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

The 11 siblings of Audie Murphy

Audie Murphy and sister Nadine
Audie Murphy and sister Nadine

Did you know that Audie Murphy — the soldier-turned-actor mentioned in yesterday’s post on Destry — was one of a dozen siblings? All 12 of the Murphy children were born in Texas. Here are their first and middle names:

  1. Elizabeth Corine, b. 1910
  2. Charles Emmett, b. 1912
  3. Vernon C., b. 1916
  4. Ariel June, b. 1919
  5. Virginia Oneta, b. 1918
  6. J.W. (stillborn), b. 1920
  7. Audie Leon, b. 1925
  8. Richard Houston, b. 1926
  9. Eugene Porter, b. 1928
  10. Reta Fay, b. 1931 – later known as Verda Nadine (see pic)
  11. Willa Beatrice, b. 1933
  12. Joe Preston, b. 1935

Which of these combinations do you like best?

Sources:

Image: Clipping from Life magazine (16 Jul. 1945)

What would you name the catfish-riding boy?

little boy, large catfish, old photo, texas, 1940s

This might be my favorite photo on the entire internet.

The shot, which depicts a playful little Texas boy pretending to ride a dead catfish on someone’s front porch, was taken by photographer Neal Douglass in April of 1941.

The Portal to Texas History calls it “Mrs. Bill Wright; Boy Riding Catfish.” So I’m guessing that “Mrs. Bill Wright” was the boy’s mother. But there’s no other identifying information, so I don’t know the boy’s name, nor do I have any way of tracking it down.

So let’s turn this into a name game!

First, let’s suppose our little catfish-rider was not named “Bill” (or “William,” or “Willie,” etc.) after his father. With that rule in place, here are the questions:

  • What do you think Mrs. Bill Wright named her son?
  • What would you have named him?

Just for reference, popular names for Texas newborns in the late ’30s included:

Albert
Arthur
Carl/Charles
Clarence
Daniel
David
Don/Donald
Edward/Eddie
Ernest
Frank		 Fred
Gary
Gene/Eugene
George
Gerald
Harold
Henry
Jack
James
Jerry		 Jesse
Jesus
Jimmie/Jimmy
Joe/Joseph
John/Johnny
Jose
Juan
Kenneth
Larry
Louis		 Manuel
Melvin
Paul
Raymond
Richard
Robert/Bobby
Ronald
Roy
Thomas/Tommy
Walter

For extra credit, what do you think the boy named his catfish? And, what would you have named his catfish? ;)

(If you like this game, here’s a similar one from years ago: What Would You Name the Two Frenchmen?)

Babies born in Denver, named Denver

William Denver McGaa (1859-1925)
William Denver McGaa

In the late 1850s, during the Pike’s Peak gold rush, several settlements were established in western Kansas Territory — near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains — at the confluence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek.

One settlement (on the bank of Cherry Creek) was named Auraria after the Georgia mining town of Auraria, whose name was derived from the Latin word aurum, meaning “gold.”

Another settlement (on the opposite bank of Cherry Creek) was named Denver City in honor of Kansas Territorial Governor James W. Denver (in the hope that Gov. Denver would select the town as the county seat of Kansas Territory’s vast Arapahoe County).

Most sources agree that the first baby to arrive in the Cherry Creek settlements was the son of Scottish immigrant and “hard-drinking mountain man” William McGaa and his half-Oglala wife Jennie Adams. The baby boy was born in Auraria on March 8, 1859. His name? William Denver McGaa.

The second baby, a girl, was also born in Auraria. She was welcomed by settlers Henry and Rosa Humbell in July of 1859. Her name? Auraria Humbell.

John Denver Stout (1859-1926)
John Denver Stout

The fourth baby — and the first to arrive in Denver City — was a baby boy born to settlers David and Mary Stout on August 30. He was named John Denver Stout.

Two months later, on October 25, a baby boy born in Denver City to settlers Samuel and Marinda Dolman was named Richard Denver Dolman.

Three of these families — the McGaas, the Humbells, and the Dolmans — were awarded plots of land for naming their newborns after the nascent settlements. (I’m not sure why the Stouts were left out.)

P.S. Denver City (after absorbing Auraria in late 1859) became part of the newly organized Colorado Territory in 1861. It was named territorial capital in 1867. Colorado joined the Union in 1876, and residents of the young state voted to make Denver the permanent capital in 1881.

Sources:

Images: Adapted from photographs of William Denver McGaa (via Denver Public Library Digital Collections) and John Denver Stout (in History of Denver)

[Latest update: Jan. 2025]

Where did the baby name Axl come from in 1988?

The Guns N' Roses album "Appetite for Destruction" (1987).
Guns N’ Roses album

We’re well into November, and while I don’t typically experience “November Rain” — usually just November snow — now’s a good time to talk about Axl, the name of the guy who sang “November Rain.”

Axl debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1988:

  • 1990: 25 baby boys named Axl
  • 1989: 21 baby boys named Axl
  • 1988: 9 baby boys named Axl [debut]
  • 1987: unlisted
  • 1986: unlisted

The next year, the names Axle and Aksel both debuted, while the already-in-use name Axel (which can be traced back to the biblical name Absalom) more than doubled in usage.

The influence? Axl Rose, lead singer of the rock band Guns N’ Roses.

The band’s debut album Appetite for Destruction was released in July of 1987. It became a commercial success the next year, after the band started touring and releasing singles such as “Sweet Child o’ Mine” (peaked at #1 in Sept. 1988), “Welcome to the Jungle” (#7 in Dec. ’88), and “Paradise City” (#5 in Mar. ’89).

Axl Rose grew up in Lafayette, Indiana, with the name William “Bill” Bailey. As a teen, he discovered that his surname at birth had been Rose, so he started using it. Not long after that, he adopted the first name Axl:

One of the short-lived local bands he’d sung with was called AXL, which then became his moniker. When the band broke up, he kept using the name, and styled himself “W. Axl Rose.”

And in early 1986, right before signing with Geffen Records, he legally changed his name to “W. Axl Rose.”

axl, name, music video, GNR
W. Axl Rose grave from the “Don’t Cry” music video (1991)

Unexpectedly, the name is more popular today than ever before:

  • 2017: 335 baby boys named Axl [rank: 716th]
  • 2016: 305 baby boys named Axl [rank: 778th]
  • 2015: 313 baby boys named Axl [rank: 760th]
  • 2014: 266 baby boys named Axl [rank: 842nd]
  • 2013: 111 baby boys named Axl
  • 2012: 102 baby boys named Axl

This is probably thanks to another singer, Fergie, who welcomed a baby boy in August of 2013 and named him Axl after Axl Rose. (Some ’80s trivia for you: Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson was on Kids Incorporated with Marta “Martika” Marrero.)

What are your thoughts on the baby name Axl? Would you use it?

P.S. How did the band name “Guns N’ Roses” come to be? It was created from the surnames of two of the founding members, Axl Rose and Tracii Guns (born Tracy Richard Irving Ulrich), essentially. More precisely, it came from the merger of the bands they were in at the time: Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns.

Sources: