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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In mid-1944, Willoughby Norrie — who’d served as an officer in the British Army for more than three decades, and fought in both World Wars — was appointed Governor of South Australia. (Australia was a self-governing dominion of the British Empire at that time.)
Later the same year, he relocated his family and staff to the South Australian capital of Adelaide.
In December of 1945, Norrie and his second wife, Patricia, welcomed a baby girl.
Her name?
Annabel Mary Adelaide — third given name in honor of the city of Adelaide (which was also her birthplace, of course).
The city had been named in 1836 after Queen Adelaide, the German-born wife of King William IV.
(Norrie also had five older children: Diana, Rosemary, George, Guy, and Sarah.)
The playful song “Jennifer Juniper” by Scottish musician Donovan was released as a single in early 1968. It peaked at #26 on the U.S. Hot 100 chart in April.
Jennifer Juniper lives upon the hill Jennifer Juniper, sitting very still
The inspiration behind the song was Jenny Boyd — the younger sister of famous English model Pattie Boyd (who, at that time, was married to George Harrison of the Beatles).
What effect did the song have on the baby names Jennifer and Juniper?
With Jennifer it’s hard to tell, as the name was already extremely trendy. It was also being featured elsewhere in pop culture (e.g., the 1968 song “Jennifer Eccles” by the Hollies).
1971: 56,775 baby girls named Jennifer [rank: 1st]
1970: 46,153 baby girls named Jennifer [rank: 1st]
1969: 33,702 baby girls named Jennifer [rank: 3rd]
1968: 26,850 baby girls named Jennifer [rank: 4th]
1967: 18,238 baby girls named Jennifer [rank: 10th]
Incidentally, Jenny Boyd’s legal name was not Jennifer Boyd, but Helen Mary Boyd. Here’s the story, according to Pattie:
She wasn’t actually christened Jenny: my mother named her Helen Mary, to please a couple of aunts, but I had a favorite teddy at the time called Jenny and I insisted my new sister be called by the same name.
It’s much easier to see the effect of “Jennifer Juniper” on the name Juniper, which debuted in the U.S. baby name data the year after the song came out:
1971: 12 baby girls named Juniper
1970: 7 baby girls named Juniper
1969: 5 baby girls named Juniper [debut]
1968: unlisted
1967: unlisted
It’s interesting that Donovan’s song “Laléna” came out months after “Jennifer Juniper,” and yet the name Lalena debuted in the SSA data a year ahead of Juniper.
Despite sounding similar, the names Jennifer and Juniper have different etymologies. Juniper, which refers to a type of tree, comes from the Latin word iuniperus. Jennifer, on the other hand, can be traced back to the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar, which is based on a pair of Celtic words that may have meant “white” and “phantom.” (The Arthuruan name Guinevere has the same origin.)
Which name, Jennifer or Juniper, do you prefer? Why?
Sources:
Boyd, Pattie and Penny Junor. Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007.
The baby name Marylou was generally on the decline during the second half of the 20th century, but there was a conspicuous spike in usage in 1961 specifically:
1963: 207 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 708th]
1962: 207 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 719th]
1961: 300 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 580th]
1960: 227 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 675th]
1959: 223 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 670th]
You can see it on the graph:
What caused the spike?
The Ricky Nelson song “Hello Mary Lou” (1961), which peaked at #9 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in May of 1961.
It was written by Gene Pitney, but sounded enough like the earlier song “Merry, Merry Lou” [vid] by Cayet Mangiaracina that the two musicians are now credited as co-authors.
Here’s “Hello Mary Lou”:
The song was released as the B-side to Nelson’s #1 hit “Travelin’ Man.” It was also included on his sixth studio album, Rick Is 21.
That album title is notable because, on his 21st birthday, Nelson — born Eric Hilliard Nelson in 1940 — officially changed his recording name from “Ricky Nelson” to “Rick Nelson.”
The name change was a hard sell, though, because audiences had known him for so long as Ricky. He’d gone by “Ricky” on his family’s long-running sitcom, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (on radio and/or television from 1944 to 1966), and he’d continued to use “Ricky” when he launched his recording career in 1957. (His first five albums were called Ricky, Ricky Nelson, Ricky Sings Again, Songs by Ricky, and More Songs by Ricky.)
One of the ways he promoted his songs — “Hello Mary Lou” included — was by performing them at the end of weekly Ozzie and Harriet TV episodes. (Elvis Presley was a fan of these musical segments, incidentally.)
Getting back to Mary Lou…what are your thoughts on the compound name Marylou? Would you consider using it?
And, which song you like better: “Hello Mary Lou” from 1961, or “Mary Lou” from 1926?
P.S. In April of 1963, Rick Nelson married 17-year-old Kristin Harmon. Later the same year, she began appearing regularly (as “Kris”) on Ozzie and Harriet. As a result, the names Kristin and Kris both saw increased usage in 1963.
