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Will 'Barack' Join Top Presidential Baby Names?

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By JEFF SCULLIN

jscullin@tampatrib.com

Published: January 12, 2009

TAMPA - Barack Obama won't be sworn in until next week as the 44th president of the United States, but the list of people naming babies after him is already growing.

Obama takes office as the country's first black chief executive, a dynamic figure who many consider worth emulating, but naming children after presidents is a long-established practice.

So far, "Obama" lags well behind his presidential predecessors - even those with unusual names.

Between 1880 and 2007, neither "Barack" nor "Obama" cracked the Top 1,000 names of newborn boys and girls, according to the Social Security Administration.

To put that into perspective, consider this:

•The name of the country's 13th president, Millard Fillmore (1850-53), hasn't made the Top 1,000 since 1971. But "Millard" was relatively popular between 1880, when record-keeping started, and the early 1970s, peaking at No. 186 in 1887.

•Ulysses S. Grant, the symbol of Union victory and the country's 18th president, topped out at No. 272 in 1895 - 10 years after his death and nearly 20 after he left office. Since then, it's been a steady decline for "Ulysses," also the title of James Joyce's 1922 novel and the Latin name for the Greek hero Odysseus. The name last appeared on Social Security's list in 2005, at No. 980.

•Herbert Hoover's first name peaked at No. 25 in 1928 and also in 1929. Even "Hoover" made the list between 1928, the year he was elected, and 1932, the year he lost to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Alas, while the stock market recovered from the 1929 crash, neither name has ever been as popular.

•Also on the list ahead of the incoming president are "Rutherford," "Grover," "Chester," "Woodrow" and "Garfield."

•Several presidents' last names - most notably, "Washington," "Jefferson," "Lincoln" and "Jackson" - have remained popular through the years as baby names. And while "Reagan" has been a popular girl's name for years, the 40th president inspired parents to start naming boys after him, starting in 1996.

The most popular presidential names are common. "John" narrowly bests "James" for the top spot, followed by "William," "Thomas" and "Richard."

As for the trend with "Barack" and "Obama," we'll have to wait until Mother's Day. That's when Social Security unveils the rankings from 2008.

To check out the rankings, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/ babynames.

Editor Jeff Scullin can be reached at (813) 259-7305.

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