How popular is the baby name Peter 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 Peter.

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Popularity of the baby name Peter


Posts that mention the name Peter

How did the “The Mod Squad” influence baby names?

The character Lincoln "Linc" Hayes from the TV series "The Mod Squad" (1968-1973)
Lincoln “Linc” Hayes from “The Mod Squad“

The Mod Squad, a police drama that premiered on television in September of 1968, was one of the first prime-time shows to “acknowledge the existence of the hippie counterculture.”

Its protagonists were a diverse trio of streetwise youths — Peter “Pete” Cochran (Michael Cole), Julie Barnes (Peggy Lipton), and Lincoln “Linc” Hayes (Clarence Williams III) — who, after getting into trouble with the law, were given the chance to work as undercover detectives for the L.A.P.D. in lieu of going to jail. Their mentor was Capt. Adam Greer (Tige Andrews).

Notably, Linc — who had been arrested for participating the Watts riots prior to being recruited by Greer — was one of the few prominent African-American characters on television in the 1960s.*

The year after the series started airing, the baby names Linc and Lincoln saw increased usage, and Tige appeared for the very first time in the U.S. baby name data:

Boys named LincolnBoys named LincBoys named Tige
1971181 (rank: 618th)1638
1970146 (rank: 687th)2138
1969105 (rank: 766th)1428*
196871 (rank: 863rd)6.
196798 (rank: 747th)..
*Debut
Actor Tige Andrews in the TV series "The Mod Squad" (1968-1973)
Tige Andrews in “The Mod Squad“

Tige, the highest-debuting boy name of 1969, is pronounced like the first part of tiger — which makes sense, given that actor Tige Andrews was born Tiger David Androus in New York City in 1920. His parents, immigrants from Syria, had named him “after a strong animal to ensure good health, following a Syrian custom.”

*Two of the others were Lt. Uhura of Star Trek and Jemal David of The Outcasts.

Sources:

Images: Screenshots of The Mod Squad

What gave the baby name Luci a boost in the mid-1960s?

Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of Lyndon Baines Johnson
Luci Baines Johnson

The name Lucy had been on the decline for about a decade when, in 1964, the uncommon spelling Luci nearly quadrupled in usage:

  • 1966: 78 baby girls named Luci
  • 1965: 81 baby girls named Luci
  • 1964: 42 baby girls named Luci
  • 1963: 11 baby girls named Luci
  • 1962: 8 baby girls named Luci

(Lucy itself also saw an uptick in usage that year.)

What was influencing the name Luci in the mid-1960s?

Luci Baines Johnson, the younger daughter of president Lyndon Baines Johnson and his wife Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Johnson.

Luci was regularly in the headlines while she was campaigning for her father in 1964. She was, for instance, the queen of an Apple Blossom Festival in Virginia in April, the narrator of a Peter and the Wolf concert in Michigan in July, and the guest of honor at a barbecue in Beverly Hills (attended by the likes of Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen) in August.

She was featured on the cover of Life in mid-May. In the accompanying article, the magazine noted that Luci was “the first teen-aged daughter in the White House since William Howard Taft’s 17-year-old, Helen, lived there a half-century ago.”

Lucy Baines Johnson, who was born in July of 1947, began going by “Luci” soon after moving into the White House (in late 1963). Decades later, she explained:

It was a small way to establish my independence. I didn’t have a name like Elizabeth that I could shorten, so I just changed the spelling.

What are your thoughts on the name Luci? (Which spelling do you prefer?)

P.S. Bader Howar, the flower girl at Luci’s 1966 wedding, also ended up influencing U.S. baby names…

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the cover of Life magazine (15 May 1964)

What gave the baby name Davy a boost in 1967?

Davy Jones from the TV series "The Monkees" (1966-1968)
Davy Jones

The baby name Davy went into decline after reaching peak usage in 1955 (thanks to Davy Crockett).

During the second half the ’60s, though, the name did see a two-year uptick. It even re-entered the boys’ top 1,000 one last time.

  • 1969: 48 baby boys named Davy
  • 1968: 57 baby boys named Davy [rank: 974th]
  • 1967: 43 baby boys named Davy
  • 1966: 22 baby boys named Davy
  • 1965: 26 baby boys named Davy

What accounts for this brief rise?

British actor and singer Davy Jones.

Jones was one of the stars of the musical sitcom The Monkees, which aired on NBC for two seasons (from September of 1966 to March of 1968).

The series followed a struggling rock ‘n’ roll quartet called The Monkees (which was patterned after The Beatles). The four Monkees — Davy, Micky, Michael, and Peter — “romp[ed] through miscellaneous comic misadventures,” taking breaks to sing original songs penned by professional songwriters (including Carole King and Neil Diamond).

