How popular is the baby name Ross in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out all the blog posts that mention the name Ross.

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Popularity of the Baby Name Ross


Posts that Mention the Name Ross

Where did the baby name Andamo come from in 1960?

The character Andamo from the TV series "Mr. Lucky" (1959-1960).
Andamo from “Mr. Lucky“

The one-hit wonder baby name Andamo popped up for the first and only time in the data in 1960:

  • 1962: unlisted
  • 1961: unlisted
  • 1960: 15 baby boys named Andamo [debut]
  • 1959: unlisted
  • 1958: unlisted

It wasn’t just a mere one-hit wonder, though — it was the top one-hit wonder of the year. In fact, it was one of the top one-hit wonders of all time — tied for 3rd with Alfy and Eriksson, if we ignore the 1989 glitch names.

So, getting back to Andamo…where did it come from?

The single-season TV show Mr. Lucky (1959-1960), which was very loosely based on the 1943 film of the same name starring Cary Grant.

In the show, main character Lucky was the owner/operator of a gambling ship, and Andamo (pronounced ahn-DAH-moh), played by actor Ross Martin, was Lucky’s Latin-American right-hand-man. If the two main characters had proper first names, those names were never revealed over the course of the 34-episode series.

The show was cancelled, despite decent ratings, when a sponsor couldn’t be secured for the second season.

P.S. Lucky’s primary girlfriend, Maggie, was played by Pippa Scott.

Where did the baby name Ryne come from?

ryne, duren, baseball, 1950s

In the late ’50s, the name Ryne debuted impressively on the charts:

  • 1962: 7 baby boys named Ryne
  • 1961: 13 baby boys named Ryne
  • 1960: 10 baby boys named Ryne
  • 1959: 31 baby boys named Ryne
  • 1958: 21 baby boys named Ryne [debut]
  • 1957: unlisted

Where did it come from?

It was inspired by professional baseball pitcher Rinold “Ryne” Duren, known for “[staring] down batters through thick-lensed eyeglasses and then [delivering] fastballs that might go just about anywhere.”

In fact, Duren was the inspiration for the character Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn (played by Charlie Sheen, clearly #winning at the time) in the 1989 movie Major League.

Duren was in the Major Leagues from 1954 to 1965, but in 1958 was a member of the World Series-winning New York Yankees. It was also the first year he was selected for the All-Star Game.

He inherited the name Rinold from his father, whose family came from Germany. Rinold, like Renault, is related to the more familiar name Reynold.

…But that’s not the end of the story!

Because one of the 1959 babies named Ryne was Ryne Dee “Ryno” Sandberg, who also became a professional baseball player (second baseman). He started with Chicago Cubs in 1981 and went on to become a Hall of Famer.

He boosted the name Ryne not just back into the data, but into the top 1000 for the first time:

  • 1986: 178 baby boys named Ryne [rank: 675th]
  • 1985: 286 baby boys named Ryne [rank: 516th]
  • 1984: 199 baby boys named Ryne [rank: 605th]
  • 1983: 38 baby boys named Ryne
  • 1982: 31 baby boys named Ryne
  • 1981: unlisted

Ryne Sandberg had a son in the mid-1980s, but didn’t give him a baseball-inspired name. Instead, Justin Ross got a theater-inspired name. Ryne had seen “A Chorus Line” in New York around that time and been impressed with the name of performer Justin Ross.

Do you like the name Ryne? Would you use it for a baby boy?

Sources:

Where did the baby name Marjoe come from in 1974?

Preacher Marjoe Gortner in the documentary "Marjoe" (1972).
Marjoe Gortner

The rare name Marjoe has appeared in the U.S. baby name just twice, both times in the mid-1970s:

  • 1976: unlisted
  • 1975: 6 baby boys named Marjoe
  • 1974: 6 baby boys named Marjoe [debut]
  • 1973: unlisted
  • 1972: unlisted

This name is similar to Uldine in that both are associated with something rather unusual: child preachers.

In the case of Marjoe, the influence was child preacher-turned-actor Marjoe Gortner.

He was born Hugh Marjoe Ross Gortner to parents to Vernon and Marge of California in 1944. According to an early source, the middle name “Marjoe” was based on the name of his mother Marge. (His younger siblings were named Vernoe and Starloe.) Later sources claim “Marjoe” was a combination of Mary and Joseph.

Marjoe Gortner was a precocious child, and his family was full of preachers, so his parents (putting two and two together) decided to turn Marjoe into a child preacher. By the age of four, he was an ordained minister and could deliver about 40 different sermons from memory. His entire childhood was spent evangelizing.

By the early 1970s, Marjoe Gortner was in his late 20s and only in it for the money. In the autobiographical documentary Marjoe (1972), he gave viewers a behind-the-scenes look at “the lucrative business of Pentecostal preaching.” It earned critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in early 1973, but wasn’t screened in many theaters.

Following the success of the documentary, Marjoe pursued an acting career. He was most visible in the mid-1970s, appearing mainly on television. He could be seen on episodes of various TV shows (like Nakia, in 1974) and in several made-for-TV movies (like The Gun and the Pulpit, also in 1974).

What are your thoughts on the name Marjoe?

