How popular is the baby name Marjorie 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 Marjorie.

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Popularity of the baby name Marjorie


Posts that mention the name Marjorie

Round-up of multiples from 1944

Badgett quadruplets, born Galveston, Texas, in 1939
Jeraldine, Joan, Jean, and Janet Badgett

Oodles of multiples — eight sets of twins, one set of triplets, six sets of quadruplets, and one set of quintuplets — were featured in an early 1944 issue of LIFE magazine. Most of these multiples had been born in the 1920s and 1930s.

Curious about the names? I knew you would be! Here they are, along with ages and other details.

Twins:

  • Marjorie and Mary Vaughan, 19.
  • Lois and Lucille Barnes, 21.
  • Betty and Lenore Wade, early 20s.
  • Robert “Bobby” and William “Billy” Mauch, 22.
    • They had starred in the 1937 movie The Prince and the Pauper.
  • Blaine and Wayne Rideout, 27.
    • They had been track stars at the University of North Texas in the late 1930s along with another set of twins, Elmer and Delmer Brown.
  • Charles and Horace Hildreth, 41.
    • Horace was elected Governor of Maine later the same year.
  • Ivan and Malvin Albright, 47.
  • Auguste and Jean Piccard, 60.
    • “Honors as the world’s most distinguished pair of twins must go to Jean and Auguste Piccard, stratosphere balloonists, who are so identical that not everyone realizes there are two of them.”

Triplets:

  • Diane Carol, Elizabeth Ann, and Karen Lynn Quist, 11 months.

Quadruplets:

  • Claire (boy), Cleo (boy), Clayton (boy), and Connie (girl) Brown, 3.
  • Janet, Jean, Jeraldine, and Joan Badgett, 5.
    • “The customary alliteration in multiple names accounts for the “J” in Jeraldine.”
  • Felix (boy), Ferdinand (boy), Frances (girl), and Frank (boy) Kasper, 7.
  • James (boy), Jay (boy), Jean (girl), and Joan (girl) Schense, 13.
  • Edna, Wilma, Sarah, and Helen Morlok — the Morlok Quads — 13.
  • Anthony, Bernard, Carl, and Donald Perricone, 14.
    • “Their Beaumont neighbors call them “A,” “B,” “C” and “D” for short.”

Quintuplets:

  • Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie, and Yvonne Dionne — the Dionne Quints — 9.

Which of these sets of names do you like best? Why?

Source: “Twins: Accident of Their Birth Sets Them Apart from Other People.” Life 6 Mar. 1944: 91-99.

Image: Clipping from Life magazine (6 Mar. 1944)

Name change: Eleanor to Barbara

American scientist Barbara McClintock (1902-1992)
Barbara McClintock

Maize cytogeneticist Barbara McClintock was born on June 16, 1902, in Hartford, Connecticut.

She discovered transposons or “jumping genes” in the 1940s. For this discovery of mobile genetic elements, she won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1983, becoming the very first woman to receive an unshared Nobel Prize in that category.

She wasn’t born a “Barbara,” though. Her birth name was Eleanor.

Her parents changed her name because they thought “Eleanor” wasn’t a good fit to her personality:

By McClintock’s own account, her “capacity to be alone” began in the cradle: “My mother used to put a pillow on the floor and give me one toy and just leave me there. She said I didn’t cry, didn’t call for anything.” Her temperament, she says, led her parents to change her name when she was only four months old. Instead of Eleanor, a name they had originally chosen as especially feminine and delicate, they soon decided that “Barbara” would be more appropriate for a girl with such unusual fortitude. It sounded to them more masculine.

Barbara, the third of four children, had siblings named Marjorie, Mignon, and Malcolm.

Sources:

Image: Barbara McClintock (in 1947)

Popular girl names: Biblical vs. Non-Biblical

The ratio of Biblical names to non-Biblical names in the girl’s top 20 is about the same today as it was 100 years ago, though the ratio did change a bit mid-century.

(In contrast, there’s been a steady increase in the number of Biblical-origin names among the top boy names.)

