How popular is the baby name Roy 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 Roy.

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Popularity of the baby name Roy


Posts that mention the name Roy

Obama’s mama: Stanley Ann

It’s election day!

While we wait for news about the next U.S. president, let’s talk about Stanley, the late mother of the current U.S. president.

Stanley Ann Dunham was born in 1942 to Stanley and Madelyn Dunham of Wichita, Kansas. According to most sources, her father had been hoping for a baby boy. When a baby girl arrived instead, he stubbornly decided to pass his name down regardless.

But Pulitzer-winning journalist David Maraniss has another theory: “The naming of Stanley Ann had less to do with the dictates of a presumptuous father than with the longing for sophistication of a starstruck mother.” He explains:

Since her teenage years as a moviegoer at the commodious Augusta Theatre, Madelyn had devoutly followed the film career of Bette Davis, her favorite actress. A new picture starring Davis and Olivia de Havilland reached Kansas during the summer of 1942, while Madelyn was pregnant. In the movie, In This Our Life, Davis and de Havilland played the two Timberlake sisters, each with a man’s name: Davis was Stanley and de Havilland was Roy.

Actress Bette Davis as character Stanley in the movie "In This Our Life" (1942).

According to Maraniss, this is what inspired Madelyn to name the baby Stanley, and the fact that the baby’s father was also named Stanley was just a coincidence.

The movie In This Our Life was based on a Pulitzer-winning novel of the same name by author Ellen Glasgow. The 1941 novel is set in Glasgow’s home state of Virginia — one of the many states throughout the South in which family surnames were often bestowed upon baby girls (especially in families without many sons).

Stanley Ann Dunham “was teased mercilessly for her name” as a youngster, according to Barack Obama in his book Dreams from My Father. She ended up dropping “Stanley” and simply going by “Ann” as an adult.

Where did her father get his name? “His mother, an avid reader, named him in honor of one of her favorite historical characters, Sir Henry Morton Stanley, the British newspaperman and adventurer who became famous probing the nether regions of interior Africa.”

Interestingly, Sir Henry Morton Stanley was born John Rowlands; he created the name “Henry Morton Stanley” for himself upon emigrating to America from England.

What do you think of the name Stanley for a baby girl?

Sources:

  • Maraniss, David. Barack Obama: The Story. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2012.
  • Obama, Barack. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. New York: Crown Publishers, 1995.

Where did the baby name Saford come from in 1941?

Bluegrass musicians Clayton and Saford Hall
Clayton and Saford Hall

In 1941, the name Saford debuted in the U.S. baby name data with 11 baby boys — enough to make it the top boy-name debut of the year.

It was never to be seen in the data again, though. This made Saford the top one-hit wonder name of 1941. And it’s tied for 9th on the list of most popular one-hit wonder boy names of all time.

So what’s the story behind this mysterious name? The state-by-state data offers a big clue:

  • 1943: unlisted
  • 1942: unlisted
  • 1941: 11 baby boys named Saford
    • 9 born in Virginia specifically
  • 1940: unlisted
  • 1939: unlisted

I think it was influenced by Virginia-based bluegrass musician Saford Hall.

Saford (who played the fiddle) and his identical twin brother Clayton (who played the banjo) were born in rural Patrick County, Virginia, in 1919. They were the last of 10 children. (Their older siblings were named Lee, Roxie, Thamon, Mack, Romie, Samson, Simon, and Asa.)

In the late ’30s, the boys formed their first band: the Hall Twins.

In 1939, the twins joined a band called “Roy Hall and His Blue Ridge Entertainers.” (They weren’t related to Roy.) That band had a radio show that started out in Winston-Salem (WAIR), but saw much more success after moving to Roanoke (WDBJ) in April of 1940. The show consisted of musical numbers and comedy skits. In fact, Saford and Clayton had a comedy segment in which they played hillbilly characters named Monk and Gibb.

