How popular is the baby name Victory 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 Victory.

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Popularity of the baby name Victory


Posts that mention the name Victory

How did the attack on Pearl Harbor affect the baby name Pearl?

The attack on Pearl Harbor (7 Dec. 1941)
The attack on Pearl Harbor

On December 7, 1941 — 77 years ago today — Japanese planes carried out a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which was stationed at Pearl Harbor in the Territory of Hawaii.

That day, across the island of Oahu, close to 2,400 Americans were killed, including both military personnel and civilians, with more than 1,100 wounded. Additionally, the Japanese attack sunk or significantly damaged 21 ships and, of the 402 U.S. aircraft at Pearl Harbor, destroyed 188 and damaged 159.

On December 8 — after having maintained neutrality for more than two years — the U.S. declared war on the Empire of Japan and thereby officially entered WWII.

The following year, U.S. usage of the baby name Pearl, which had been trending downward since the 1920s, increased by nearly 31%:

  • 1945: 654 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 265th]
  • 1944: 757 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 238th]
  • 1943: 878 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 223rd]
  • 1942: 1,092 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 191st]
  • 1941: 835 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 212th]
  • 1940: 908 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 197th]
  • 1939: 901 baby girls named Pearl [rank: 198th]

Some of these post-1941 babies got first-middle combos like “Pearl Victory” and “Pearl Harbor.” (Here’s a “Victory Pearl Harbor.”)

After that 1942 uptick, the decline of the name Pearl continued. Usage was lowest during the last three decades of the 20th century. Since then, usage has picked up somewhat.

What are your thoughts on the name Pearl?

Sources: Attack on Pearl Harbor – Wikipedia, The Attack on Pearl Harbor – DPAA, SSA

Image: USS SHAW exploding Pearl Harbor (public domain)

Chicago Cubs baby names: Wrigley, Clark, Addison

Chicago Cubs sign

A couple of weeks ago, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series in dramatic fashion (with a score of 8-7 in the 10th inning of the 7th game).

So will we see a rise in the number of babies with Cubs-inspired names (like Wrigley) this year? Probably! Here are some recent examples:

  • Wrigley – Katie Stam Irk (a former Miss America) and her husband Brian welcomed a baby boy several days before the final game of the series. After the Cubs emerged victorious, they named the baby Wrigley Oliver.
  • Wrigley – “Bachelorette” couple Chris Siegfried (a former Chicago Cubs relief pitcher) and his wife Desiree welcomed a baby boy in October and named him Asher Wrigley.
  • Faith Victory – Chicago parents Jason and Kristy Amato welcomed a baby girl in October and named her Faith Victory.
  • Clark and Addison – Cubs fans Scott and Amber McFarland welcomed boy-girl twins in late June and named them Clark (son) and Addison (daughter), “after the iconic intersection outside Wrigley Field.”

The names Clark and Addison were also given to a pair of male-female red panda cubs born at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo last year.

And here’s the most impressive set of Cubs-babies I’ve seen so far: A generation ago, Cubs fanatics Julie and Ralph Dynek named their five children Addison (son), Clark (son), Sheffield (son), Grace Waveland (daughter), and Ivy Marie Wrigley Diamond (daughter). The first four were named after the four streets that surround Wrigley Field, and the fifth was named after the field’s famous ivy-covered brick outfield wall.

And don’t forget this 2007 baby named Wrigley Fields. (Visitors who commented on that post mentioned three more Wrigleys, an Addison, and a Clark.)

Have you encountered any other Cubs-inspired baby names lately, either in the news or in real life?

Updates (added June, 2017):

The Chicago Tribune reports that Stephen and Bronwyn Case of Wheaton, Illinois, recently welcomed a baby girl named Waveland. (Here’s her father’s announcement tweet.)

The Daily Herald reported in January that the first Chicago-area baby born in 2017 (twelve minutes after midnight) was a baby girl named Wrigley Rose.

And Golf Digest reminds readers that “former PGA Tour player and Cubs’ fan David Ogrin and his wife named their son Clark Addison” circa 1993. Here’s what Ogrin told the Tribune in 1996:

Believe it or not, I’ve heard recently of at least three other kids named Clark Addison. Maybe they ought to start a club.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from 10,000 Commemoration by RMelon under CC BY-SA 3.0.

How did Robin Vee Strasser get her middle name?

Actress Robin V. Strasser (circa 1971)
Robin Vee Strasser

Many sources claim that American soap opera actress Robin Strasser, who was born on the day of Germany’s surrender at the end of World War II, was named “Robin Victory in Europe Strasser” at birth.

According to Robin Strasser’s blog, though, this isn’t quite true:

Born on May 7th, 1945 at Bronx Jewish Hospital. When my mother came out of the ether (mom’s were heavily medicated in those days) they told her “Congratulations, you have a baby girl, and the WAR is OVER in Europe”.

My mother, over-joyed at the news, and apparently over-come with a sincere patriotism said she wanted to name me: Robin Victory in Europe Strasser. “You can’t do that to a baby” said one of the nurses, and wrote instead Robin VEE Strasser on my birth certificate.

I never use a middle name, and were I (being a die-hard Francophile) to use a middle name, I’d be literal with V(victory) I(in) E(Europe) VIE…which means LIFE in French.

Tres bon n’est-ce pas?

Though Germany surrendered on May 7, Victory in Europe Day is May 8 because that’s when the Allies officially accepted the surrender.

Source: Robin Strasser’s Official autoBLOGgraphy

[Other WWII-related baby names: Dawn Siren, Dee Day, D-Day, Invasia Mae, Hai Hu, Jesse Roper, Linda Ann, Linda, Mi Hwa, Victory Pearl Harbor, Swoosie, Tunisia]

Armistice babies in Canada and England

A couple of Armistice Day baby name stories for you…

First: A baby boy was born to Mr. and Mrs. Albert Herod of Ottawa, Canada, less than one minute after the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918. Mr. Herod had planned to name the baby Albert after himself, but then Canada’s Governor General personally requested that Albert name his son Victor, in honor of the end of the war. Albert agreed; Victor Herod it was.

(The Governor General also happened to be a Victor, coincidentally.)

Second: A baby boy was born to Mr. and Mrs. Howe of Middleton, England, “on the 11th hour, of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.”

My mother told me that while I was born she could hear bands playing outside as people celebrated the end of the war. People were coming up with all sorts of names but in the end they settled on Victory Haig to honour when I was born as well as General Douglas Haig.

Victory Howe went by “Victor” as an adult.

Sources:

  • Hull, Norman. “Government Gives Name.” Windsor Daily 29 May 1939: 5+.
  • Jones, Chris. “Victor was born winner as nation celebrated peace.” Manchester Evening News 11 Nov. 2010.
  • Rennie, Gary. “It’s No Longer ‘remembrance’ Day For Victor.” Windsor Star 11 Nov. 1976: 3.

P.S. The baby name Armistice has been used in the U.S. as well…