Here’s the color-coded table — Biblical names are in the yellow cells, non-Biblical names are in the green cells, and several borderline names (which I counted as non-Biblical) are in the orange cells:

Popular girl names: Biblical vs. non-Biblical.
Popular girl names over time: Biblical (yellow) vs. non-Biblical. Click to enlarge.
  • Biblical names: Abigail, Anna, Betty (via Elizabeth), Chloe, Danielle, Deborah, Debra, Elizabeth, Hannah, Isabella (via Elizabeth), Janet, Jean, Joan, Judith, Judy, Julie, Lillian (via Elizabeth), Lisa (via Elizabeth), Lois, Marie, Marilyn, Mary, Mia (via Maria), Michelle, Nancy (via Anne), Rachel, Rebecca, Ruth, Sandra (via Alexander), Sarah, Sharon, Stephanie, Susan, Tammy (via Tamar/Tamara)
  • Non-Biblical names: Alexis, Alice, Alyssa, Amanda, Amber, Amelia, Amy, Angela, Ashley, Aubrey, Avery, Barbara, Brenda, Brianna, Brittany, Carol, Carolyn, Catherine, Charlotte, Christina, Christine, Crystal, Cynthia, Diane, Donna, Doris, Dorothy, Edna, Ella, Emily, Emma, Evelyn, Florence, Frances, Gladys, Grace, Harper, Heather, Helen, Irene, Jennifer, Joyce, Karen, Kathleen, Kayla, Kelly, Kimberly, Laura, Lauren, Linda, Lori, Louise, Madison, Margaret, Marjorie, Megan, Melissa, Mildred, Natalie, Nicole, Olivia, Pamela, Patricia, Rose, Shannon, Shirley, Sofia, Sophia, Taylor, Tiffany, Victoria, Virginia
  • Borderline names:
    • Ava (could be based on the Germanic root avi or the Biblical name Eve)
    • Jessica (literary invention, but Shakespeare may have based it on the Biblical name Iscah)
    • Samantha (possibly inspired by the Biblical name Samuel)

Again, feels pretty weird to put overtly Christian names like Christina and Christine in the non-Biblical category, but oh well.

Here are the year-by-year tallies:

YearTop 20 names
given to…		# Biblical# Non-Biblical
191431% of baby girls6 (30%)14 (70%)
192431% of baby girls7 (35%)13 (65%)
193432% of baby girls9 (45%)11 (55%)
194435% of baby girls8 (40%)12 (60%)
195434% of baby girls9 (45%)11 (55%)
196424% of baby girls9 (45%)11 (55%)
197424% of baby girls8 (40%)12 (60%)
198426% of baby girls6 (30%)14 (70%)
199419% of baby girls6 (30%)14 (70%)
200414% of baby girls6 (30%)14 (70%)
201412% of baby girls5 (25%)15 (75%)

Just like with the boy names, though, there’s a big difference between the 1914 and 2014 sample sizes — 31% and 12%. So let’s also look at the 2014 top 100, which covers 31% of female births.

By my count, last year’s top 100 girl names were about a quarter Biblical, three-quarters non-Biblical:

Biblical names (27)Non-Biblical/Borderline names (73)
Isabella (via Elizabeth), Mia (via Maria), Abigail, Elizabeth, Chloe, Addison (via Adam), Lillian (via Elizabeth), Hannah, Anna, Leah, Gabriella, Sadie (via Sarah), Sarah, Annabelle, Madelyn (via Magdalene), Lucy (via Lucius), Alexa (via Alexander), Genesis, Naomi, Eva, Lydia, Julia, Khloe, Madeline (via Magdalene), Alexandra, Gianna (via Joanna), Isabelle (via Elizabeth)Emma, Olivia, Sophia, Ava, Emily, Madison, Charlotte, Harper, Sofia, Avery, Amelia, Evelyn, Ella, Victoria, Aubrey, Grace, Zoey, Natalie, Brooklyn, Lily, Layla, Scarlett, Aria, Zoe, Samantha, Audrey, Ariana, Allison, Savannah, Arianna, Camila, Penelope, Claire, Aaliyah, Riley, Skylar, Nora, Hailey, Kaylee, Paisley, Kennedy, Ellie, Peyton, Caroline, Serenity, Aubree, Alexis, Nevaeh, Stella, Violet, Mackenzie, Bella, Autumn, Mila, Kylie, Maya, Piper, Alyssa, Taylor, Eleanor, Melanie, Faith, Katherine, Brianna, Ashley, Ruby, Sophie, London, Lauren, Alice, Vivian, Hadley, Jasmine

Faith, Grace, Angela, Nevaeh, Natalie…all technically non-Biblical.

