How popular is the baby name Marjoe 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 Marjoe.

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.


Popularity of the baby name Marjoe


Posts that mention the name Marjoe

Where did the baby name Marjoe come from in 1974?

Preacher Marjoe Gortner in the documentary "Marjoe" (1972).
Marjoe Gortner

The rare name Marjoe has appeared in the U.S. baby name just twice, both times in the mid-1970s:

  • 1976: unlisted
  • 1975: 6 baby boys named Marjoe
  • 1974: 6 baby boys named Marjoe [debut]
  • 1973: unlisted
  • 1972: unlisted

This name is similar to Uldine in that both are associated with something rather unusual: child preachers.

In the case of Marjoe, the influence was child preacher-turned-actor Marjoe Gortner.

He was born Hugh Marjoe Ross Gortner to parents to Vernon and Marge of California in 1944. According to an early source, the middle name “Marjoe” was based on the name of his mother Marge. (His younger siblings were named Vernoe and Starloe.) Later sources claim “Marjoe” was a combination of Mary and Joseph.

Marjoe Gortner was a precocious child, and his family was full of preachers, so his parents (putting two and two together) decided to turn Marjoe into a child preacher. By the age of four, he was an ordained minister and could deliver about 40 different sermons from memory. His entire childhood was spent evangelizing.

By the early 1970s, Marjoe Gortner was in his late 20s and only in it for the money. In the autobiographical documentary Marjoe (1972), he gave viewers a behind-the-scenes look at “the lucrative business of Pentecostal preaching.” It earned critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in early 1973, but wasn’t screened in many theaters.

Following the success of the documentary, Marjoe pursued an acting career. He was most visible in the mid-1970s, appearing mainly on television. He could be seen on episodes of various TV shows (like Nakia, in 1974) and in several made-for-TV movies (like The Gun and the Pulpit, also in 1974).

What are your thoughts on the name Marjoe?

Sources:

Where did the baby name Bobbiejo come from in 1964?

The character Bobbie Jo Bradley from the TV show "Petticoat Junction."
Bobbie Jo Bradley from “Petticoat Junction”

The folksy-sounding girl name Bobbiejo didn’t start popping up in the U.S. baby name until the middle of the 1960s:

  • 1966: 11 baby girls named Bobbiejo
  • 1965: 8 baby girls named Bobbiejo
  • 1964: 7 baby girls named Bobbiejo [debut]
  • 1963: unlisted
  • 1962: unlisted

What put it there?

Television! The sitcom Petticoat Junction, which aired on CBS from 1963 to 1970, featured a trio of teenage sisters with similar nicknames:

  • Wilhelmina Josephine, “Billie Jo”
  • Roberta Josephine, “Bobbie Jo”
  • Elizabeth Josephine, “Betty Jo”

The main character was their widowed mother, Kathryn “Kate” Bradley, proprietor of the Shady Rest Hotel (located near the fictional farming community of Hooterville).

The role of middle daughter Bobbie Jo was played by actress Pat Woodell for the first two years, then by actress Lori Saunders for the rest of the show’s run.

The series also gave a boost to the baby names Betty Jo and Billie Jo in the 1960s. And when Betty Jo had a baby girl named Kathy Jo in a later season, that name got a boost as well.

The name Bobbie Jo went on to see peak usage in 1976, possibly thanks to the movie Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw (which starred Lynda Carter and Marjoe Gortner).

Which of the three “Jo” names do you like best: Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo, or Betty Jo?

Sources:

  • Petticoat Junction – Wikipedia
  • Terrace, Vincent. The Television Treasury: Onscreen Details from Sitcoms, Dramas and Other Scripted Series, 1947-2019. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2020.