The Monkees was a hit — winning the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in mid-1967, and turning diminutive Davy Jones into a teen idol.

The show’s fictional rock band also achieved impressive real-life success. Six of the Monkees’ singles reached the top five on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart. Jones sang lead vocals on three of these singles:

  • “A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You,” which peaked at #2 in April of 1967,
  • “Daydream Believer” [vid], the #1 song in the nation for four weeks straight in December of 1967, and
  • “Valleri,” which peaked at #3 in March of 1968.

David “Davy” Jones was born in Manchester in 1945. Prior to becoming a Monkee, he’d acted in West End and Broadway productions of Oliver! and released a solo single [vid]. He was well-known enough that another British David “Davy” Jones — an aspiring singer-songwriter — decided to differentiate himself by adopting the stage name David Bowie in early 1966.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of The Monkees

Popular baby names in Gibraltar, 2024

Flag of Gibraltar
Flag of Gibraltar

Last year, the British overseas territory of Gibraltar welcomed 331 babies — 148 baby girls and 183 baby boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia for girls and Noah/Thomas (tie) for boys.

Here are Gibraltar’s top girl names and top boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 5 baby girls
  2. Emilia, 4
  3. Matilda and Zara, 3 each (tie)

Boy names

  1. Noah and Thomas, 5 baby boys each (tie)
  2. Luca and Sebastian, 4 each (tie)
  3. Leon, Liam, Oliver, Ryan, Theo, and Tommy, 3 each (6-way tie)

The name Jamie was also given to three babies, but my source didn’t include much information on gender, so I don’t know if these three babies were boys, girls, or a mix of both.

The 36 names given to two babies each were Addison, Alexander, Annabelle, Arabella, Ariana, Axel, Celine, Charles, Emily, Emma, Enzo, Evan, George, Hugo, Jacob, Jesse, Julia, Kai, Kylian, Leo, Lucia, Luna, Maisie, Mia, Michael, Mila, Nicolas, Riley, Robyn, Romeo, Romy, Salma, Sofia, Stella, Thiago, and Zack.

And the 200+ names bestowed just once in Gibraltar last year were…

Adah, Adam, Adonis, Aiden, Aidon, Ajay, Alba, Albert, Aleia, Alesia, Alessandro, Alice, Alistair, Amara, Amber, Amelia, Amina, Amine, Amoura, Ana, Anas, Anaya, Andrew, Antonio, Archie, Aria, Arianna, Arley, Arlo, Arthur, Ava, Aya, Ayla, Azaria, Bella, Billy, Blake, Bodhi, Brenda, Caleb, Callie, Camden, Cara, Catharine, Cecilia, Charlie, Charlotte, Christian, Cleo, Connor, Cora, Danah, Daniella, Darcie, Darcy, Delilah, Duyna, Dylan, Edward, Eladio, Elena, Elia, Elian, Elias, Ella, Elliot, Ellis, Elowyn, Elton, Eric, Esmae, Esteban, Everleigh, Evie, Ezra, Frankie, Freya, Furkan, Gabriella, Geremiah, Gia, Gigi, Giorgia, Giorgio, Grace, Gracie, Hadley, Halo, Hannah, Haroun, Harper, Harry, Haven, Henry, Hudson, Ian, Inaaya, Inaya, Isabella, Isadora, Isla, Islam, Ivy, Jack, Jae, Jake, James, Jason, Javier, Jax, Jay, Jaylan, Joylisa, Jude, Jules, Kaine, Kallie, Katie, Kenzie, Kenzo, Khylo, Koby, Kody, Lara, Laurie, Lee, Lewis, Lilliana, Liya, Lorena, Louis, Luciano, Luke, Maeve, Manxin, Marcel, Martin, Mason, Matthew, Max, Milan, Millie, Mollie, Moshe, Mya, Myla, Naia, Naiomi, Naira, Nariah, Nellie, Niall, Nicola, Nylah, Osayd, Peter, Posie, Rachel, Rafaella, Ralfs, Ramy, Rayan, Reign, Reuven, Rian, Rina, Rio, Roan, Robbie, Robert, Roman, Rosa, Rose, Rotem, Ruairi, Ruben, Ruhe, Rupert, Sarah, Scarlett, Sean, Seth, Shashana, Shivika, Sophia, Sophie, Spencer, Sunny, Sykes, Talia, Tassim, Theodore, Tiana, Timothy, Tobias, Tristan, Tyler, Valentina, Victor, Yaakov, Zachary, Zayd, Zoe, Zyna, Zyon

Finally, here are Gibraltar’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Source: “Thomas, Noah & Olivia the most popular baby names in 2024.” GBC News 25 Mar. 2025.

Image: Adapted from Flag of Gibraltar (public domain)