Thursday, August 1, 2013

F Names: Then and Now


In 1880, there were 5 boy names that started with F in the Top 100:

Floyd
Francis
Frank
Fred
Frederick

In 1932, Franklin was added to the mix (probably due to President Roosevelt). In 1958, Frank was the only F boy name left in the top, and it finally fell after 1988. There hasn't been an F boy name in the Top 100 since.

In 1880, there were 4 girl names that started with F in the Top 100:

Fannie
Flora
Florence
Frances

By 1915, only Florence and Frances remained, and in 1943 only Frances remained. However, Frances fell out after 1955 and there were no F girl names in the Top 100 for over 30 years, until Felicia briefly broke in for the years of 1986 and 1987, and then not again until Faith entered in 1999.

As of 2012, Faith is the only F name in in the Top 100. Is F an unattractive sound for parents nowadays? I don't really see any reason as to why F names are not more popular other than the style of name. The names that were in the top in 1880 stayed in the top for quite a while, but all of them are considered pretty old and dated. There are several other F names that make it into the current Top 500: Fiona, Francisco, Fernando, Finn, Fabian, Fatima, Felix, Frank, Finley (g), Fernanda, Francesca, and Finnegan. So F names are not completely down and out, they are just rare.

What is your favorite F name? Would you like to see any of these "old" F names return to the top?

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8 comments:

  1. Love Fiona and Frederick. Would have use them for our children if my DH had liked them.

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  2. I love Frances and Francis and Frederick. I also love Faustina/Faustine.

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  3. Love Faline, Fiordelisa, and Frances for girls. For boys... Ferdinand and Feivel.

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  4. I love Fiona, Francesca, Farrah & Faye for girls
    For boys only Farrell comes to mind.

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  5. Fion (female) and Fionn (male)! Love these.

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  6. My nine month old is Fiona Margaret. We considered Finnegan, but not seriously.

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  7. I love the name Flavia. I was going to bargain hard for the name Franklin if my girls had been boys.

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