Deciding on a name for a newborn can be a daunting task, but it's a challenge that has plagued parents for quite some time, including our very own grandparents, as evidenced by this book from 1946 (updated in 1953): "What To Name The Baby (A Treasury Of Names) -- 15,000 Names To Choose From."
15,000. Let that sink in.
Among those names are, of course, the most popular names (in the U.S.) from 1953: Mary, Linda, Deborah, Patricia, Susan, Barbara, Debra, Nancy, Karen, Pamela, Sandra and Cynthia for girls, and Robert, James, Michael, John, David, William, Richard, Thomas, Charles, Gary, Steven and Mark for boys.
But there are ever so many more within this book's pages... names I'd never heard of, names I was surprised were around in 1953, and names I hope have never been given to a single innocent baby in the last 70 years. I was also amused by some of the given definitions -- are they accurate? Maybe not. Are they funny? Heck yeah.
So take this for what it is: Information from one book that perhaps helped a bunch of baby boomers' parents choose their kids' names.
That Was A Name Back Then? Who Knew?
These names feel more modern to me, but I guess some babies were actually given these monikers during the Eisenhower era...
("m" indicates the name was found in the book's "male names" section; "f" means it came from the "female" section.)
Aidan (m)
Ainsley (m)
Blaze (m)
Braden (m)
Cadence (f)
Chiara (f)
Colton (m)
Hayden (m)
Holden (m)
Hudson (m)
Huxley (m)
Keegan (m)
Kenley (m)
Keira (f)
Kenna (m)
Knox (m)
Landon (m)
Lennox (m)
Liam (m)
Oakley (m)
Paxton (m)
Raina (f)
Ryder (m)
Rylan (m)
Samara (f)
Savannah (f)
Names With Amusing Definitions
The name itself might be fine, but its meaning? -- well, maybe just keep that a secret from the kid's classmates.
Achilles (m) - "Without lips"
Algernon (m) - "With the mustache" (I guess if ever there's a baby born with a mustache, his parents will know exactly what to name him)
Attila (m) - "Fatherlike" (the real Attila allegedly did have a ton of kids...)
Boyne (m) - "White cow"
Caleb (m) - "A dog"
Hepatica (f) - "The liver-shaped
Hippolyta (f) - "horse destruction" (nooo!)
Hulda (f) - "a weasel"
Phryne (f) - "the toadlike"
Riccadonna (f) - "Rich and hard lady" (Lady Riccadonna De Bourgh does have a certain ring to it...)
Not A Bad Name... How Popular Was It In 2021?
Listen up, parents of today... some of these names are kind of cool, and you can argue that they're not modern. Because who wants that?
Adley (m) - A mere 615 U.S. babies got this name in 2021 - 606 f / 19 m
Albion (m) - Shucks. 0 kids named Albion in 2021, but 5 males were named Albino, 10 were named Albi and 17 were named Albie, so we're inching closer...
Alula (f) - 14 babies - 5 f / 9 m
Arber (m) - 14 Arbers and 31 Arbors
Cataline (m) - 0 babies named Cataline. Not even any girls?!
Leander (m) - 85 m
Cerelia (f) - 5 f
Eliadia (f) - 0
Endredi (f) - 0
Laelia (f) - 15 f
Lycoris (f) - 0 (This name is only cool if the second, not the first, syllable gets stressed.)
Nyx (f) - 69 babies - 61 f / 8 m. ("Onyx" is distinctly more popular, with 928 babies - 169 f / 759 m)
Let's Just Erase These Name From Future Baby Books, Thanks...
People were actually given these names? Who? What? Why? How? What other questions am I omitting?
Adelbert (m)
Adorabelle (f)
Aladdin (m)
Amabalis (m)
Amyot (m)
Aprilette (f)
Aristarch (m)
Arkwright (m)
Athanasia (f)
Babtist (m)
Bambalina (f)
Benigna (f)
Biddulph (m)
Birdella (f)
Blagden (m)
Bland (m)
Blenda (f)
Boniface (m)
Bozo (m)
Burbank (m)
Cadwallader (m)
Caradoc (m)
Chrystostom (m)
Clematis (f)
Clothilda (f)
Coma (f)
Conception (f)
Dandie (m)
Dearborn (m)
Dempster (m)
Dextra (f)
Druce (m)
Dubadeasa (f)
Ethelburga (f)
Flogelind (f)
Gift (f)
Gladusa (f)
Gouverneur (m)
Gritty (short for Griselda or Margaret) (f)
Head (m)
Honeyball (f)
Increase (m)
Intrepid (m)
Innocent (m)
Juvenal (m)
Petty (m)
Marmaduke (m)
Mayo (f)
Meiklyohn (m)
Minty (f)
Nap (short for Napoleon) (m)
Nye (m)
Odd (m)
Ordway (m)
Parthenope (f)
Pendrod (m)
Pentecoste (f)
Perfecta (f)
Purcifer (m)
Plantagenet (m)
Quenburga (f)
Quirio (f)
Ring (m)
Seabert (m)
Thorncroft (m)
Toner (m)
Twitchell (m)
Throth (f)
Vignette (f)
Walpurga (f)
Welcome (f)
Weltrude (f)
If you have a kid with one of those names... I don't want to know.
***BONUS!***
Here are some unbelievable but totally real names from the 1964 edition of 3000 Names For Boys!
Abbottson
Almund
Anastastius
Antipus
Arkwright
Athelstan
Bainbridge
Blodgett
Blainard
Chozebuss
Eleuther
Gelasus
Gorkum
Pedaiah
Publius
Swithbert
Teddmann
Tyrannus
Warfield
