By Pamela Redmond Satran for Nameberry
One of the biggest baby name stories this week is The Week’s look at the least popular baby names in the U.S. from 1880 through 1932.
While names like Handy, Spurgeon, Icy, and Toy -- that were culled from the bottom rungs of the Top 1000 -- are indeed hilarious, it may be sobering to consider that some baby names that were equally unpopular back then went on to win widespread favor.
Names that were given to only five babies at the end of the 19th century, right down there with Spurgeon and Icy, include many of today’s hotties:
1880Natalie, Hudson 1881Madeleine, Lincoln 1882Iris, Griffin 1883Juliette, Blake 1884Arabella, Tyler 1885Rosemary, Sebastian 1886Susannah, Reed 1887Maryann, Brady 1888Karen, Gregory 1889Miley, Kyle 1890Willow, Weston 1891Stephanie, Wyatt 1892Beatrix, Tobias 1893Lake, Hayden 1894Erin,Tucker 1895Penelope, Colin 1896Courtney, Jonah 1897Maisie, Casey 1898Holly, Dane 1899Ariel, Jason
Choices like Gladys and Bertha, Clarence and Earl even pranced around at the head of the popularity lists.
But you don’t have to go so far back to find such baffling gaps in baby name taste. In 1972, tens of thousands of babies were named Heather and Tammy, Scott and Chad, instead of Adair and Coco, Sienna and Liv, Atticus and Finnian, which all languished at the bottom of the list given to only five babies each.
Of course, these names that sound cool 50 years later were joined down in the baby name dumps by such choices as Cachet, Candle, Classie, and Marijuana for girls; Friend, Kaiser, Lemon, Master, and Mister for boys.
And today? Names given to just five girls, the lowest number counted, in 2012 include the following 20 choices:
Anthea Atlanta Bette Cherith Comfort Disney Frederica Garland Goodness Heartlynn Jersei Lunette Money Murray Nessiah Perpetua Petal Rosary Rye Thai
Names at the bottom of the boys’ list in 2012 include:
Bart Egbert Elite Fitzpatrick Iggy Jerusalem Lotus Lucifer Messer Million Moss Munro Newt Osric Pacer Poe Romance Sabbath Sabre Zytaevius
So which will be the Sebastians and which the Spurgeons of the future? That’s a decision our grandchildren will make.
See the top girls', boys' and unisex names of the year so far in the slideshow below...