How popular is the baby name Richard 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 Richard.

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Popularity of the baby name Richard


Posts that mention the name Richard

Babies named for Dovima

Fashion model Dovima (1927-1990) in the movie "Funny Face" (1957)
Dovima

The rare name Dovima has never appeared in the U.S. baby name data. But it has popped up a few times in the birth records:

  • Dovima R. Sanchez (born in 1956 in California)
  • Dovima M. Tom (b. 1959, California)
  • Dovima M. Ayers (b. 1959, Vermont)

I think their shared first name was inspired by one of the highest-paid fashion models of the 1950s — and the very first model to go by a single name — Dovima.

Dovima worked with photographers like Horst P. Horst, Irving Penn, and Richard Avedon (who called her “the last of the great elegant, aristocratic beauties”). Her photographs appeared in magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.

Notably, she also had a small role in the romantic comedy Funny Face (1957), which starred Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire.

How did she come to have her single name?

She was born Dorothy Virginia Margaret Juba in New York City in 1927. She spent several years of her childhood bedridden with rheumatic fever, and, during that time, invented the name “Dovima” (from the first letters of her three given names: Dorothy, Virginia, Margaret) for an imaginary friend.

What are your thoughts on the name Dovima?

P.S. Another three-in-one name I’ve blogged about is Louvima.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Funny Face

[Latest update: Sept. 2024]

How did Anna May Wong get her name?

American actress Anna May Wong (1905-1961)
Anna May Wong

Chinese-American movie star Anna May Wong was born “Wong Liu Tsong” in Los Angeles in 1905.

Here’s what she had to say about her birth name in 1926:

I was named Wong Lew Song, which means Frosted Yellow Willows. A rather unusual name, isn’t it. Most Chinese children have names, which, interpreted into English, sound rather attractive, though they wouldn’t do for everyday use. They are all right in poetry, but I wouldn’t want to be called Frosted Yellow Willows by my acquaintances. It sounds altogether too quaint for a modern Chinese girl.

Here’s what she had to say about her American name and her stage name in 1928:

I was educated in Los Angeles. […] Our family did not live in the Chinese quarter but on Figueroa Street, where our neighbors were Americans and we were called by our English names. The doctor who brought me into the world named me ‘Anna’; my Chinese name is Tsong. When I was old enough to begin to think about a career, I added ‘May’ to ‘Anna,’ partly because we [daughters] all had four-letter names and I wanted to be different, and partly because it made a prettier signature.

(Her siblings’ American names were Lulu, James, Mary, Frank, Roger, and Richard.)

And, finally, here’s something funny I spotted in a newspaper about the 1924 movie Thief of Bagdad, which featured Wong:

The Mongol slave, a part that required emotional subtlety and balance, was played by Anna May Wong, a Chinese girl, educated in America. Her Chinese name is Lew Wong Song [sic], and means two yellow willows. When the picture was being filmed Miss Wong almost walked out on her job because an enthusiastic press agent misunderstood the translation of her name and published it as “two yelling widows.”

I saw several versions of this “two yelling widows” story, but never managed to track down the press agent’s original mis-translation.

Sources:

Image: Anna May Wong by Eugene Robert Richee, 1937

Where did the baby name Janssen come from in 1964?

Actor David Janssen as Dr. Richard Kimble in the TV series "The Fugitive" (1963-1967).
David Janssen in “The Fugitive“

The surname-name Janssen first appeared on the baby name charts in 1964:

  • 1968: unlisted
  • 1967: 5 baby boys named Janssen
  • 1966: unlisted
  • 1965: 8 baby boys named Janssen
  • 1964: 16 baby boys named Janssen [debut]
  • 1963: unlisted
  • 1962: unlisted

It wasn’t a particularly impressive debut, but 16 baby boys was enough to make Janssen one of the top debut names of the year.

What was the influence here?

Actor David Janssen, who played Dr. Richard Kimble in the memorable TV drama The Fugitive from 1963 to 1967. Dr. Kimble, falsely convicted of murdering his wife Helen, escaped from authorities on the way to death row and spent the rest of the series both evading recapture and searching for the real killer, the mysterious “one-armed man.”

Notably, 72% of the television sets in America tuned in to see the show’s final episode, in which Dr. Kimble finally finds the justice he’s been seeking.

(The name Kimble also saw slightly higher usage while the show was on the air.)

Do you like the name Janssen?

Sources: The Fugitive (TV series) – Wikipedia, Tuesday, August 29, 1967: The Day The Running Stopped for “The Fugitive’s” Richard Kimble

Babies named for famous kings

king solomon image

A few months ago, I got an email from a reader who’d spotted an obituary for a man named “King David.” Even more intriguing, King David’s father’s name was “King Solomon.” The reader wondered what other famous kings had inspired similar first/middle name combinations.

Historical records reveal that, long before the name King became trendy in the 2000s, hundreds (perhaps thousands?) of people in America were given the first name “King.”

While most that I saw had middle names that didn’t create a special pairing (e.g., King Clyde, King Terry), a good number did have middle names that — whether intentionally or not — turned the pairing into the name of some historical, biblical, or legendary king.

Here are some of the pairings I spotted, plus links to a few examples:

King Alfred
King Arthur
King Asa
King Charles
King Edward
King Frederick
King George
King Henry		King Hezekiah
King James
King Josiah
King Louis
King Olaf
King Oscar
King Richard
King Saul

Several of these (Kingarthur, Kingcharles, Kingdavid, Kingjames, Kingjosiah, and Kingsolomon) also appear as compound names in the SSA data.

Do like the recent King-as-a-first-name trend? Why or why not?