How popular is the baby name Ricky 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 Ricky.

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Popularity of the baby name Ricky


Posts that mention the name Ricky

Rickey Henderson was named after Ricky Nelson

Baseball player Rickey Henderson
Rickey Henderson

Hall of Fame baseball player Rickey Henderson wasn’t named after an earlier baseball player (as Ryne Sandberg was), but after a rock-and-roll singer.

His mother, Bobbie, was a Ricky Nelson fan and named her son after the actor-turned-musician.

Here’s the story:

Henderson was born on Christmas Day, 1958 in Chicago — more specifically, in the back seat of a ’57 Chevy. His father’s name was John L. Henley.

When Bobbie and John brought their newborn son home, they hadn’t chosen a name for him.

“The only name on my birth certificate,” Henderson said, “was Henley, no first name.”

Bobbie…eventually decided on Rickey Nelson Henley for her son. To this day, Henderson has no idea why his first name is spelled with an E.

After Rickey’s father passed away, his mother married a man named Paul Henderson.

Rickey Henderson went on to play major league baseball for 24 seasons. He currently holds the MLB records for both career stolen bases (set in 1991) and career runs (set in 2001).

Sources:

What gave the baby name Marylou a boost in 1961?

Ricky Nelson's single "Hello Mary Lou" (1961).
“Hello Mary Lou” single

The baby name Marylou was generally on the decline during the second half of the 20th century, but there was a conspicuous spike in usage in 1961 specifically:

  • 1963: 207 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 708th]
  • 1962: 207 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 719th]
  • 1961: 300 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 580th]
  • 1960: 227 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 675th]
  • 1959: 223 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 670th]

You can see it on the graph:

Graph of the usage of the baby name Marylou in the United States since 1880
Usage of the baby name Marylou

What caused the spike?

The Ricky Nelson song “Hello Mary Lou” (1961), which peaked at #9 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in May of 1961.

It was written by Gene Pitney, but sounded enough like the earlier song “Merry, Merry Lou” [vid] by Cayet Mangiaracina that the two musicians are now credited as co-authors.

Here’s “Hello Mary Lou”:

The song was released as the B-side to Nelson’s #1 hit “Travelin’ Man.” It was also included on his sixth studio album, Rick Is 21.

That album title is notable because, on his 21st birthday, Nelson — born Eric Hilliard Nelson in 1940 — officially changed his recording name from “Ricky Nelson” to “Rick Nelson.”

The name change was a hard sell, though, because audiences had known him for so long as Ricky. He’d gone by “Ricky” on his family’s long-running sitcom, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (on radio and/or television from 1944 to 1966), and he’d continued to use “Ricky” when he launched his recording career in 1957. (His first five albums were called Ricky, Ricky Nelson, Ricky Sings Again, Songs by Ricky, and More Songs by Ricky.)

One of the ways he promoted his songs — “Hello Mary Lou” included — was by performing them at the end of weekly Ozzie and Harriet TV episodes. (Elvis Presley was a fan of these musical segments, incidentally.)

Getting back to Mary Lou…what are your thoughts on the compound name Marylou? Would you consider using it?

And, which song you like better: “Hello Mary Lou” from 1961, or “Mary Lou” from 1926?

Sources:

P.S. In April of 1963, Rick Nelson married 17-year-old Kristin Harmon. Later the same year, she began appearing regularly (as “Kris”) on Ozzie and Harriet. As a result, the names Kristin and Kris both saw increased usage in 1963.

How did “I Love Lucy” influence baby names in the 1950s?

Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, and their two children on the cover of LIFE magazine (Apr. 1953)
The Arnaz family

The sitcom I Love Lucy (1951-1957) was TV’s first mega-hit. It won five Emmys and was ranked the #1 TV show in America four out of its six seasons.

The central characters were Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, played by real-life couple Lucille Ball (born in New York in 1911) and Desiderio “Desi” Arnaz (born in Cuba in 1917).

Ricky worked as a singer and bandleader at the Tropicana nightclub, while Lucy was a housewife on a quest for show business fame who “concocted hilarious (and ultimately doomed) schemes to finagle her way out of the kitchen and into the limelight.”

Though the original show ended in 1957, a modified version called The Ford Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show kept the characters on the air for several more years.

So did I Love Lucy affect U.S. baby names? Yes, though not as much as one might expect, given its popularity.

Lucy & Lucille

The old-fashioned names Lucy and Lucille spent most of the 20th century declining in usage.

But Lucy saw an increase in 1952, and both names saw increases in 1953. (The most fashionable L-name at that time was #1 Linda.)

Ricky & Ricardo

Both Ricky and Ricardo — which had been rising in usage since the 1940s — saw accelerated rises during the 1950s.

One event that drew attention to Ricky specifically was the birth of Lucy and Ricky’s baby, “Little Ricky,” on an especially popular episode of I Love Lucy that aired in January of 1953 (the day before the inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower). In fact, the Cesarean birth of Lucille and Desi’s real-life baby Desiderio “Desi” Arnaz, Jr., was scheduled to coincide with the birth of Little Ricky.

Speaking of Desi…

Desi & Arnaz

The 1950s is the first decade we see Desi (pronounced DEH-zee) appearing regularly the U.S. baby name data — thanks to both father and son (though Junior’s birth in 1953 is no doubt behind the name’s increase in usage that particular year).

Several months after baby Desi was born, the very first issue of TV Guide magazine came out — and guess who was on the cover?

Desi Arnaz, Jr., on the cover of the first issue of "TV Guide" magazine
Desi Arnaz, Jr.

The surname Arnaz (pronounced ahr-NEZ) debuted in the data in 1958, and spelling variant Arnez first popped up in 1960.

Now it’s your turn: Do you love the name Lucy? Or do you prefer Lucille?

P.S. Another influence on the name Ricky during this period was Ricky Nelson, the son of another TV couple: Ozzie and Harriet Nelson.

Sources:

Images:

  • Clipping from the cover of Life magazine (6 Apr. 1953)
  • Clipping from the cover of TV Guide magazine (3 Apr. 1953)

Where did the baby name Dorsett come from in 1978?

Football player Tony Dorsett
Tony Dorsett

The rare name Dorsett first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1978:

  • 1980: unlisted
  • 1979: 7 baby boys named Dorsett
  • 1978: 7 baby boys named Dorsett [debut]
  • 1977: unlisted
  • 1976: unlisted

What put it there?

Football player Anthony “Tony” Dorsett (pronounced dor-SET).

After winning the Heisman trophy in college, Tony Dorsett was chosen second overall by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1977 NFL draft.

The running back had a particularly successful rookie season; he was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for 1977.

He ended up playing professionally for twelve seasons: eleven with the Dallas Cowboys (1977–1987), plus one more with the Denver Broncos (1988) alongside Ricky Nattiel.

The surname Dorsett, based on the English place name Dorset, ultimately comes from the Old English words durn, meaning “fist” (i.e., fist-sized pebbles) and soete, meaning “dwellers.”

Do you like Dorsett as a baby name?

Sources:

  • Tony Dorsett – Wikipedia
  • Hanks, Patrick. (Ed.) Dictionary of American Family Names. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
  • SSA

Image: Tony Dorsett trading card