Reagan, Lincoln make 2012 list of top baby names

Although the Great Communicator is no longer with us in body, a 2012 list of top baby names shows that former President Ronald Reagan is still with his fans in spirit.

According to BabyCenter’s annual list of the 100 most popular baby names, “Reagan” was the fifty-fourth most popular female baby name this year.

Linda Murray, global editor-in-chief of BabyCenter, said on the “Today” show Thursday that the name Reagan saw a 46 percent increase in popularity in 2012, a change she believes was influenced by this year’s political fervor.

Murray also said that the names Nixon (not ranked) and Lincoln (no. 99 on the list of top boys’ names) had gained in popularity, although she said she thought the sudden popularity of the name Nixon was probably not related to a change in the popularity of former President Richard Nixon (what “Watergate” didn’t make the 2012 list?!). Rather she said she suspected couples’ attraction to the name came from the popularity of the brand Nixon.

In a shout out to former Presidents JFK and Jimmy Carter, Murray noted that the names “Kennedy” and “Carter” were also hot in 2012. Carter came in at no. 25 on the list of top boys’ names and Kennedy was ranked 78 on the list of girls’ names. (Amazing how four years under President Barack Obama makes Americans year for the days of Carter.)

Speaking of President Obama, Murray claimed that the name “Barack” had actually decreased in popularity this year. However, so did the names Mitt, Joe and Paul, which is either an indication of Americans’ overall political fatigue or proof positive that the names Barack and Mitt and are just plain weird – a conclusion that most of us had already arrived at.

 

By /// November 30, 2012
Francesca Chambers About Francesca Chambers

Francesca is the Editor of Red Alert Politics - an online publication written by and for young conservatives. Red Alert Politics is a product of Clarity Media Group, the parent company of The Washington Examiner and The Weekly Standard. She is also a contributor to The Washington Examiner.

Francesca is a veteran of several political campaigns and political organizations. She has also worked in new media and communications at The Leadership Institute, at the Republican National Committee and on Capitol Hill. She has been featured as a speaker at Leadership Institute, Cato Institute, Americans for Prosperity's "Defending the American Dream Summit," the State Policy Network's annual conference and CPAC, in addition to appearing as a regular guest on the "Big Picture" with Thom Hartmann on Russia Today.

She has also appeared on ABC's "Nightline", PBS' 'NewsHour', PBS' "To the Contrary", MSNBC, CNN, on TheBlazeTV (aka Glenn Beck TV) and had radio segments on Take Action News with David Shuster, NPR and "The Michael Koolidge Show."

In 2012 she was named to the DC GOP's first ever "35 under 35" list.

Francesca graduated from the University of Kansas with BAs in Political Science and Journalism. At KU she was an editor of the University Daily Kansan and an active member of Student Senate.

Comments

  1. Rob Wickham says:
    December 2, 2012 at 1:29 pm

    2 things:

    (1) “Linda Murray, global editor-in-chief of BabyCenter, said on the “Today” show Thursday that the name Reagan saw a 46 percent increase in popularity in 2012, a change she believes was influenced by this year’s political fervor.”

    Why should we be subject to believe this? Is 46% a normal amount of variation for name popularity? How do we know that these changes are not just random noise…

    (2) Whilst making a snarky comment about Obama, I believe you meant to say “Americans yearn” not “Americans year”

    Reply
  2. Kenny Smith says:
    December 2, 2012 at 6:53 pm

    My son was born the day after election day… My father tried to convince me to name my son after the winner… Wasn’t going for it… But he may end up with the nickname Mitt, but that will be more for his baseball playing abilities than anything else…

    Reply

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