X-Babies

[transemacabre]

Here's something amusing. I had a hunch about the popularity of the name 'Logan' after the X-men movies were widely released and the character of Wolverine was introduced to a broader audience. I checked the SSA database, and here's what I found.

The X-Men movie was released in 2000. The name 'Logan' ranked at 42 the year before, in 1999. In 2001, Logan ranked 29. Quite a respectable jump. And the name's popularity has continued to climb all the way to 19 in 2006. I can't prove that the movies had anything to do with Logan's popularity, but I strongly suspect they did. Logan has NEVER been that popular, usually hovering well below the hundred most popular names, and only beginning to climb in 1988, when it went from 144 to 109.

Jean, on the other hand, has actually declined in popularity since 2000. Even the delicious Famke Janssen couldn't inspire parents to revive Jean. It's peak seems to have been hovering in the 300s during the years of the two World Wars. It's too soon to tell if X3 gave Warren any new life (the SSA only lists data from 2006 and before, and any little Warrens named after Angel would've been born after the movie's premiere in summer 2006). It's another extremely old-fashioned name, peaking at 39 in 1920. Marie, Rogue's name from the movies, is mostly used as a middle name, and hasn't had much staying power on it's own since it cracked the top ten way back in the 1890s.

Comments

[mizzmarvel.livejournal.com]

The increasing popularity of Logan pretty much follows the current trend of lots of semi-gender neutral surname names, which started in the '80s. (Extra points because it can be spelled many ways.) My own young cousin is named Logan, and it has nothing to do with the movie and everything to with the fact that it's a WASPy name. (Coincidentally, another cousin, not a sibling of Logan, is named Parker. Same situation.)

Um. /name geekery

[lustpuppet.livejournal.com]

HA! My little nephew, born on the last day of 2006, is named Logan. It's got nothing to do with the X-Men movie; however, he was 100% named after Wolverine. I couldn't believe it. My sister hadn't decided on a name, but her man sprung it on her while she was doped up on the C-section drugs.

[transemacabre.livejournal.com]

Hee! Poor sister. At least the kid didn't end up named 'Wolverine' or anything. Logan is all right.

Of course, the movies wouldn't be the only cause of Logan's jump in popularity. Wolverine's been in the comics for decades, the animated series, etc. which would've been putting the name on people's radar for a few years now.

[tartanshell.livejournal.com]

LMAO! I'm not the only one who wondered about that! *g*

Know what else is funny? Look at when Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (starring Hayden Christiansen) came out, and then look at the rise of popularity in the names Hayden, Ja(y)den, Caden/Kaiden, etc. It's pretty sad awesome.

Also? After Ross and Rachel had their baby on Friends and named her Emma, the name Emma skyrocketed on the list of popular baby names.

A fun resource is www.babynames.com --they have lists of the most popular baby names by year.

I also love that, on that site's list of suggested Lord of the Rings names, they include BUTTERBUR and WORMTONGUE. Seriously.