The Names of the First Ladies

First Ladies gathered in 1994 via Wikipedia

The United States inaugurates a President on Monday. One of my favorite things about the Inauguration is seeing the President's spouse holding the Bible for him as he declares his oath. The First Lady is a kind of royalty in the US, with her wardrobe, parenting, and policies under the microscope. So, to honor this special occasion, and since I've already written a post about Presidential names, here are the lovely First Ladies (and their birth year):

• Martha Dandridge Custis Washington 1731
• Abigail Smith Adams 1744
• Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson 1748 (died before Thomas Jefferson entered the White House; his daughter Martha Washington Jefferson Randolph acted as hostess)
• Dolley Payne Todd Madison 1768
• Elizabeth Kortright Monroe 1768
• Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams 1775
• Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson 1767 (died before Andrew Jackson was inaugurated; his neice Emily Donelson and then his daughter-in-law Sarah York Jackson acted as hostesses)
• Hannah Hoes Van Buren 1783 (died before Martin Van Buren took office; his daughter-in-law Angelica Singleton Van Buren acted as hostess)
• Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison 1775
• Letitia Christian Tyler 1790 (died while John Tyler was in office; his daughter-in-law Priscilla Cooper Tyler took over as hostess)
• Julia Gardiner Tyler 1820 (married John Tyler during his Presidency)
• Sarah Childress Polk 1803
• Margaret "Peggy" Mackall Smith Taylor 1788
• Abigail Powers Fillmore 1798
• Jane Means Appleton Pierce 1806
• Harriet "Hal" Rebecca Lane Johnston 1830 (was hostess for her uncle, the only President never to have married James Buchanan)
• Mary Ann Todd Lincoln 1818
• Eliza McCardle Johnson 1810
• Julia Boggs Dent Grant 1826
• Lucy Ware Webb Hayes 1831
• Lucretia "Crete" Rudolph Garfield 1832
• Ellen "Nell" Lewis Herndon Arthur 1837 (died before Chester Arthur took office; his sister Mary Arthur McElroy acted as hostess)
• Frances Clara Folsom Cleveland Preston 1864 (married Grover Cleveland while he was President; his sister Mary Elizabeth Cleveland acted as hostess prior to the marriage)
• Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison 1832 (died while Benjamin Harrison was President; his daughter Mary "Mamie" Scott Harrison McKee took over as hostess)
• Ida Saxton McKinley 1847 
• Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt 1861
• Helen "Nellie" Louise Herron Taft 1861
• Ellen Louise Axson Wilson 1860 (died while Woodrow Wilson was President; his daughter Margaret Woodrow Wilson took over as hostess)
• Edith White Bolling Galt Wilson 1872 (married Woodrow Wilson while he was President)
• Florence "Flossie" Mabel Kling DeWolfe Harding 1860
• Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge 1879
• Lou Henry Hoover 1874
• Anna Eleanor Roosevelt 1884
• Elizabeth "Bess" Virginia Wallace Truman 1885
• Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower 1896
• Jacqueline "Jackie" Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis 1929
• Claudia "Lady Bird" Alta Taylor Johnson 1912
• Thelma "Pat" Catherine Ryan Nixon 1912
• Elizabeth "Betty" Ann Bloomer Warren Ford 1918
• Eleanor Rosalynn Smith Carter 1927
• Nancy Davis Reagan (born Anne "Nancy" Frances Robbins) 1921
• Barbara Pierce Bush 1925
• Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton 1947
• Laura Lane Welch Bush 1946
• Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama 1964

Just a few observations from this research...

• If you consider the given names only, the most popular First Lady name is Elizabeth/Eliza (4). 
• Contrary to what some may think, Pat Nixon's given name was not Patricia. It was Thelma; she was nicknamed "Pat" by her father who was going off of the fact she was born around St. Patrick's Day. 
• There is speculation about how Dolley Madison spelled her name - historians have settled on Dolley, but Dolly is what newspapers used and Dollie may have been the spelling at birth. Her name was not Dorothy or Dorothea. 
• Frances Cleveland was originally named Frank after an uncle, but it was soon changed to the feminine variant. 
• Edith Kermit Roosevelt had a brother die in infancy a year before she was born - his name was Kermit. 
• Lady Bird Johnson was named after her uncle Claud, but her nurse commented that she was a pretty "as a ladybird" and the name stuck. She was called Lady by her family, and her husband called her Bird. Bird is the name listed on her marriage license.

Any observations I missed? What are your favorite First Lady names?

Thanks to www.whitehouse.gov and Wikipedia for the info.