The Social Security Administration publishes a list of the names most commonly given to newborns. Here are last year's top ten:
Rank | Male name | Female name | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jacob | Emily | ||
2 | Michael | Emma | ||
3 | Joshua | Madison | ||
4 | Matthew | Abigail | ||
5 | Ethan | Olivia | ||
6 | Andrew | Isabella | ||
7 | Daniel | Hannah | ||
8 | Anthony | Samantha | ||
9 | Christopher | Ava | ||
10 | Joseph | Ashley | ||
Note: Rank 1 is the most popular, rank 2 is the next most popular, and so forth. |
You can follow the above link and see, for example, the top 1000, which includes Tyler (#16 as a boy's name, #764 as a girl's name) and Madison (#3 as a girl's name). Which leads me to think of president's last names that have been given to some famous, infamous, and semi-famous persons as first names (though often without reference to the President being honored or dishonored):
- Washington (Irving, author of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," which engendered the terrible movie starring Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci)
- Jefferson (Davis, leader of "The Lost Cause")
- Madison (Kuhn, obscure historian -- but not a girl)
- Jackson (Pollock,
artistdribblerpainter) - Harrison (Ford,
still lifecar dealerfilm actor) - Tyler (Mathieson, of CNBC)
- Taylor (Booth, computer scientist and namesake of an education award)
- Pierce (Brosnan, ex-007)
- Lincoln (Chafee, Republican in Name Only)
- Grant (Hull, founder of Enabled Solutions -- never heard of him or it, but I found his name here)
- Hayes (Milam, a security guard at the think-tank at which I worked, for about as long I worked there, which was 30 years)
- Arthur (Godfrey, entertainer/radio-TV host remembered mainly for playing the ukulele, buzzing the control tower at Leesburg, Virginia, airport, and firing singer Julius La Rosa on the air)
- Cleveland (Amory, cat lover and writer)
- Roosevelt (Grier,
immovable objectdefensive lineman) - Wilson (Pickett, recently departed R&B and soul singer)
- Truman (Capote, American
poofwriter) - Ford (Madox Ford, English
aesthetewriter) - Carter (Stanley, Ralph's very late brother)
- Reagan (Dunn, member of the King County, Wash., council and son of former U.S. Representative Jennifer Dunn)
- Clinton (Eastwood,
still lifefilm actor -- bet you didn't think of him as a "Clinton")
By my reckoning that leaves
- Adams (not to be confused with Adam; John wasn't the first "man")
- Monroe (cooler than Madison)
- Van Buren (way cool)
- Polk (might be mistaken for an invitation)
- Fillmore (for fatties)
- Buchanan (pronounce it properly: "buck-an-un")
- Johnson (don't go there)
- McKinley (very preppie)
- Taft (ditto)
- Harding (double ditto)
- Coolidge (triple ditto)
- Eisenhower (no parent should do this)
- Kennedy (déclassé, an instant Tiffany or Brittany)
- Nixon (the American Adolf)
- Bush (absolutely don't go there)
Any takers?