# Dylan: now a popular baby name. Lennon: not so much. Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923 "2005-04-18T18:04:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/1 "2005-04-18T18:04:53Z")
Granted, Dylan was a first name before Mr. Zimmerman adopted it as a last name. But it’s become a wildly popular name for babies in the last couple of decades, at least in part because a lot of parents were Dylan fans. (Also because they watch **90210** , I guess.) Similarly iconic '60s figure John Lennon’s surname has not lived on in a new crop of babies named Lennon, however. (Nor has Hendrix, or Presley, or Joplin.) What’s so special about Dylan’s last name? What made that name take off while so many other iconic names were untapped for infants? ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/2 "2005-04-18T18:08:54Z")
[Lenin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin) ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/3 "2005-04-18T19:16:13Z")
How do you know that those parents were Bob Dylan fans? Dylan is a nice traditional Welsh name for boys (and for girls, lately) and I presume many people would know of it, like, it and choose it, even if Bob Dylan had chosen the field of ditchdigging instead of music. A lot of English and Welsh names have become increasingly popular; I see Dylan as one more of them. FWIW, when I hear Dylan I immediately think “Thomas.” ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/4 "2005-04-18T19:39:21Z")
I bet it has to do with a popular TV character named Dylan, or an actor named Dylan (McDermott?). Nobody just names their kid Dylan without being influenced by movies or television. Look at what happened with Madison as a name for girls; virtually unheard of before _Splash_, but since then, every grade school class has about three of them. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/5 "2005-04-18T20:28:57Z")
I’m with **CrankyAs AnOldman** 100% on this. When I read the OP I thought -well because Dylan\* is\* a first name and Lenon isn’t, then I thought kids being called Dylan now - their parents will be around the 25 - 30 mark ? Bob is unlikely to be the root cause. Celtic names have been popular for a while now and I’d like to add to the ‘influences’ list - Catherine Zeta Jones and Micheal Douglas’ little boy. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/6 "2005-04-18T20:32:06Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > I bet it has to do with a popular TV character named Dylan, or an actor named Dylan (McDermott?). Nobody just names their kid Dylan without being influenced by movies or television. Look at what happened with Madison as a name for girls; virtually unheard of before _Splash_, but since then, every grade school class has about three of them. Beverley Hills 90210, baby! Not that I watched it, but I am 34 and it was popular when I was younger. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/7 "2005-04-18T20:37:37Z")
> [@Interrobang!?](#): > > But it’s become a wildly popular name for babies in the last couple of decades, at least in part because a lot of parents were Dylan fans. That doesn’t make sense to me; wouldn’t they then name the child “Robert?” Following your formula, Robert Zimmerman would’ve used the stage name “Bob Thomas.” ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/8 "2005-04-18T21:07:10Z")
> [@FordPrefect](#): > > Beverley Hills 90210, baby! > > Not that I watched it, but I am 34 and it was popular when I was younger. There you go; when _90210_ started in 1990 (featuring Luke Perry as Dylan McKay), Dylan as a name for boys ranked at number 86, [according to the Social Security Administration](http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/index.html). By the time _90210_ went off the air in 2000, the popularity of the name Dylan had zoomed up to number 24. After that, it just took on a life of its own, rising to number 19 in 2003, the last year ratings have been compiled. Just shows how easily influenced by entertainment American parents are. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/9 "2005-04-18T21:27:45Z")
I too think of “Dylan Thomas” whenever I hear the name. It’s said that Bob Dylan chose the name “Dylan” as opposed to “Dillion” in honor of the poet. But there is still debate on that. Despite being a popular name in Wales now, it was quite rare when Dylan Thomas was born. His father got it from the [Mabinogion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabinogion). [Cite](http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/dylanthomas/biography/pages/early.shtml). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/10 "2005-04-18T22:30:54Z")
> [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](#): > > FWIW, when I hear Dylan I immediately think “Thomas.” \*He’s so unhip that when you say Dylan, he thinks you’re talking about Dylan Thomas Whoever he was. The man ain’t got no culture \* -Paul Simon, “A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara’d Into Submission)” ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/11 "2005-04-18T22:34:10Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > \*He’s so unhip that when you say Dylan, he thinks you’re talking about Dylan Thomas > Whoever he was. > The man ain’t got no culture \* > > -Paul Simon, “A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara’d Into Submission)” Curse you! I wanted to make that quote! 🙂 Also, I’ve never heard of someone with the first name “Lennon,” while, as said already, Dylan is a common enough first name already. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/12 "2005-04-19T14:44:28Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > There you go; when _90210_ started in 1990 (featuring Luke Perry as Dylan McKay), Dylan as a name for boys ranked at number 86, [according to the Social Security Administration](http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/index.html). By the time _90210_ went off the air in 2000, the popularity of the name Dylan had zoomed up to number 24. After that, it just took on a life of its own, rising to number 19 in 2003, the last year ratings have been compiled. Just shows how easily influenced by entertainment American parents are. Is that the sweet scent of facts I smell? Nice work. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/13 "2005-04-19T14:51:03Z")
