How popular is the baby name Pierre 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 Pierre.

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Popularity of the baby name Pierre


Posts that mention the name Pierre

How did Barack Obama influence U.S. baby names?

President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Sasha Obama, and Malia Obama (in the White House in 2009)
Barack Obama and family

Several days ago, Senator Barack Obama defeated Senator John McCain in the U.S. presidential election.

So far, several U.S. babies have been named in honor of Obama:

  • Jordan Barack Treasure (born on November 3 in New York)
  • Benjamin Barack Kimbrough (born on November 4 in Arkansas)
    • His father, Walter Kimbrough, is the president of Philander Smith College.
  • Pierre Obama Adell Willis (born on November 4 in Georgia)
    • His nickname is “The Little President.”
  • Sanjae Obama Fisher (born on November 4 in Florida)
  • Te’Jean Barack Bowen (born on November 4 in California)
  • Sasha Malia Ann Taylor (born on November 5 in Maryland)
  • Barack Jeilah (born on November 5 in Arizona)

Barack Obama’s first name is based on an Arabic word meaning “blessing.” His last name comes from a word meaning “bent over” or “limping” in the Luo language.

Have you spotted any other Barack Obama namesakes in your area? Let me know and I’ll add them to the post.

P.S. Babies are also being named for Obama in Kenya.

Update, Aug. 2024: So how did the election of Barack Obama in late 2008 influence U.S. baby names overall?

According to the U.S. baby name data, Barack was the fastest-rising baby name of 2008, and both Barack and Obama reached peak popularity in 2009.

Boys named BarackBoys named Obama
201115.
201028.
200972†16†
20085214*
20075*.
*Debut, †Peak usage

The name of Obama’s older daughter, Malia (pronounced mah-LEE-ah), also reached peak popularity in 2009. The name of his younger daughter, Sasha, saw a spike in usage the same year.

Girls named MaliaGirls named Sasha
20111,011 [rank: 313th]858 [rank: 374th]
20101,075 [rank: 301st]944 [rank: 341st]
20091,700† [rank: 192nd]1,251 [rank: 262nd]
2008967 [rank: 345th]916 [rank: 361st]
2007817 [rank: 400th]926 [rank: 350th]
†Peak usage

The name of Obama’s wife, Michelle, did not see a discernible increase in usage — likely because the name Michelle has been in decline since the early ’70s (when it was one of the top girl names in the country).

Sources:

Image: P090109-0127 by the U.S. government (via Flickr)

Baby names in France, then and now

Lavender field in France

France’s taste in baby names has definitely changed over the last hundred years.

Polly of Polly-Vous Francais recently picked up a copy of French newspaper Le Figaro and compared the names in the birth announcement section with those in the obituary section.

The obituaries included female names like Denise, Gilberte and Jacqueline and male names such as Emile, Pierre and Yves. Based on the ages listed, it seems that many of the deceased were born around the year 1915.

The birth announcements, on the other hand, included female names like Béatrix, Noémie, Quitterie and Tatiana and male names such as Amaury, Foucauld, Hipployte and Mathis. Interestingly, Polly notes that “In some cases it wasn’t clear whether the name was male or female.”

It’s anecdotal, of course…but the difference between the two groups is notable, and is likely indicative of a nationwide shift in baby name preferences.

I haven’t been able to track down a list of the top French baby names of 2006, but the most popular for 2004 were:

  • Male Names (top 5): Enzo, Lucas, Théo, Thomas, Hugo
  • Female Names (top 5): Léa, Emma, Manon, Clara, Chloé

Image: Adapted from Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque, 2022 by Chris Down under CC BY 4.0.