How popular is the baby name Ron 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 Ron.

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Popularity of the baby name Ron


Posts that mention the name Ron

Baby born in England, named after entire soccer team (1965)

soccer game

In mid-1965, Peter and Pat O’Sullivan of Staffordshire, England, welcomed a baby girl.

Peter, a bricklayer who called himself a “fanatical Liverpool fan” — inspired by the team’s recent victory in the FA Cup — took it upon himself to give his daughter the following name: Paula St John Lawrence Lawler Byrne Strong Yeats Stevenson Callaghan Hunt Milne Smith Thompson Shankly Bennett Paisley O’Sullivan.

Those 15 middle names honored 15 members of the Liverpool Football Club: 12 players, the team manager, and two assistants:

NamePlayer/Manager
St John
Lawrence
Lawler
Byrne
Strong
Yeats
Stevenson
Callaghan
Hunt
Milne
Smith
Thompson
Shankly
Bennett
Paisley		Ian St John
Tommy Lawrence
Chris Lawler
Gerry Byrne
Geoff Strong
Ron Yeats
Willie Stevenson
Ian Callaghan
Roger Hunt
Gordon Milne
Tommy Smith
Peter Thompson
Bill Shankly (manager)
Reuben Bennett (asst.)
Bob Paisley (asst.)

All 15 middle names appear on her birth certificate, but her name had to be shortened to “Paula St J L L B S Y S C H M S T S B P O’Sullivan” on the birth register.

Unfortunately, Paula’s mother Pat was not very enthusiastic about the situation: “The first I knew about it was when I saw the birth certificate, and I don’t mind saying I was furious. It’s a real shock to learn your baby’s been named after a whole football team.”

Here a photo of baby Paula with the Liverpool team taken in April of 1966.

And here are two earlier posts about English babies named after entire soccer teams: the 1992 Leeds United team, and the 2011 Burnley team.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Portugal 2-3 Denmark, Football by José Goulão under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Baby name story: Kimberly Sunshine

cows

In September of 1983, Margaret Kruger of Stuart, Florida, went into labor three months early. She was put into an air ambulance helicopter heading to Tampa…but the baby wasn’t going to wait that long. So pilot Ron Ray made an emergency landing in a cow pasture near Okeechobee, and a baby girl was born soon after the landing.

Kruger said:

“Everyone was rushing around, getting the incubator out of the helicopter it wouldn’t open inside and trying to get the baby to breathe […] Cow manure was everywhere caked on the incubator and helicopter skids.”

The baby weighed less than two pounds and spent the next three months in the hospital. Despite being given a 20% chance of survival, she lived.

Her name? Kimberly Sunshine — Sunshine because it recalls “the sunshine that surrounded her the day she was born,” and Kimberly because the definition has to do with a “field” or “meadow.”

(In fact, only the “ly” part of Kimberly comes from a word meaning “field.” The “kimber” part is based on any of several Old English names, e.g., Cyneburga, Cynebald).

[Here’s another baby name story that involves both a helicopter and a pilot named Ron, ironically. And here’s one with a cow.]

Sources:

  • Plarski, Pat. “Baby Born in Copter Beating All the Odds.” Palm Beach Post 25 Mar. 1984.
  • Swartz, Sally. “Pilot Visits Girl who was Born in his Helicopter.” Palm Beach Post 28 Jun. 1992.

Image: Adapted from Grass Fed Beef (public domain) by Ryan Thompson/U.S. Department of Agriculture

How did the O. J. Simpson trial influence baby names in the mid-1990s?

O. J. Simpson trial witness Kato Kaelin
Kato Kaelin

In June of 1994, former NFL star Orenthal James “O. J.” Simpson was charged with murdering his ex-wife, Nicole, and Nicole’s friend Ron.

The heavily publicized murder trial began early the next year. Simpson was finally acquitted on October 3, 1995 — nineteen years ago today.

Believe it or not, the trial had an impact on U.S. baby names in the mid-1990s.

In March of 1995, memorable witness Brian “Kato” Kaelin — who had been living on Simpson’s property at the time of the murders — took the stand. (His nickname came from the Green Hornet character.)

While the usage of Kato did not see a large increase in usage, both the male and female usage of Kaelin spiked in 1995:

Kaelin (m)Kaelin (f)Kato
1997441206
19966511815
1995121†16013
1994638910
199312386
†Peak usage
O. J. Simpson trial witness Arnelle Simpson
Arnelle Simpson

In July of 1995, Arnelle Simpson — O. J.’s adult daughter with his first wife, Marguerite — was called as the first witness for the defense.

