How popular is the baby name Sidney 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 Sidney.

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Popularity of the baby name Sidney


Posts that mention the name Sidney

Where did the baby name Kessel come from in 2017?

Hockey player Phil Kessel
Phil Kessel

The rare name Kessel was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data in 2017:

  • 2019: unlisted
  • 2018: unlisted
  • 2017: 5 baby boys named Kessel [debut]
  • 2016: unlisted
  • 2015: unlisted

Where did it come from?

Professional hockey player Philip “Phil” Kessel.

During the second half of the 2010s, Kessel played with the Pittsburgh Penguins (alongside teammate Sidney Crosby). The team won the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons: 2016 and 2017.

The name Kessel does not appear anywhere in the SSA’s state-by-state data, meaning that Pennsylvania was not the birthplace of all five of the baby boys named Kessel (curiously). We do know that at least one of the winger’s namesakes was born inside the Keystone State, though — to Pittsburgh parents Nicole and Adam Hillman. Their baby boy, Kessel Ryan Hillman, arrived in May of 2017 (during the Eastern Conference Finals).

The German surname Kessel is derived from a Middle High German word meaning “kettle, cauldron.” It originally referred to a person who made copper cooking vessels.

What are your thoughts on Kessel as a first name?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Phil Kessel 2017-06-08 by Michael Miller under CC BY-SA 4.0.

North Carolina triplets with rhyming names: Dessie, Bessie, Essie

Triplets Dessie, Bessie and Essie Justice (plus a younger sibling)
Dessie, Bessie, and Essie Justice

During the early decades of the the 20th century, Thomas Edward “Tommy” Justice and Laura Effie Justice (née Searcy) of Henderson County, North Carolina, welcomed 14 children — including a set of triplets.

Here are the names of all 14 siblings:

  1. Curtis Edward (born in 1900)
  2. Sidney Thomas (b. 1902)
  3. Dessie M. (b. 1904)
  4. Bessie Martha (b. 1904)
  5. Essie Margaret (b. 1904)
  6. Lula Belle (b. 1906)
  7. unnamed son (b. 1908)
  8. William Leonard (b. 1909)
  9. James Arthur (b. 1911)
  10. Anna May (b. 1914)
  11. Fred (b. 1917)
  12. Mary Sue (b. 1919)
  13. Laura Lee (b. 1921)
  14. George Washington (b. 1924)

Dessie, Bessie, and Essie were born in the family’s log cabin on March 16, 1904.

As children, Dessie and Bessie looked a lot alike, but Essie stood out because she “was the runt,” according to Dessie.

Dessie also noted that all three of them were “bashful” as youngsters:

We were entered in baby shows and attracted a lot of attention since we were triplets, but we didn’t like it. We would run and hide under the bed when people came to take our pictures. They would have to drag us to the shows and feed us ice cream behind the curtain to keep us at the show.

Speaking of Dessie…I wasn’t able to track down her middle name. What do you think Dessie’s middle initial, “M.,” might have stood for?

Sources:

Image: Clipping from Spirit of Missions magazine (Sept. 1911)

How did Alanis Morissette influence baby names in the mid-1990s?

Canadian singer Alanis Morissette in the music video for the song "You Oughta Know" (1995)
Alanis Morissette

The name Alanis first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1995:

  • 1998: 108 baby girls named Alanis
  • 1997: 148 baby girls named Alanis
  • 1996: 172 baby girls named Alanis
  • 1995: 15 baby girls named Alanis [debut]
  • 1994: unlisted
  • 1993: unlisted

The following year, Alanis was one of the fastest-rising baby names in the country, and the spelling variants Alannis and Alanys both debuted in the data.

What was influencing these names in the mid-1990s?

Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis (pronounced uh-LAN-iss) Morissette.

Alanis Morissette's album "Jagged Little Pill" (1995)
Alanis Morissette album

Her third studio album, the alt-rock juggernaut Jagged Little Pill (1995), won “Album of the Year” at both the Grammy Awards and the Juno Awards. It was the best-selling album of 1996 and went on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time.