Sources:

Where did the baby name Deserie come from?

the charts, deserie, band,
The Charts (Glenmore, Ross, Leroy, Stephen, & Joe)

The French name Desiree was first popularized in the U.S. by the 1954 movie Désirée, which told the story of Désirée Clary, the one-time fiancée of Napoleon Bonaparte who later became the queen of Sweden and Norway.

Several years later, during the doo-wop craze of the ’50s, five Harlem-based teens formed a vocal group called The Charts — intentionally naming themselves after the Billboard‘s hits list in the hope that they would one day see themselves on the charts.

Despite being booed off stage during an Apollo Theater amateur night, the quintet got signed to a label and ended up recording several songs before disbanding in 1958.

The only Charts song to actually reach the charts? “Deserie,” a “huge East Coast doo wop cult classic” that appeared on Billboard‘s pop chart four times during the second half of 1957, peaking at 88th.

Here’s a video featuring the song:

But the Charts actually charted twice, because the baby name Deserie debuted on the U.S. baby name charts the very same year:

  • 1960: 15 baby girls named Deserie
  • 1959: 8 baby girls named Deserie
  • 1958: 7 baby girls named Deserie
  • 1957: 13 baby girls named Deserie [debut]
  • 1956: unlisted
  • 1955: unlisted

Though the spelling and pronunciation aren’t quite the same, Deserie (deh-zuh-REE) was no doubt inspired by then-trendy Desiree (deh-zi-RAY), which can be traced back to the Latin word for “desired,” desideratum.

Which name do you like better, Desiree or Deserie?

Sources:

Popular Baby Names in Scotland, 2015 (Take 2)

According to finalized data from National Records of Scotland (NRS), the most popular baby names in Scotland in 2015 were Emily and Jack.

Here are Scotland’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2015:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Emily, 497 baby girls
2. Sophie, 468
3. Olivia, 452
4. Isla, 419
5. Jessica, 357
6. Ava, 354
7. Amelia, 352
8. Ella, 341
9. Lucy, 317
10. Lily, 279		1. Jack, 565 baby boys
2. Oliver, 448
3. James, 416
4. Lewis, 371
5. Alexander, 349
6. Charlie, 342
7. Lucas, 316
8. Logan, 311
9. Harris, 306
10. Daniel, 282

This finalized 2015 list is a lot like (but not exactly like) the preliminary rankings that came out in December.

It’s also a lot like the 2014 rankings, the main difference being that Harris has replaced Noah in the boys’ top ten.

And now for the fun part! Here are some of the baby names that were bestowed just once last year in Scotland. Ladies first:

  • Aara
  • Aerith
  • Albatool
  • Aneu
  • Aragon
  • Aria-Denver
  • Arracah
  • Avana-Solaris
  • Awesome
  • Beatrix-Gwendoline
  • Bebe-Rose
  • Bexlie
  • Caledonia – Caledonia was what the ancient Romans called the region that became Scotland. It’s now used as a poetic name for Scotland.
  • Calypso
  • Christine-Smart – I’ve seen “smart” used as a name before, but all the examples I know of are historical.
  • Ciorstaidh
  • Csenge
  • Debsther
  • Duoduo
  • Dzeiviana
  • Elenaria
  • Ersjola
  • Esme-May
  • Ginijane
  • Glencora
  • Iphigenia
  • Izzy-Mary-Bel
  • Juveria
  • Lithisha
  • Littlest
  • Lohasna
  • Midelle
  • Mirrany
  • Ndack
  • Nettle
  • Peryl
  • Piali
  • Ptarmigan – A bird name I almost never see used as a baby name. Ironically, the word “ptarmigan” happens to be based on a Scottish Gaelic word (tàrmachan).
  • Renae-Esmae
  • Roux-Jane
  • Splendor
  • Styliani
  • Tjitske
  • Twylabelle – Another -belle name to add to the list of -bella and -belle names.
  • Xrysoula
  • Zazilia
  • Zephyra
  • Zerfin
  • Zymal

And now the gents:

  • Albany
  • Aodee
  • Bonus
  • Bowie
  • Brando
  • Bucci
  • Bully
  • Charlieboy
  • Chrisvin
  • Claigh
  • Cobain
  • Coist
  • Corryvreckan – The Gulf of Corryvreckan (from the Gaelic Coire Bhreacain) is a narrow strait off Scotland’s west coast famous for its large whirlpool. Corryvreckan’s father, a whisky expert, also admits that “we may have joked with the name while I was sipping on some of the peat-astic Ardbeg Corryvreckan.” (Source: Why Corryvreckan is a dram fine name for my baby says whisky expert Andy Bell)
  • Csoma
  • Firth
  • Feynman
  • Frankie-Boy
  • Gruffydd
  • Harrison’jai
  • Highlande
  • Innes-Ross
  • Jesuferanmi
  • Jevgenijs
  • Jotvingis
  • Lansana
  • Leonce
  • Oomo – Reminds me of Omoo.
  • Panache
  • Roux
  • Roxus
  • Sonnyboy
  • Stuarttie
  • Taighearnach
  • Turki
  • Tybalt
  • Ythan
  • Zaff
  • Zanemvula
  • Zeteny
  • Zion-Antoine

Source: Jack and Emily are Scotland’s top baby names