27%-73% is remarkably similar to both 25%-75% (smaller 2014 sample) and 30%-70% (1914 sample).

So here’s the question of the day: If you had to choose all of your children’s names from either one group or the other — Biblical names or non-Biblical names — which group would you stick to, and why?

Biggest changes in girl name popularity, 2013

Which girl names increased/decreased the most in popularity from 2012 to 2013?

Below are two versions of each list. My version looks at raw number differences and takes all 19,114 girl names on the 2013 list into account. The SSA’s version looks at ranking differences and covers roughly the top 1,000 girl names.

Biggest Increases

Raw Numbers (Nancy’s list)Rankings (SSA’s list)
  1. Sadie, +2,031 babies (2,583 to 4,614)
  2. Aria, +1,862 (3,223 to 5,085)
  3. Charlotte, +1,773 (7,459 to 9,232)
  4. Penelope, +1,732 (2,526 to 4,258)
  5. Sofia, +1,300 (7,808 to 9,108)
  6. Mia, +1088 (11,978 to 13,066)
  7. Harper, +1046 (7,176 to 8,222)
  8. Mila, +1027 (2,634 to 3,661)
  9. Olivia, +1003 (17,253 to 18,256)
  10. Scarlett, +994 (4,037 to 5,031)
  11. Kendra, +913 (800 to 1,713)
  12. Avery, +818 (8,303 to 9,121)
  13. Ariana, +816 (3,568 to 4,384)
  14. Evelyn, +751 (6,865 to 7,616)
  15. Amelia, +746 (7,233 to 7,979)
  16. Jaylah, +683 (676 to 1,359)
  17. Nicole, +679 (2,646 to 3,325)
  18. Paisley, +671 (2,913 to 3,584)
  19. Valentina, +642 (1,900 to 2,542)
  20. Violet, +629 (3,266 to 3,895)
  21. Eleanor, +618 (2,368 to 2,986)
  22. Nora, +600 (2,882 to 3,482)
  23. Kennedy, +555 (3,377 to 3,932)
  24. Caroline, +547 (3,408 to 3,955)
  25. Alexia, +530 (1,283 to 1,813)
  1. Daleyza, +3,130 spots (3,715th to 585th)
  2. Marjorie, +735 (1,645th to 910th)
  3. Lennon, +700 (1,623rd to 923rd)
  4. Jurnee, +571 (1,467th to 896th)
  5. Everleigh, +538 (1,403rd to 865th)
  6. Everly, +524 (907th to 383rd)
  7. Henley, +478 (1,309th to 831st)
  8. Freya, +395 (1,303rd to 908th)
  9. Neriah, +392 (1,346th to 954th)
  10. Oakley, +340 (1,268th to 928th)
  11. Mabel, +338 (1,045th to 707th)
  12. Hadlee, +326 (1,215th to 889th)
  13. Gwyneth, +297 (1,183rd to 886th)
  14. Emerie, +294 (1,234th to 940th)
  15. Dallas, +292 (902nd to 610th)
  16. Saige, +282 (931st to 649th)
  17. Azalea, +269 (900th to 631st)
  18. Hunter, +266 (1,196th to 930th)
  19. Kaidence, +266 (1,245th to 979th)
  20. India, +240 (1,212th to 972nd)
  21. Rosie, +235 (1,118th to 883rd)
  22. Juniper, +227 (875th to 648th)
  23. Jaylah, +226 (460th to 234th)
  24. Saylor, +217 (1,123rd to 906th)
  25. Kora, +216 (974th to 758th)

Check out Sadie! I wasn’t expecting to see that name here. Unlike Penelope, which I was expecting to see here.