Both the name Arnelle and the variant spelling Arnell saw higher usage that year as a result:

ArnelleArnell
1997107
19962813
199551†21
1994165
1993..
†Peak usage

Simpson’s defense attorney, Robert Kardashian, did not influence names in the 1990s…but his daughters and ex-wife would go on to influence U.S. baby names in multiple ways after becoming reality TV stars in the 2000s.

Sources: O. J. Simpson murder case – Wikipedia, SSA

Popular and unique baby names in Alberta (Canada), 2013

Flag of Alberta
Flag of Alberta

Alberta’s top baby names of 2013 were announced a couple of weeks ago.

According to data from Service Alberta, the most popular baby names last year were Olivia and Liam.

Here are Alberta’s top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2013:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 293 baby girls
  2. Emma, 271
  3. Emily, 249
  4. Sophia, 241
  5. Ava, 198
  6. Avery, 172
  7. Abigail, 164
  8. Charlotte, 156
  9. Chloe, 156
  10. Lily, 156
  11. Ella, 152
  12. Isabella, 144
  13. Hannah, 138
  14. Amelia, 132
  15. Brooklyn, 126
  16. Madison, 123
  17. Sadie, 118
  18. Grace, 115
  19. Mia, 115
  20. Elizabeth, 111

Boy Names

  1. Liam, 310 baby boys
  2. Lucas, 254
  3. Ethan, 244
  4. Noah, 234
  5. Logan, 225
  6. Benjamin, 222
  7. William, 217
  8. Jacob, 204
  9. Mason, 198
  10. Carter, 192
  11. Alexander, 185
  12. Jack, 177
  13. Nathan, 177
  14. Samuel, 170
  15. Owen, 168
  16. Oliver, 164
  17. Hunter, 162
  18. Jackson, 156
  19. James, 156
  20. Jaxon, 155

Lucas rose from 7th place in 2012 to 2nd place last year, and Noah rose from 10th to 4th. Meanwhile, Jacob fell from 3rd to 8th and Mason fell from 5th to 9th.

Usage of Sadie more than doubled from 51 baby girls in 2012 to 118 in 2013. (Sadie shot up in the U.S. last year as well.)

Here are some of the more unusual names I spotted on the list:

Unusual Girl NamesUnusual Boy Names
Avexis, Azkadellia, Beatle, Blissannie, Caliber, Calyannabella, Dignity, Ecclesia, Edgely, D’Or, Emathyst, Emma-Tiger, Fra’Oll, Freixelyne, Glamour, Hannaneh, Izumi, Jilmil, Kayyo, Kree-Dance, Klarybel, Koket, Lava, Lootii, Lszybelle, Maple, Maquinna, Mòrag-Elizabeth, Nebraska, Qori, Shanaekqaheart, Slash, Solomiya, Taynjerine, Thiingdong, Trudith, Venelope, Vyllain, Winter-Wray, ZxianneAerlwilliam, Aidence, Arismendy, Bemba, Blacker, Brenver, Buffalochild, Chrysogonus, Cooch, Crisxander, Dentley, Dulee’O, Ezzekielle, Godbless, Goodluck, Grady-Best, Gurmn, Hurricane, Isaiah-Ron-Kurt, Jax-Jude, Jet-Lee, Jixxr, Kairaratjo, Klutch, Kris-n, Linclon, Mambo, Mickdam, Neepin-Neepsy, Noah-Niño, Phyo, Sun-Rise, Sunstar, Thunderheart, Trigger, Unitus-Judah, Whiskeyjack, Wintersky, Zancent

If marshmallow peeps could magically come alive, I think “neepin-neepsy” is the sound they would make. (Also “peep,” of course.)

Jamie Dirom of the Calgary Herald went through all of the available Alberta lists (1980 to 2013) and found even more great ones, including:

  • Arson, Coco-Janelle, Codeine, Dancingeaglewhistle, Deemon, Invincible, Itty, Lethal, Nytewolf, Oreo, RocRock, Selphie, Sensimillia, Soda, Tiramisu

Tiramisu! If that exists, there has to be a Cheesecake out there somewhere… :)

Sources: Alberta’s Top Baby Names, Alberta baby names 2013 list reveals kids called Kindle, Lava, Daenarys and Peeta, but Olivia, Liam still tops, Unique? Not so unique: 101 unusual Alberta baby names

Image: Adapted from Flag of Alberta (public domain)