Jagged Little Pill, which had twelve tracks, spawned six hit singles:

  • “You Oughta Know,” which peaked at #6 in both the U.S. and Canada
  • “You Learn,” which peaked at #1 in Canada
  • “Hand in My Pocket,” which peaked at #1 in Canada
  • “Ironic,” which peaked at #4 in the U.S. and #1 in Canada
  • “Head over Feet,” which peaked at #1 in Canada
  • “All I Really Want,” which peaked at #2 in Canada

Isn’t it ironic (don’t you think) that the music video I’m embedding below is the one for the song “Ironic”?

So, did Alanis Morissette influence baby names in her home country as well?

Yes — in 1996, her name debuted in the Canadian data. In fact, it reached the Canadian girls’ top 1,000 for the first and only time that year:

  • 1998: 7 baby girls named Alanis in Canada
  • 1997: 13 baby girls named Alanis in Canada
  • 1996: 23 baby girls named Alanis in Canada [rank: 867th]
  • 1995: unlisted
  • 1994: unlisted
  • 1993: unlisted

(There may have been a handful of earlier namesakes as well: she’d been famous in Canada since the early ’90s, when she was a teen pop star known mononymously as “Alanis.”)

Alanis Nadine Morissette was born to parents Alan and Georgia Morissette in Ontario in 1974. She was born 12 minutes after her twin brother, Wade Imre Morissette.

If “Imre” in association with Alanis Morissette rings a bell for you, that’s because Alanis’ first child, born in late 2010, was named Ever Imre. She has since welcomed two more children: a daughter named Onyx Solace, and a second son named Winter Mercy.

What are your thoughts on name Alanis?

P.S. We’ve also checked out the Canadian usage of the names Crosby, Sidney, and Tamia…

Sources:

Top image: Screenshot of the music video for “You Oughta Know”

How did Jaromír Jágr influence U.S. baby names?

Hockey player Jaromír Jágr
Jaromír Jágr

Earlier this week, the Pittsburgh Penguins retired the jersey of former star player Jaromír Jágr (pronounced YAH-roh-meer YAH-gur).

Jágr, who was born in 1972 and grew up in Communist-controlled Czechoslovakia, was selected fifth overall by the Penguins in the 1990 NHL Draft.

During the 11 years he played in Pittsburgh, Jágr led the league in points for 5 seasons (1995, 1998-2001), led the league in assists for 3 seasons (1998-1999, 2001), and won the Stanley Cup twice (in 1991 and 1992).

So did Jaromír Jágr have an influence U.S. baby names?

Yes — both his first name and his last name debuted in the U.S. baby name data in the 1990s:

Boys named JagrBoys named Jaromir
2003.
20026.
20017.
2000..
19996.
1998.6*
1997..
19966*.
1995..
*Debut

The name Jagr has appeared in the data a total of four times, while the name Jaromir remains a one-hit wonder to this day.

The Czech surname Jágr is derived from the German surname Jäger, which means “hunter.”

The first name Jaromír — which was also the name of Jaromír Jágr’s father, and grandfather — can be traced back to proto-Slavic elements meaning “furious” and “peace.”

(And Jaromír Jágr’s now-retired jersey number, 68, was symbolic of 1968 — the year of the Prague Spring, and also the year that his grandfather died.)

Jágr went on to have a long and successful career in the NHL. He’s currently ranked 4th on the league’s list of most career goals and 5th on the list of most career assists. He finally left the NHL in 2017, but he didn’t retire — he still plays professional hockey in Czechia at the age of 52 (!).

What are your thoughts on the baby names Jaromir and Jagr?

P.S. The cash-strapped Penguins ended up trading Jaromír Jágr to the Washington Capitals in 2001 — several years before drafting future star Sidney Crosby.

Sources:

Image: Jaromír Jágr trading card