And, while Saford and Clayton were radio stars in Roanoke, Saford’s name emerged in the U.S. baby name data — thanks to strong usage in Virginia. Clayton‘s name was already being given to hundreds of U.S. babies per year by the early ’40s, but usage in both Virginia and North Carolina was higher than expected in 1942. I even found a Virginia baby named Saford Clayton! (He wasn’t born until 1944, though.)

Ralph Berrier, Jr. — a journalist who happens to be Clayton’s grandson — wrote about the twins in his 2010 book If Trouble Don’t Kill Me. Here’s how he describes them on his website (which also includes recordings of several performances from the early ’40s):

The Hall twins rose from mountain-bred poverty to pickin’ and yodelin’ all over the airwaves of the South in the 1930s and 1940s, opening shows for the Carter Family, Roy Rogers, the Sons of the Pioneers, and even playing the most coveted stage of all: the Grand Ole Opry.

(They played the Grand Ole Opry twice, in 1941 and in 1942, as part of the Blue Ridge Entertainers.)

But just as their musical careers were beginning to take off, the brothers were drafted. Saford was sent to North Africa and Europe, and Clayton was sent to the South Pacific.

The Hall twins survived WWII, and they continued playing music after returning to the States, but they were never able to achieve the same level of musical success. Saford passed away in 1999, Clayton in 2003.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from the cover of If Trouble Don’t Kill Me: A Family’s Story of Brotherhood, War, and Bluegrass

Which “Mod Generation” sticker name do you like best?

mod generation stickers

In 1969, dozens of “Mod Generation” stickers — each of which featured a drawing of a young person, and a first name — were distributed inside packs of Topps chewing gum.

Female names used on the stickers included Alice, Ann, Barbara, Betty, Connie, Diane, Donna, Dotty, Ellen, Esther, Fay, Frances, Gloria, Helen, Jackie, Joan, Judy, Lois, Marie, Mary, Millie, Minda, Nancy, Natalie, Phyllis, Rose, Shelly, and Susan.

mod generation stickers

Male names used on the stickers included Barry, Bert, Bill, Charlie, Chris, Dave, Don, Fred, George, Herb, Irv, Jerry, Joe, John, Larry, Louis, Michael, Paul, Pete, Ray, Richard, Roy, Teddy, and Tony.

mod generation stickers

While of these female and male names do you like most? How about least?

Sources: 1969: “Mod Generation” Stickers, Mod Generation – 1969

Hollywood names invented by Henry Willson

American talent agent Henry Willson (1911-1978)
Henry Willson

Hollywood talent agent Henry Willson — the man behind the beefcake craze of the 1950s — liked to invent snappy stage names for his clients. “Catchy, iterative, marquee-size monikers were his trademark.”

And several of his clients (such as Troy Donahue, and Tab Hunter) went on to achieve so much fame that they, in turn, had an influence on U.S. baby names.

Here are some of the names that Willson came up with (or helped come up with):

Stage nameReal name
Chad EverettRaymon Cramton
Dack & Dirk RamboNorman & Orman Rambo (twins)
Guy MadisonRobert Moseley
John SaxonCarmine Orrico
Rhonda FlemingMarilyn Louis
Rock HudsonRoy Fitzgerald
Rory CalhounFrancis McCown
Tab HunterArthur Gelien
Touch Connors (later known as Mike Connors)Krekor Ohanian
Troy DonahueMerle Johnson
Ty Hungerford (later known as Ty Hardin)Orison Hungerford
Yale SummersRoy Neuvohner

Red-headed Rhonda Fleming’s surname was chosen because it sounded like the word flaming.

Speaking of flames, Rory Calhoun’s first name was inspired by Francis McCown’s brief stint as a firefighter (i.e., “roaring blazes”).

Which group of names do you prefer, the stage names (on the left) or the real names (on the right)?

Sources:

Image: Clipping from Modern Screen (Oct. 1946)

[Latest update: Oct. 2025]