Harper, Aria, Charlotte — still going strong. And Paisley’s back, though the rise has slowed: 3rd in 2012, 18th in 2013.

Does anyone have a theory on Jaylah?

(The SSA broadened the scope of their analysis this year — top 500 to top 1,000 — which is great, but it makes direct comparisons between this year’s list and last year’s impossible.)

Biggest Decreases

Raw Numbers (Nancy’s list)Rankings (SSA’s list)
  1. Isabella, -1,536 babies (19,026 to 17,490)
  2. Sophia, -1,170 (22,245 to 21,075)
  3. Lily, -998 (7,933 to 6,935)
  4. Chloe, -914 (9,628 to 8,714)
  5. Hailey, -903 (5,897 to 4,994)
  6. Alyssa, -900 (5,069 to 4,169)
  7. Sophie, -851 (4,561 to 3,710)
  8. Madison, -831 (11,360 to 10,529)
  9. Ella, -794 (9,164 to 8,370)
  10. Ashley, -776 (4,689 to 3,913)
  11. Brianna, -748 (4,617 to 3,869)
  12. Taylor, -739 (4,847 to 4,108)
  13. Khloe, -645 (4,299 to 3,654)
  14. Nevaeh, -629 (5,345 to 4,716)
  15. Alexis, -591 (5,332 to 4,741)
  16. Emily, -562 (13,606 to 13,044)
  17. Sarah, -523 (5,158 to 4,635)
  18. Kaylee, -521 (5,600 to 5,079)
  19. Kayla, -512 (3,748 to 3,236)
  20. Zoe, -501 (6,421 to 5,920)
  21. Makayla, -498 (3,756 to 3,258)
  22. Addison, -482 (8,159 to 7,677)
  23. Vanessa, -463 (2,548 to 2,085)
  24. Samantha, -454 (6,907 to 6,453)
  25. Natalie, -450 (7,880 to 7,430)
  1. Litzy, -825 spots (597th to 1422nd)
  2. Geraldine, -412 (990th to 1,402nd)
  3. Marisa, -389 (978th to 1,367th)
  4. Taraji, -382 (859th to 1,241st)
  5. Adley, -370 (735th to 1,105th)
  6. Jazzlyn, -343 (955th to 1,298th)
  7. Maritza, -304 (840th to 1,144th)
  8. Izabelle, -299 (984th to 1,283rd)
  9. Jaqueline, -246 (905th to 1,151st)
  10. Abbie, -226 (791st to 1,017th)
  11. Kenia, -221 (643rd to 864th)
  12. Larissa, -219 (857th to 1076th)
  13. Perla, -216 (452nd to 668th)
  14. Haylie, -213 (894th to 1,107th)
  15. Kendal, -208 (851st to 1,059th)
  16. Ryann, -204 (790th to 994th)
  17. Jayde, -201 (784th to 985th)
  18. Carissa, -199 (958th to 1,157th)
  19. Jessa, -197 (991st to 1,188th)
  20. Meghan, 196 (883rd to 1,079th)
  21. Jakayla, -186 (933rd to 1,119th)
  22. Saanvi, -183 (901st to 1,084th)
  23. Kaitlin, -180 (838th to 1,018th)
  24. Brisa, -179 (912th to 1,091st)
  25. Kyndal, -178 (981st to 1,159th)

Newbie losers on the left-hand side include Sophia (still the #1 name despite the decrease), Lily, Hailey and Sophie.

Winners/losers in years past:

  • 2012: Harper/Chloe, or Arya/Dulce
  • 2011: Harper/Isabella
  • 2010: Sophia/Madison

Source: Change in Popularity from 2012 to 2013

U.S. Baby Names 2013: Most popular names, Top girl-name debuts, Top boy-name debuts, Biggest girl-name changes, Biggest boy-name changes, Top first letters, Top lengths, Top girl names by letter, Top boy names by letter