# Names that became popular or unpopular due to pop culture. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2004, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-popular-or-unpopular-due-to-pop-culture/256153 "2004-07-21T06:09:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-popular-or-unpopular-due-to-pop-culture/256153/81 "2004-07-22T19:10:24Z")
> [@Bad News Baboon](#): > > You must not have been around children lately, or girls at least. The trend as of late is ‘old fashioned’ names. The girls in my daughter’s music class include: > Ruth > Anne > Olivia (2 of them. It’s a hot name now) > Emily > Sarah > > Other names I have seen a lot as of late: > Sophia > Emma > Hannah > Abigail But fortunately no instances of… Prudence Faith Constance Hope Patience My sister nealy got saddled with Patience. Lucky for her, I would have made her life unbearable. I, on the other hand, _did_ get saddled with my grandfather’s name, Humphrey. Fortunately, it’s just a middle name. Did the number of Kirk’s go up after the first Star Trek series? woo hoo! 1000th post! ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-popular-or-unpopular-due-to-pop-culture/256153/82 "2004-07-22T20:47:26Z")
If I ever have a kid, he/she’ll really hate me 'cause I’d want to name him/her after the cool-sounding Marvel comic book charactors I remember from the 1960’s like… Kang Modok Klaw Batroc and of course… Fing-Fang-Foom 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-popular-or-unpopular-due-to-pop-culture/256153/83 "2004-07-23T00:19:48Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > The name Wendy was popularized by Peter Pan. > > The trend in names today seems to be anything slightly unusual; “Cadence”, “Gavin”, “Xavier”, “Larissa”. Seriously, it’s been 5 or 6 years at least since I’ve seen a preschool-aged kid with a “common” name. > > The funny thing is, these kids will grow up in classrooms full of Cadences, Gavins, Xaviers, and Larissas; just like I grew up in classrooms full of Michaels, Justins, Melissas, and Jennifers. > > Trying to be different by following a trend is self-defeating. They might as well all be naming their kids Bob. BOB, here. …and I resemble that remark! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-popular-or-unpopular-due-to-pop-culture/256153/84 "2004-07-23T02:20:19Z")
> [@vl\_mungo](#): > > But fortunately no instances of… > Prudence > Faith > Constance > Hope > Patience[/SIZE] A long tradition of naming girls after virtues - I knew a Modesty once - gems, flowers, months - remember Daisy Duck’s “nieces?” There aren’t enouch guys names Corky. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-popular-or-unpopular-due-to-pop-culture/256153/85 "2004-07-23T19:58:29Z")
I’ve read that Sir Walter Scott invented the name “Dale”. I’ve always wondered if the name “Quentin” was more popular in the late '60’s because of “Dark Shadows”. How old is Quentin Tarintino? ---
**Author:** ![Chimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@Chimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimpy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-popular-or-unpopular-due-to-pop-culture/256153/86 "2004-07-23T20:06:20Z")
I think Adolf took a bit of a nose dive after the '40s ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-popular-or-unpopular-due-to-pop-culture/256153/87 "2004-07-23T22:09:50Z")
> [@Beltane](#): > > Which is kind of odd, since Paris was named after a man. Was not. It was named after the Celtic tribe that founded it, the [Parisii](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parisii). As for Star Trek names, when I was reading the AOL moms’ boards seven years ago, at least one mom was considering naming a daughter Jadzia. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-popular-or-unpopular-due-to-pop-culture/256153/88 "2004-07-23T23:31:04Z")
> [@](#): > > I know a 20 year old Kyle because his mum was attending a screening of the original Terminator movie whilst heavily pregnant and still unsure of a name for the impending arrival (apparently when inspiration struck, she stood up during a rather dramatic scene, pointed at the screen and exclaimed, ‘That would be the best name for the kid! Yes!’) That’s about how my 14-year-old nephew got named Reece (except that it wasn’t in the theater). > [@Bren\_Cameron](#): > > As for Star Trek names, when I was reading the AOL moms’ boards seven years ago, at least one mom was considering naming a daughter Jadzia. That irks me, since Jadzia is a real name, of Polish origin, meaning “princess” and I would’ve loved to use that name for a girl at one point in time. But now it’s a Trekkie name. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-popular-or-unpopular-due-to-pop-culture/256153/89 "2004-07-24T00:14:34Z")
I’m waiting for one of the many doper couples to have a kid named Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-popular-or-unpopular-due-to-pop-culture/256153/90 "2004-07-24T00:20:43Z")
The first X-Men movie opened in 2000; I predicted then a swelling in popularity for the name Logan, which is of course Wolverine’s real name. Sure enough, Logan was the 40th most popular boy’s name in 2000; by 2001 it was #31, and in 2002 #30. In 2003 it rose to #29, continuing its rise. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-popular-or-unpopular-due-to-pop-culture/256153/91 "2004-07-24T01:44:39Z")
Quentin Tarantino was born in 1963, three years before _Dark Shadows_ went on the air; so he could not have been named after the dashing [Quentin Collins](http://www.angelfire.com/ak3/psychesfire/Quentin.html). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-popular-or-unpopular-due-to-pop-culture/256153/92 "2004-07-24T03:14:27Z")
Just saw this in the July 5 issue of Sport Illustrated. There were 43 babies named Wayne boen in Britain in 2003. That number is expected to increase by 500% now that Wayne Rooney scored 4 goals in the Euro 2004 soccer championship. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-popular-or-unpopular-due-to-pop-culture/256153/93 "2004-07-24T03:30:17Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Quentin Tarantino was born in 1963, three years before _Dark Shadows_ went on the air; so he could not have been named after the dashing [Quentin Collins](http://www.angelfire.com/ak3/psychesfire/Quentin.html). I don’t know if Tarantino was telling the truth, but I seem to recall hearing him say his Mom named him after Quint, the blacksmith played by Burt Reynolds on “Gunsmoke.” ---
**Author:** ![teleute12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@teleute12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teleute12)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-popular-or-unpopular-due-to-pop-culture/256153/94 "2004-07-24T04:56:13Z")
My name, Eliza, enjoyed a mild jump in popularity in 2000, the year after the third season of ‘Buffy’, in which the charichter of Faith, played by Eliza Dushku, was introduced. It’s not much, but hey, it’s something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-that-became-popular-or-unpopular-due-to-pop-culture/256153.md?page=4)