st]11*
1909..
1908..
*Debut

The similar names Hallie and Haley also saw increased usage in 1910.

But the SSA data didn’t start reflecting real numbers until the ’30s. So I checked the Social Security Death Index (SSDI), which indicates that the total number of babies named Halley in 1910 was actually much higher:

  • 1912: 15 people named Halley born
  • 1911: 8 people named Halley born
  • 1910: 119 people named Halley born
  • 1909: 14 people named Halley born
  • 1908: 3 people named Halley born

Some of the Halleys named specifically for the comet include:

  • Halley Comett Johnston, boy, born on April 13, 1910, to Jessie Johnston and Addie Webb of North Carolina.
  • Halley Reed Palmer, boy, born on May 10, 1910, to Mr. and Mrs. John Palmer of Milton, Oregon.
  • Halley Couch, boy, born on May 21, 1910, in Stockbridge, Wisconsin. (The night of his birth, “his father and older brother watched Halley’s Comet fly over their home. They were so impressed with the sight that they named the baby Halley.”)

I also found 1910 babies named Halie Comet Wood (boy), Estyr Halley Abrams (girl), Comet Halley Briggs (boy), and Aerial Comet Roath (boy).

Speaking of Comet…the SSDI data reveals that at least 10 people were named Comet in 1910, and that one of these 10 happened to have the surname Halley. Also born in 1910: a Comette, a Cometniss, a Cometa, and two Comettas.

Halley’s Comet in 1986

Graph of the usage of the baby name Halley in the U.S since 1880
Usage of the baby name Halley

The name Halley was given another big boost in the mid-1980s:

Boys named HalleyGirls named Halley
1987.69
198622†333† [rank: 580th]
198510146
1984.25
1983.17
†Peak usage

The comet first became visible to the naked eye in late 1985. The same year, the name Halley re-emerged in the data as a boy name and increased in usage significantly as a girl name.

In 1986, the name reached peak popularity for both genders — though the girls’ peak was much more impressive than the boys’ peak. American parents of the ’80s clearly saw Halley as more of a female name than a male name.

The only Halley-baby I noticed in the newspapers in 1986 was from Canada: Halley Marie Mullen, a baby girl born to Susan and Brendan Mullen of Ottawa on January 4.

It’s hard to know how much the comet’s return affected the usage of other spellings of the name (like Hailey and Hayley) because the entire name-group was starting to become trendy around that time. That said, the graphs for Hallie and Hali show that these particular variants saw a discernible increase usage in 1986, while, very interestingly, the graph for Haley reveals a dip in usage that year.

Halley’s Comet in 2061

Halley’s Comet is due back in mid-2061. Do you think we’ll see a spike in the number of babies named Halley that year? Why or why not?

P.S. Though many people pronounce Halley to rhyme with the word “daily,” the surname is traditionally pronounced to rhyme with the word “valley.”

Sources:

  • Halley’s Comet – Wikipedia
  • “Names Baby After the Comet.” Spokesman-Review 22 May 1910: 1.
  • “Parents hope Halley sees comet’s return.” Ottawa Citizen 7 Jan. 1986: B2.
  • “A Rotarian named Halley.” Rotarian Apr. 1986: 9, 11.
  • “Semi-Weekly News.” Deseret Evening News 20 May 1910: 12.
  • “Squints Slip on the ‘Scope.” Los Angeles Times 20 May 1910: I2.
  • Halley’s Comet F.A.Q.s by Joseph M. Laufer
  • U.S. SSDI (current as of February 28, 2014)

Top image: Adapted from LSPN Comet Halley (NASA)

[Latest update: Nov. 2025]

Greek princess named Alexia

In July of 1965, a daughter was born to the last Greek king, Constantine II, and his wife, Anne-Marie of Denmark.

The new Greek princess was named Alexia “after the Byzantine Emperor Alexius, who ruled from 1061 to 1118.”

Alexia was a favorite name of King Constantine’s father, Paul, who died in March 1964, the officials added. King Paul had intended naming Constantine’s younger sister Alexia, but she was born during the war and was christened Irene — Greek for peace — instead.

Unlike most other royal babies in Europe, Greek royal babies traditionally received just one name.

Source: “Princess Named Alexia; Greek Queen Doing Fine.” Spokesman-Review 12 Jul. 1965: 2.