How popular is the baby name Patricia 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 Patricia.

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Popularity of the baby name Patricia


Posts that mention the name Patricia

Baby born on Continental flight, named Connie

Continental plane

In late July, 1956, the wife of army staff sergeant Harold R. Worsley went into labor while flying flying from Honolulu to Tachikawa, Japan (where her husband was stationed).

She gave birth to a five-pound baby girl over the Pacific Ocean at an elevation of about 10,000 feet.

The baby was going to be named Patricia Anne, but the parents decided to add the name Connie in honor of the plane, a “Connie” (the nickname for a Lockheed Constellation).

Source: “Airplane Baby, Named for Ship, Has 1st Birthday.” Spokane Daily Chronicle 31 Jul 1956: 2.

Baby name story: Linda

During WWII, aircraft workers and their families poured into San Diego to build planes at the Consolidated Aircraft plant. From 1941 to 1942, the population of San Diego jumped from about 203,000 to over 300,000.

Concerned about workers’ poor living conditions (and how these conditions might affect productivity), the Federal government began the Linda Vista housing project in March of 1941. Linda Vista is Spanish for “pretty view.”

The first baby born to residents of the Linda Vista community arrived in late June, 1941.

Her name? Linda, after Linda Vista.

She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. E. Chapman and had two older siblings, Patricia and Gerald.

Sources:

Baby girl gets 139 names: Tracy Mariclaire Lisa…

John and Margaret Nelson of Chesterfield, England, welcomed a baby girl at the very end of 1985. They named their daughter Tracy, but that’s not all they named her. This is Tracy’s full name:

Tracy Mariclaire Lisa Tammy Samantha Christine Alexandra Candy Bonnie Ursala Zoe Nichola Patricia Lynda Kate Jean Sandra Karren Julie Jane Elizabeth Felicity Gabriella Jackie Corina Constance Arabella Clara Honor Geraldine Fiona Erika Fillippa Anabel Elsie Amanda Cheryl Alanna Louisa Angie Beth Crystal Dawn Debbie Eileen Grace Susan Rebecca Valerie Kay Lena Margaret Anna Amy Carol Bella Avril Ava Audry Andrea Daphne Donna Cynthia Cassie Christabel Vivien Wendy Moira Jennifer Abbie Adelaide Carrissa Carla Anne Astrid Barbara Charissa Catalina Bonny Dee Hazel Iris Anthea Clarinda Bernadette Cara Alison Carrie Angela Beryl Caroline Emma Dana Vanessa Zara Violet Lynn Maggie Pamela Rosemary Ruth Cathlene Alexandrina Annette Hilary Diana Angelina Carrinna Victoria Sara Mandy Annabella Beverly Bridget Cecilia Catherine Brenda Jessica Isbella Delilah Camila Candace Helen Connie Charmaine Dorothy Melinda Nancy Mariam Vicki Selina Miriam Norma Pauline Toni Penny Shari Zsa-zsa Queenie Nelson

That’s 139 given names and 1 surname.

Why did John and Margaret do this to their daughter? According to John, “We just wanted to give her something for when she grows up.”

A reason that makes complete sense, of course.

Speaking of things that make sense, let’s pick out some of the needless repetition:

  • Alexandra (#7) and Alexandrina (#103)
  • Amanda (#36) and Mandy (#111)
  • Angela (#89), Angie (#40) and Angelina (#107)
  • Anna (#33), Anne (#74) and Annette (#104)
  • Bella (#56), Annabella (#112), Arabella (#27) and Isbella (#119)
  • Bonnie (#9) and Bonny (#79)
  • Candace (#122) and Candy (#8)
  • Carrissa (#72) and Charissa (#77)
  • Clara (#28) and Clarinda (#84)
  • Constance (#26) and Connie (#124)
  • Corina (#25) and Carrinna (#108)
  • Elizabeth (#21) and Beth (#41)
  • Margaret (#52) and Maggie (#98)
  • Mariam (#129) and Miriam (#131)
  • Victoria (#109) and Vicki (#130)
  • Zara (#95) and Sara (#110)

If you could go back in time and rename this baby, which two names (out of the 139) would you choose as her first and middle names?

Source: “Tracy for short.” Reading Eagle 24 Jan 1986: 1.

Where did the baby name Dellareese come from in 1959?

American singer Della Reese (1931-2017)
Della Reese

Della Reese, who began her career as a singer in the mid-1950s, scored her biggest hit in 1959. That year, her song “Don’t You Know?” reached #2 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart and #1 on the R&B chart.

A couple of years later, her studio album Della came close to winning a Grammy. (It lost to a live album by Ella Fitzgerald.)

Given than 1959 and 1961 were high points in Reese’s early career, it’s not surprising that the name Dellareese popped up in the U.S. baby name data those two years (and no others, so far).

  • 1962: unlisted
  • 1961: 5 baby girls named Dellareese
  • 1960: unlisted
  • 1959: 6 baby girls named Dellareese [debut]
  • 1958: unlisted

The name Della by itself also saw a rise in usage during the late ’50s and early ’60s.

Della Reese, who went on to become an actress and talk show host, was born Deloreese Patricia Early in Michigan in 1931. I don’t know the story behind her birth name, but it looks like it could have been based on the name Dolores. Here’s how her stage name came to be:

At one of those little bars where I was booked for a week, somewhere in late 1952 or 1953, the owner went to put my name up on the marquee and found there was no way he could make it fit. Granted, it was a very small marquee. But no matter how he put up the letters, neither Deloreese Taliaferro nor Deloreese Early was working. So, he listed me by my first name only, changing the spelling slightly and breaking it up into first and last names: Della Reese. It stuck.

(Taliaferro was a former married name.)

I appreciate the symmetry of her original first name being split up to create a stage name, then the stage names being reconnected to create a baby name. :)

Sources:

  • Della Reese – Wikipedia
  • Reese, Della, Franklin Lett and Mim Eichler. Angels Along the Way: My Life with Help from Above. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1997.
  • SSA

Image: Screenshot of The Ed Sullivan Show (episode from Feb. 1960)