Northern Ireland may be located on the island of Ireland, but it’s been part of the United Kingdom (along with Scotland, England, and Wales — all of which are located on the next-door island of Great Britain) since 1921.
Last year, Northern Ireland welcomed 20,929 babies — 10,242 girls and 10,687 boys.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Grace and James.
Here are the Northern Ireland’s top 50+ girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:
Girl Names
Grace, 168 baby girls
Emily, 152
Fiadh, 148 – pronounced FEE-a
Olivia, 141
Isla, 118
Aoife, 113 – pronounced EE-fa
Lily, 110
Annie, 97
Evie, 94 (tie)
Freya, 94 (tie)
Amelia, 91
Ella, 88
Charlotte, 87
Ava, 84 (tie)
Sophia, 84 (tie)
Anna, 80 (tie)
Erin, 80 (tie)
Eabha, 74 – pronounced EY-va
Katie, 72 (tie)
Ruby, 72 (tie)
Maisie, 71 (tie)
Sophie, 71 (tie)
Lucy, 70
Ellie, 69
Aria, 65
Niamh, 64 – pronounced neev or NEE-iv
Molly, 59 (tie)
Rosie, 59 (tie)
Clodagh, 57 (tie) – pronounced KLOH-da
Mia, 57 (tie)
Hannah, 56
Meabh, 55 (tie) – pronounced mayv
Willow, 55 (tie)
Elsie, 54
Cora, 52 (tie)
Phoebe, 52 (tie)
Ada, 51
Bonnie, 49 (tie)
Isabella, 49 (tie)
Eva, 48 (4-way tie)
Georgia, 48 (4-way tie)
Ivy, 48 (4-way tie)
Sadie, 48 (4-way tie)
Cara, 47 (tie)
Harper, 47 (tie)
Emma, 46 (tie)
Zara, 46 (tie)
Chloe, 45 (tie)
Rose, 45 (tie)
Poppy, 44 (tie)
Saoirse, 44 (tie) – pronounced SEER-sha or SAYR-sha
Boy Names
James, 175 baby boys
Jack, 169
Noah, 146
Theo, 132
Charlie, 131
Oliver, 123
Oisin, 119 – pronounced UH-sheen or OH-sheen
Harry, 118
Cillian, 111 – pronounced KIL-ee-an
Thomas, 107
Leo, 106
Finn, 98
Tommy, 97
Daniel, 90
Alfie, 87
Luca, 83
Freddie, 81
Arthur, 80
Jacob, 79
Jude, 77
Luke, 74 (tie)
Ollie, 74 (tie)
Caleb, 72 (tie)
Ronan, 72 (tie)
Ethan, 69
Darragh, 67
Shea, 65
Rory, 64
Archie, 63 (tie)
Joshua, 63 (tie)
Adam, 62 (3-way tie)
Jonah, 62 (3-way tie)
Matthew, 62 (3-way tie)
Daithi, 61 – pronounced DAH-hee
Ezra, 60 (3-way tie)
Michael, 60 (3-way tie)
Odhran, 60 (3-way tie) – pronounced OH-rawn
George, 59
Reuben, 58
Henry, 57 (4-way tie)
Isaac, 57 (4-way tie)
Logan, 57 (4-way tie)
Teddy, 57 (4-way tie)
Jake, 55 (tie)
Max, 55 (tie)
Mason, 54
Alexander, 53
Conan, 52 (3-way tie)
Conor, 52 (3-way tie)
Joseph, 52 (3-way tie)
The fastest-rising names in the girls’ top 100 were Pippa, Nevaeh, Lucia, Croia, and Maeve.
The fastest-rising names in the boy’s top 100 were Hugo, Luca, Hudson, Rian, and Nathan.
Northern Ireland’s data technically only goes down to names given to 3 babies, but it also includes all the other names — they just aren’t labeled with a “2” or a “1.” In the data for 2020 and 2021, these rare names were separated into two alphabetized lists, so I could guess which list contained the single-use names. In the data for 2022, however, the double- and single-use names were mixed together. So, this time around, I can only offer you a selection of the country’s uncommon (as opposed to unique) baby names:
Some explanations/associations for a few of the above…
Banba – a goddess in Irish mythology.
Banbha – the modern spelling of Banba.
Faoiltiarna – an Irish name made up of the elements faol, “wolf,” and tighearna, “lord.”
Olcan – a 5th-century Irish saint associated with the village of Armoy in County Antrim.
Rhaenyra – a character from the TV series House of the Dragon (a prequel to Game of Thrones).
Selkie – a seal/human shapeshifter in Celtic (as well as Norse) mythology.
Finally, let’s take a look at middle names. About 86% of the girls and 89% of the boys born in Northern Ireland last year were given at least one middle name. The middles chosen most often were…
Rose, Grace, Elizabeth, Mary, and Marie (for girls), and
James, John, Patrick, Michael, and Thomas (for boys).
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