> [@FordPrefect](#): > > Is that the sweet scent of facts I smell? Nice work. The facts are wonderful. The conclusion, that it “just shows how easily influenced by entertainment American parents are” isn’t so clear to me. I suspect it was a little more roundabout than that. Let’s say one family chooses the name because they love the show. A few other parents hear about the choice and say “hmmm, I like that name” and choose it. And then people hear that THEY chose it and like it. The cycle grows. I’m not sure I’d conclude that the parents 3 sets removed from the 90210 fan was “easily influenced by entertainment.” ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/14 "2005-04-19T14:54:42Z")
> [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](#): > > The facts are wonderful. The conclusion, that it “just shows how easily influenced by entertainment American parents are” isn’t so clear to me. > > I suspect it was a little more roundabout than that. Let’s say one family chooses the name because they love the show. A few other parents hear about the choice and say “hmmm, I like that name” and choose it. And then people hear that THEY chose it and like it. The cycle grows. I’m not sure I’d conclude that the parents 3 sets removed from the 90210 fan was “easily influenced by entertainment.” Crap, hit submit too soon. In short, I think the “life of its own” part of the post was pretty important. Famous people or characters in entertainment may get a name noticed and more in the public eye, but after some point it’s out there and parents may choose it without caring about its connection to a particular entertainer. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/15 "2005-04-19T16:34:08Z")
> [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](#): > > Crap, hit submit too soon. In short, I think the “life of its own” part of the post was pretty important. Famous people or characters in entertainment may get a name noticed and more in the public eye, but after some point it’s out there and parents may choose it without caring about its connection to a particular entertainer. That is just third generation influence. Had it not been for the original TV influence they may not have used that name. On the other hand, I know of a couple who named their child Dante. Not after the poet. But after the title of that Pierce Brosnan movie. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/16 "2005-04-19T16:44:09Z")
> [@FordPrefect](#): > > That is just third generation influence. All right, I’ll buy it. You’re right. i think I was just rankling at the image of slackjawed Americans paging through Entertainment Weekly magazine and saying "Hey, I never thought of that name before! AWESOME! Let’s name our baby that! " Which isn’t exactly what was said. It’s almost like I’m…cranky. Cranky as an old man, you might say. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/17 "2005-04-19T17:12:19Z")
> [@Cat Jones](#): > > I’m with **CrankyAs AnOldman** 100% on this. When I read the OP I thought -well because Dylan\* is\* a first name and Lenon isn’t, then I thought kids being called Dylan now - their parents will be around the 25 - 30 mark ? Bob is unlikely to be the root cause. Celtic names have been popular for a while now and I’d like to add to the ‘influences’ list - Catherine Zeta Jones and Micheal Douglas’ little boy. The parents of babies being called anything now will likely be around the 25-30 mark . . . maybe 35 . . . possibly 40. I, however, have a son named Dylan. And I’m 54. I cannot tell you how many people said, back in the '80s, “Oh, what a _neat_ name!” Most of them did in fact think he was named after the singer, but that’s simply because more people have heard of Bob Dylan than have heard of Dylan Thomas. I named all my sons after mystery writers, as a matter of fact. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/18 "2005-04-19T17:21:21Z")
> [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](#): > > …I suspect it was a little more roundabout than that… Roundabout? Exactly! > [@](#): > > The programme featured a rather off-the-wall cast. Its included Dougal, a shaggy dog who lived on a strict diet of sugar; an eccentric bouncing character called Zebedee, who would announce his arrival with a ‘boing’; a rabbit named **Dylan** , who could have been accused of growing something considerably stronger than carrots in his vegetable patch; Ermintrude the pink cow, Florence, Brian the snail and their friends in the Garden. Thus The Magic Roundabout staked its place in television history [http://www.rsc.co.uk/zebidee/history.htm](http://www.rsc.co.uk/zebidee/history.htm) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/19 "2005-04-19T17:28:46Z")
The thing is, you never know what’s going to happen to a name. Case in point, a friend of mine named her baby girl Allegra. I thought that was a beautiful name and in fact it was on my list of girl names, if I ever needed one, which I didn’t. So the first thing was, in grade school the kid was nicknamed “Yeggie.” Ugh. Now she’s in college and all emotional about the fact that she’s named after an _allergy drug_! Interestingly enough my friend’s older daughter is named Krystal. So now they’re both kinda named after drugs. (Personally, I thought “Allegra” was a big step up from “Krystal.”) Dylan went through a whole phase where he wished I had named him Keith. (Why Keith? I dunno.) Now my youngest son has a name which was uncommon when I gave it to him and has gotten popular recently, owing to a movie. I’ve even had recent acquaintances say, “Oh–like the kid in _The Incredibles!_” (RIght, I wanted until he was 9 years old and then named him after a movie character. Duh.) He is none too happy about this and would like to change his name. He has not proposed an alternative, though. (Hey, how about “Keith”?) What can I say, I did the best I could. (Recites parent’s mantra: Where have I failed God knows I tried.) ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923/20 "2005-04-19T18:06:08Z")
Y’all should check out [this _Slate_ article](http://slate.msn.com/id/2116505) on the provenance of baby names. Makes an interesting case for baby names originating among the wealthy and trickling down to the middle class. I guess rich folks watched as much 90210 as anyone else. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-now-a-popular-baby-name-lennon-not-so-much-why/299923.md?page=2)