How popular is the baby name Year 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 Year.

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Popularity of the baby name Year


Posts that mention the name Year

Babies named Thanksgiving

wild turkey

We’ve talked about people named Easter, Fourth (of July), Halloween, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year…what about Thanksgiving?

I mean, we’ve already met Dr. Happy Thanksgiving, but are there more?

Yes, at least a few dozen more. As you’d expect, nearly all were born in late November. Here are three examples:

The two most recent Thanksgivings I found were both born in the 1990s.

Image: Adapted from Male wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) strutting by Frank Schulenburg under CC BY-SA 4.0.

It’s Christmas, so…Happy Thanksgiving!

wild turkey

I didn’t see this in time to post it on Thanksgiving, so I’ll post it on Christmas instead.

A month ago, Richard Chin of the Pioneer Press interviewed Minnesotans with holiday-inspired names. Most of the names were Christmas-related (Christmas Eve, Mary Christmas, Merry Eve) but the one that caught my eye was Happy Thanksgiving.

How did Dr. Happy Thanksgiving Reynolds, a Minneapolis woman born in 1970, come by her unusual name?

“I was the child of hippies,” Reynolds said. And not just the occasional bell-bottom, bead-wearing hippies, according to Reynolds. They were a hard-core, tofu-making, co-op founding couple who didn’t have a name picked out for their new baby because they believed in letting the universe help choose the name on the day of her birth.

“It was total universe magic time for them,” Reynolds said.

So when the day happened to be Thanksgiving, the universe seemed to be deciding that Reynolds’ first and middle names should be Happy Thanksgiving. The first snowfall of the season also occurred that day, Reynolds said.

“I narrowly missed the name Snow,” she said.

How does Happy Thanksgiving like her name?

Reynolds said her name has been an “unintentional gift.”

She isn’t shy about using her full name in her professional life. After medical school, “I said, ‘You know what, I’m Dr. Happy Thanksgiving Reynolds.’ That’s just who I am.”

She’s gotten job interviews because people want to meet someone named Happy Thanksgiving. “I’m someone you’re not going to forget based on the name,” she said.

I’ve found other people named Thanksgiving — one went by the cute nickname Givie — but Reynolds is the only Happy Thanksgiving I know of.

If you want some holiday-themed names more appropriate for this time of year, check out these posts from last year: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Merry Christmas, Christmas Carol, Christmas Tree, Happy New Year.

Source: Her name is Happy Thanksgiving, and she’s not the only one with a holiday handle (via Neatorama)

Image: Adapted from Male wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) strutting by Frank Schulenburg under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Holiday baby name: Happy New Year

Christmas tree decorations

Happy New Year, everyone!

Time for the first post of 2013.

And my question is: Have any babies ever been named after the New Year?

The answer is yes.

Most notably, at least seven people have been named Happy New Year:

  • Happy Newyear Boor, female, born in 1926 in Pennsylvania
  • Happy New Year Dennis, female, born in 1920 in South Africa
  • Happy New Year Grierson, born in 1896 in Oregon
  • Happy New Year Kauakahi, female, born circa 1906 in Hawaii
  • Happy New Year Kapahu, male, born circa 1907 in Hawaii
  • Happy Newyear Kerwenzee, female, born 1877 in Ontario
  • Happy New Year Ribs, male, born circa 1912 in South Dakota

Several hundred others have simply been named New Year.

The earliest examples I’ve seen come from the 1600s:

  • Newyear Dale, male, baptized on January 6, 1675, in York, England.
  • Newyear Harrison, male, baptized on January 2, 1687, in York, England.
  • New Year Carlile, female, baptized on January 12, 1690, in Cumberland, England
  • New Years Mitchinson, male, baptized on December 31, 1691, in Cumberland, England
  • New Year Ireland, male, baptized on February 5, 1694, in York, England

Here are three more from the 1700s:

  • New Year Dowthwait, male, baptized on January 1, 1731 in York, England
  • New Year Prudget, male, baptized on January 15, 1737, in Suffolk, England
  • Hannah New Year Chamberlain, female, baptized on January 7, 1759 in Northampton, England

And three more from the 1800s:

  • William New Year Sadler, male, baptized on January 2, 1819, in Norfolk, England.
  • Frances New Year Tobin, female, born on December 31, 1872, in Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • New Year Bowman, female, born on January 1, 1881, in Ontario, Canada
William New Year Sadler
William New Year Sadler (in the Norfolk parish register)

And three more in the 1900s:

  • Columbus New Year Clanton, male, born on January 1, 1900, in Alabama
  • Curtis New Year Cooper, male, born on January 1, 1905, in Texas
  • New Year Bell Sunday, female, born on January 1, 1912
  • New Year Mahu, male, born circa 1916 in Hawaii

The most recent New Year I’ve spotted was born in Micronesia in 2002. (The most recent U.S. New Year I’ve seen was born in 1930.)

[More holiday baby names: Christmas Eve, Merry Christmas, Christmas Day, Christmas Carol, Christmas Tree]

Image: Adapted from Bellagio Christmas tree by Bert Kaufmann under CC BY-SA 2.0.