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

Baby name story: Declan

Earlier this year, Richard Humphrey of Cannock, Staffordshire, missed the birth of his first child. Why? Because he’d decided to be a contestant on British gameshow Ant & Dec’s Push the Button instead.

Richard’s girlfriend, Stacey Richards, gave birth to their son just minutes before the live show began. Host Declan Donnelly made the announcement on-air: “Rich has just become a dad. At two minutes to seven Stacey gave birth to a little baby boy so congratulations.”

Apparently Stacey wasn’t too upset about the incident, as the couple went on to name their son Declan after Mr. Donnelly. Richard said, “We both thought it was a good idea and there is already an Anthony in the family. Dec was a great bloke so we thought why not do it.”

Source: Mother gives birth as partner wins £62,000 on TV’s Push The Button… and they named the baby DEC

Pennsylvania family with 20 children

kinderfest

In October of 1952, Irma Griser of Pitcairn, Pennsylvania, welcomed her fifth set of twins — her 19th and 20th children.

In the most recent article I could find about Irma, she hadn’t yet named her most recent twins (a girl and a boy), so here are the names of her 18 older children:

  • Agnes, 17
  • Arthur, 15
  • Sarah, 13
  • Edward, 11
  • Delores and John, 10
  • Harvey, 9
  • Dorothy and Robert, 8
  • Mary and David, 6
  • James and Joseph, 5
  • Tommy, 4
  • Richard, Roy and Joan, 3
  • Sharon, nearly 2

What would you have named the twins?

And, which of the 18 names above is your favorite?

Source: “Fifth Set of Twins Makes 20 Children in Pitcairn Family.” Pittsburgh Press 2 Oct. 1952: 1.

Image: Ein Kinderfest (1868) by Ludwig Knaus

Acts of the Apostles…as a baby name

Here’s a story I’ve spotted a couple of times:

A couple of centuries ago, Thomas and Elizabeth Pegden of Kent, England, had four sons named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Then they had a fifth son. They were out of evangelists, so what did they name baby #5? Acts of the Apostles, after the next book in the New Testament.

Is it a true story?

Sort of.

A man named Actsapostles Pegden was indeed born in Kent back in 1795. (He went by the nickname “Actsy.” He married in 1826, and passed away in 1865.)

And his parents were named Thomas and Elizabeth Pegden.

And he did have at least four older brothers.

But the brothers I’ve found were named Thomas (b. 1787), Philip (b. 1789), Isaac (b. 1791) and Christopher (b. 1793) — not Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

So how did he get his name?

I’m not sure.

The only two other people I’ve come across with this name — Acts of the Apostles Kennett (b. 1833), son of Richard and Phoebe Kennett, and Acts of the Apostles Tong (b. 1850), son of Henry and Mary Tong — were both born in Kent, just like Actsy. This makes me think the name has more to do with regional religious fervor than anything else.

Sources:

  • “A Curious Christian Name.” New York Times 16 Apr. 1899: 24.
  • Bardsley, Charles Wareing Endell. Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature. London: Chatto & Windus, 1897.
  • “‘Acts-Apostles’ as a Name.” Notes and Queries 3 Mar. 1866: 175.

Babies named for Apollo astronauts

Apollo insignia

Eleven of NASA’s Apollo space flights were manned flights. According to what I’ve been able to find in old newspapers, at least three of these flights — 8, 11, and 12 — inspired baby names.

Apollo 8

The Apollo 8 flight took place from December 21 to December 27, 1968, and involved three astronauts: Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr., and William A. Anders.

At least one baby was named for the Apollo 8 crew…

William James Frank Noel Hopmans, a baby boy born in Holland.

The baby’s parents decided to name him after America’s three Apollo 8 astronauts and Noel for Christmas. He was born on Christmas Eve.

Apollo 11

The Apollo 11 flight took place from July 16 to July 24, 1969, and involved three astronauts: Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr. This was the famous flight that brought mankind to the moon for the first time in history.

Babies named for the Apollo 11 crew include…

Apollo Selim, a baby boy born in Lebanon.

Beirut, Lebanon – A couple in Fadhous village north of here named their new baby Apollo Selim. He’s their 11th child, born on the day of the Apollo 11 moonshot.

Neil Armstrong Dial, a baby boy born in Washington state at 1:17 p.m., the minute the Apollo 11 astronauts landed on the moon.

Within minutes of Neil Dial’s birth, virtually everyone in the moonstruck maternity ward that Sunday afternoon was eagerly suggesting that Dallas and Patricia Dial name their son “Lunar” or “Apollo.”

“But the PR types, they came in and said we ought to name our son ‘Neil Armstrong,’ Dallas Dial happily recalled last week during an interview at his Edmonds home. “They were even filling out the birth certificate as ‘Neil Armstrong Dial.’ So we went along with it.”

Michael Edwin Neil Harkness, a baby boy born in Columbia, S.C., on July 21.

He is named for all three members of the Apollo 11 moon team.

Mrs. Delmar Moon and baby Neil Armstrong Moon
Neil Armstrong Moon

Neil Armstrong Moon, a baby boy born near Toledo, Ohio, on July 21.

Mrs. Delmar Moon gave birth to a boy only hours before lunar astronauts blasted off the moon headed for earth.

Luna, a baby girl born in Singapore a “half hour after lunar landing.”

Apollo, a baby boy born in Pakistan.

Armstrong Abdurahman Osman, a baby boy born in Somalia.

Parents of baby boy born on lunar landing day broke with Muslim tradition and named child Armstrong Abdurahman Osman.

We can even see the influence of the Apollo 11 mission in the U.S. baby name data.

Apollo 12

The Apollo 12 flight took place from November 14 to November 24, 1969, and involved three astronauts: Charles Conrad, Jr., Richard F. Gordon, Jr., and Alan L. Bean.

At least one baby was named for the Apollo 12 crew…

Charles Richard Alan Wilson, a baby boy born in Baltimore just as the Apollo 12 astronauts were lifting off.

The news was radioed up to the spaceship just after Charles Conrad Jr., Richard F. Gordon Jr. and Alan L. Bean woke up late Monday afternoon. “There’s a new baby boy, born to a Baltimore mother at the precise time of your liftoff,” spacecraft communicator Paul Weitz said. “His name is Charles Richard Alan. Wilson is the last name.”

Do you know of any other people named for Apollo astronauts (or any other astronaut, for that matter)? I’d love to hear about them. Please leave a comment.

Sources:

  • The Apollo Missions – NASA
  • “Baby Named After Apollo Spacemen.” Los Angeles Times 18 Nov. 1969: 21.
  • “Baby Named Apollo.” Palm Beach Post 20 Jul. 1969: B2.
  • “Baby Named for Spacemen.” Reading Eagle 31 Dec. 1968: 10.
  • Conklin, Ellis E. “‘Moon Baby’ made feet-first landing.” Deseret News 21 Jul. 1994: 21.
  • “Palmetto baby gets moon men’s names.” Washington Afro-American 29 Jul. 1969: 5.
  • “Weekly Almanac.” Jet 14 Aug. 1969: 30-31.
  • Astronauts and Aeronautics, 1969 – NASA (PDF)