How popular is the baby name Reagan 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 Reagan.

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Popularity of the baby name Reagan


Posts that mention the name Reagan

Biggest changes in girl name popularity, 2012

Which girl names made the biggest gains from 2011 to 2012?

And which ones suffered the biggest losses?

This is where the stats start telling us some interesting stories!

Below I’ve got two different lists for both “increases” and “decreases.”

On the left is the my list. I looked at the raw number differences between the 2011 names and the 2012 names. My analysis covers all 19,380 girl names on the 2012 list.

On the right is the SSA’s list. They looked at the ranking differences between the 2011 names and the 2012 names. Their analysis covers approximately the top 500 girl names on the 2012 list.

Biggest Increases

The baby girl names that saw the biggest popularity increases from 2011 to 2012 were…

Nancy’s list (raw numbers)SSA’s list (rankings)
  1. Harper, +2,496 babies [rank: 54th to 24th]
  2. Emma, +2,053 babies [rank: 3rd to 2nd]
  3. Paisley, +1,269 babies [rank: 195th to 104th]
  4. Aria, +1,232 babies [rank: 157th to 91st]
  5. Skylar, +1,173 babies [rank: 145th to 87th]
  6. Aubree, +1,100 babies [rank: 99th to 60th]
  7. Zoey, +1,030 babies [rank: 28th to 20th]
  8. Charlotte, +1,017 babies [rank: 27th to 19th]
  9. Avery, +952 babies [rank: 18th to 13th]
  10. Aubrey, +846 babies [rank: 20th to 15th]
  11. Amelia, +842 babies [rank: 30th to 23rd]
  12. Mila, +835 babies [rank: 174th to 115th]
  13. Genesis, +779 babies [rank: 82nd to 56th]
  14. Hannah, +672 babies [rank: 25th to 22nd]
  15. Penelope, +647 babies [rank: 169th to 125th]
  16. Hadley, +645 babies [rank: 178th to 130th]
  17. Nora, +639 babies [rank: 137th to 107th]
  18. Cataleya, +608 babies [rank: 4,931st to 479th]
  19. Cora, +516 babies [rank: 203rd to 155th]
  20. Reagan, +470 babies [rank: 121st to 97th]
  1. Arya, +298 (711th to 413th)
  2. Perla, +190 (642nd to 452nd)
  3. Catalina, +171 (648th to 477th)
  4. Elisa, +168 (534th to 366th)
  5. Raelynn, +155 (496th to 341st)
  6. Rosalie, +141 (547th to 406th)
  7. Haven, +140 (572nd to 432nd)
  8. Raelyn, +136 (585th to 449th)
  9. Briella, +123 (498th to 375th)
  10. Marilyn, +119 (545th to 426th)
  11. Adelynn, +116 (581st to 465th)
  12. Hanna, +106 (454th to 348th)
  13. Ayla, +97 (347th to 250th)
  14. Averie, +96 (554th to 458th)
  15. Arabella, +92 (337th to 245th)
  16. Paisley, +91 (195th to 104th)
  17. Arielle, +91 (501st to 410th)
  18. Adalynn, +88 (328th to 240th)
  19. Elsie, +86 (483rd to 397th)
  20. Myla, +85 (484th to 399th)

Check out Cataleya! That’s quite a jump.

Here are last year’s raw number jumps and last year’s ranking jumps.

Biggest Decreases

The baby girl names that saw the biggest popularity decreases from 2011 to 2012 were…

Nancy’s list (raw numbers)SSA’s list (rankings)
  1. Chloe, -1,361 babies [rank: 10th to 11th]
  2. Alexis, -1,194 babies [rank: 26th to 40th]
  3. Addison, -1,158 babies [rank: 13th to 14th]
  4. Madison, -1,017 babies [rank: 8th to 9th]
  5. Alyssa, -935 babies [rank: 37th to 44th]
  6. Isabella, -893 babies [rank: 2nd to 3rd]
  7. Natalie, -760 babies [rank: 14th to 17th]
  8. Nevaeh, -739 babies [rank: 35th to 39th]
  9. Ashley, -709 babies [rank: 42nd to 50th]
  10. Makayla, -691 babies [rank: 56th to 69th]
  11. Emily, -664 babies [rank: 6th to 6th]
  12. Khloe, -644 babies [rank: 49th to 55th]
  13. Leah, -642 babies [rank: 29th to 33rd]
  14. Abigail, -622 babies [rank: 7th to 7th]
  15. Gabriella, -608 babies [rank: 33rd to 37th]
  16. Kayla, -568 babies [rank: 59th to 70th]
  17. Brianna, -562 babies [rank: 45th to 51st]
  18. Destiny, -549 babies [rank: 91st to 113th]
  19. Sydney, -531 babies [rank: 65th to 78th]
  20. Jocelyn, -515 babies [rank: 70th to 92nd]
  1. Dulce, -159 (415th to 574th)
  2. Mikaela, -141 (451st to 592nd)
  3. Estrella, -129 (433rd to 562nd)
  4. Danna, -125 (365th to 490th)
  5. Audrina, -122 (318th to 440th)
  6. Cameron, -113 (440th to 553rd)
  7. Kiera, -108 (482nd to 590th)
  8. Savanna, -101 (346th to 447th)
  9. Paola, -98 (477th to 575th)
  10. Tenley, -96 (424th to 520th)
  11. Kendra, -94 (293rd to 387th)
  12. Breanna, -94 (309th to 403rd)
  13. Kailyn, -93 (399th to 492nd)
  14. Jasmin, -93 (422nd to 515th)
  15. Joselyn, -92 (369th to 461st)
  16. Kiley, -90 (423rd to 513th)
  17. Jayden, -88 (292nd to 380th)
  18. Liana, -82 (464th to 546th)
  19. Sasha, -77 (374th to 451st)
  20. Karen, -66 (287th to 353rd)

Here are last year’s raw number drops and last year’s ranking drops.

Source: SSA’s Change In Popularity From 2011 To 2012

Baby name story: Reagan

Mr. and Mrs. Scott Bush of Dallas welcomed a baby boy on November 3, 1980 — the day before the presidential election. They named him Reagan, making his full name Reagan Bush.

“We felt it was a unique opportunity to name him after two great Americans,” said Scott Bush.

The birth prevented Mrs. Bush from getting to the polls, but Mr. Bush voted — “For Reagan, of course.”

Ronald Reagan and George Bush ended up defeating Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale by a wide margin that year. No doubt this pleased the Bush family of Dallas very much.

Source: “Child Named for GOP Ticket.” Rushville Republican 8 Nov. 1980: 1.

What turned Jinx into a baby name?

Actress Jinx Falkenburg (1919-2003)
Jinx Falkenburg

The word jinx means “curse” or “hex,” but that hasn’t stopped parents from using it as a baby name!

After the silent Western Galloping Jinx came out in 1925, 6 baby girls (at least) got the name Jinx in 1926.

The name then dropped back out of the U.S. baby name data. It didn’t re-emerge until Eugenia “Jinx” Falkenburg — a model, actress, and early talk-show host — started to become famous in the early 1940s.

  • 1945: 7 baby girls named Jinx
  • 1944: 9 baby girls named Jinx
  • 1943: 7 baby girls named Jinx
  • 1942: unlisted
  • 1941: unlisted

Her childhood nickname, “Jinx,” had been coined by her mother, tennis champion Marguerite (“Mickey”), who said, rather paradoxically, that “she thought it would bring the girl good fortune.” Her father, an engineer named Eugene, already had dibs on the nickname “Genie.”

Jinx must have loved her nickname, because she tried to make her full legal name “Jinx” in early 1942. Her lawyer argued that a shorter name on the marquee would help support the war effort:

The name Falkenburg requires 150 light bulbs, which in one evening will use enough electrical power to aid in the production of 26,00 [sic] pounds of aluminum or illuminate a city of 105,000 population.

But Judge Emmet H. Wilson “ruled there is no legal precedent to such dramatic shortening” of a name. So Jinx settled for dropping her birth name Eugenia and making her full legal name Jinx Falkenburg.

Jinx, who began her career as a model and actress, “pioneered the talk show format on radio and television” with her husband, Texas-born John Reagan “Tex” McCrary. Their first radio program was a morning program called “Hi Jinx.”

What are your thoughts on Jinx as a personal name?

Sources:

P.S. Gwili, Sivi, and Donivee are three more forgotten Hollywood actresses who left their mark on the U.S. baby name charts.