How popular is the baby name Mary 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 Mary.

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Popularity of the baby name Mary


Posts that mention the name Mary

What gave the baby name Dawn a boost in 1964?

The Four Seasons' album "Dawn (Go Away) and 11 Other Great Songs" (1964)
Four Seasons album

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Dawn saw a significant increase in usage in the mid-1960s:

  • 1966: 13,602 baby girls named Dawn [rank: 24th]
  • 1965: 13,341 baby girls named Dawn [rank: 26th]
  • 1964: 12,614 baby girls named Dawn [rank: 33rd]
  • 1963: 8,416 baby girls named Dawn [rank: 52nd]
  • 1962: 8,980 baby girls named Dawn [rank: 50th]

Why?

Because of the Four Seasons song “Dawn (Go Away),” in which the narrator speaks to a female named Dawn (who’s as “pretty as a midsummer’s morn”).

Here’s what it sounds like:

The song was released as a single in January of 1964. From late February to early March, for three weeks straight, it ranked #3 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart. (The two songs that prevented it from climbing any higher were both Beatles songs: “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You.”)

What are your thoughts on the name Dawn? (Do you like it more or less than Sherry?)

Update, Feb. 2025: Thank you to Randi for mentioning a second possible influence: actress Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann on the sitcom Gilligan’s Island, which premiered in September of 1964.

Sources: Dawn (Go Away) – Wikipedia, Billboard Hot 100 for the week of 22 Feb. 1964, Gilligan’s Island – Wikipedia, SSA

What gave the baby name Marianne a boost in 1957?

Terry Gilkyson and the Easy Riders' song "Marianne" (1957)
“Marianne” single

According to the U.S. baby name data, name Marianne nearly doubled in usage in 1957:

  • 1959: 1,915 baby girls named Marianne [rank: 186th]
  • 1958: 2,076 baby girls named Marianne [rank: 181st]
  • 1957: 3,021 baby girls named Marianne [rank: 139th]
  • 1956: 1,617 baby girls named Marianne [rank: 202nd]
  • 1955: 1,747 baby girls named Marianne [rank: 191st]

Why?

Because of the calypso song “Marianne,” which became popular during the first months of the year (during America’s short-lived “calypso craze,” which had been kicked off by Harry Belafonte’s mid-1956 album Calypso).

“Marianne” [vid] by folk music trio Terry Gilkyson and the Easy Riders was released during the final days of 1956. It was based on the calypso song “Mary Ann” (1946) by Trinidadian calypsonian Roaring Lion (birth name: Rafael de Leon), though its lyrics were substantially different.

During the months that followed, other artists (including Burl Ives) released their own recordings of “Marianne.” The most successful cover was that by The Hilltoppers, who performed the song live on The Steve Allen Show in late February.

In mid-March, the recordings of “Marianne” by the Easy Riders and the Hilltoppers peaked at #5 and #8 (respectively) on Billboard‘s Top 100 chart (a precursor to today’s Hot 100 chart).

What are your thoughts on the name Marianne?

Sources:

Popular baby names in Mississippi, 2024

Flag of Mississippi
Flag of Mississippi

The state of Mississippi likely welcomed more than 34,000* babies last year.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and William, according to provisional data released in late December, 2024, by the Mississippi State Department of Health’s Office of Vital Records and Public Health Statistics.

Here are Mississippi’s projected top 25+ girl names and top 25+ boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 101 baby girls
  2. Ava, 94
  3. Mary, 92
  4. Amelia, 91
  5. Charlotte and Harper (tie), 82 each
  6. Elizabeth, 80
  7. Emma, 67
  8. Nova, 65
  9. Ivy, 63
  10. Hazel, 61
  11. Ella, Evelyn, and Paisley (3-way tie), 58 each
  12. Caroline, 54
  13. Kinsley, 53
  14. Ellie and Lainey (tie), 52 each
  15. Mia, 51
  16. Eleanor and Isabella (tie), 50 each
  17. Riley, 48
  18. Serenity, 47
  19. Autumn, Layla, Millie, and Naomi (4-way tie), 46 each
  20. Journee, 45
  21. Kehlani, Khloe, and Sophia (3-way tie), 44 each
  22. Avery, Chloe, and Oaklynn (3-way tie), 42 each
  23. Londyn, Scarlett, and Skylar (3-way tie), 41 each
  24. Aria, Brooklyn, Emery, Lucy, and Raelynn (5-way tie), 40 each
  25. Aurora, Josie, Nora, and Willow (4-way tie), 39 each

Boy names

  1. William, 167 baby boys
  2. John, 159
  3. James, 148
  4. Noah, 118
  5. Liam, 106
  6. Elijah, 104
  7. Waylon, 91
  8. Asher, 86
  9. Samuel, 84
  10. Levi and Walker (tie), 80 each
  11. Henry, 79
  12. Mason, 78
  13. Carter, Josiah, and Maverick (3-way tie), 75 each
  14. Grayson, 72
  15. Hudson, 71
  16. Beau, Charles, and Oliver (3-way tie), 67 each
  17. Luke, 65
  18. Kayden, 64
  19. Amir, David, Jackson, and Thomas (4-way tie), 63 each
  20. Cooper, 62
  21. Kingston, Legend, and Michael (3-way tie), 61 each
  22. Wyatt, 59
  23. Aiden and Christopher (tie), 57 each
  24. Silas, 55
  25. Lucas and Nolan (tie), 53 each

In the girls’ top 10, Ivy and Hazel replaced Evelyn.

In the boys’ top 10, Samuel, Levi, and Walker replaced Mason and Grayson.

Finally, if you’d like to see Mississippi’s projected rankings for 2023, you can find them in this post.

*The state welcomed about 34,354 babies in 2023.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Mississippi

What gave the baby name Gilda a boost in the 1920s?

Actress Gilda Gray as the character Aloma in the silent film "Aloma of the South Seas" (1926)
Gilda Gray in “Aloma of the South Seas“

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Gilda achieved peak popularity (in terms of ranking) in 1927:

  • 1929: 257 baby girls named Gilda [rank: 414th]
  • 1928: 291 baby girls named Gilda [rank: 393rd]
  • 1927: 321 baby girls named Gilda [rank: 381st]
  • 1926: 293 baby girls named Gilda [rank: 401st]
  • 1925: 200 baby girls named Gilda [rank: 497th]

What was drawing attention to the name around that time?

Actress Gilda Gray, who began her career as a vaudeville dancer in the late 1910s. She was famous for doing the shimmy — a shoulder-shaking dance move that was somewhat controversial at the time.

She went on to appear in several movies, the most successful of which was the 1926 silent film Aloma of the South Seas, in which she played the title character. Here’s how one newspaper advertisement described the picture:

A fiery romance of the tropics in which Gilda, as a native dancing girl, vies with a lovely woman of fashion for the love of a derelict young white man. Drama! Beauty! Thrills!

(The baby name Aloma saw higher usage in 1927 as well.)

Gilda Gray was born Marianna Michalska in Poland around the turn of the century. Her family immigrated to the U.S. when she was a child.

Her stage name was initially Mary Gray, but singer Sophie Tucker suggested that she change “Mary” to “Gilda” on account of her golden hair.

What are your thoughts on the name Gilda?

P.S. The word “shimmy” is of unknown origin, but one theory posits that it derives from the French word chemise.

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the book Aloma of the South Seas (1926)