When I was growing up, about 80 percent of the girls I knew shared one of these six names:
Susan
Linda
Barbara
Carol(e)
Judy
Nancy
I was one of the perhaps hundreds of thousands of women in my generation named Susan. In 1945, it ranked as the #10 girls’ name in the U.S. By 1957, it was even more popular, ranking #2.
Why did so many of us share the same names?
I trace their popularity to something that seemed to permeate the consciousness of our parents: The bright lights of Hollywood.
When we were born, many of our parents were still emerging from the shadows cast by World War II and the financial setbacks of the Great Depression. Our parents may have already become financially successful or they may have been continuing their attempt to achieve financial success. Either way, they hoped for a bright future for their darling daughters. Hollywood seemed like a glittering site where they could find names to bestow on them.
In my own case (and that of the throngs of other Susans), I blame Susan Hayward. By 1940, Susan Hayward had begun to earn a place for herself in Hollywood. She went on to star in a series of box-office hits during the 1940s and ‘50s. In most of her roles, she was a notable standout among the film actresses of her day—courageous, smart, and fiercely independent, frequently paired with some of Hollywood’s top male stars. Her flaming red hair and other appealing features helped bolster her status as a Hollywood star.
What about the other names? The reliance on Hollywood’s women stars is equally clear when we consider at least four of the other names.
Linda: Hollywood was fascinated with Linda Darnell, and she was featured in a wide range of films during the 1940s and ‘50s. The Mark of Zorro (1940) was her first opportunity to star with leading man Tyrone Power, with whom she was paired in a number of films. Coincidentally, Tyrone Power later married Linda Christian, another Hollywood star during the ‘40s and ‘50s.
Barbara: One of Hollywood’s megastars, Barbara Stanwyck, starred in 85 films, including many during the 1940s and ‘50s. She was admired for her roles as a strong leading woman in films like Double Indemnity (1944). Incidentally, Ruth Handler created the Barbie doll in 1959, probably influenced by the popularity of the name Barbara during the ‘40s and ‘50s.
Carol(e): Carole Lombard, a huge star in the 1930s, was originally named Carol but was once mistakenly credited as Carole, and she adopted that spelling because she decided she liked it. Her popularity zoomed until a plane crash in 1942 ended her life as well as her radiant career. Her husband, Hollywood leading man Clark Gable, remarried twice but reportedly never got over Carole’s death.
Judy: The name Judy was undoubtedly inspired by Hollywood legend Judy Garland. Need I say more?
Nancy: It’s harder to track any film stars named Nancy. Nancy Davis, who married Ronald Reagan, didn’t begin making movies until the late ‘40s and she never became a big star. Other Nancys in Hollywood films during the ‘40s and ‘50s were fairly unknown actresses who never achieved box-office success. Maybe they were among the countless women who rejected the Hollywood casting couch and fell into oblivion as a result. Parents may have chosen the name Nancy simply because they liked the good vibe the name Nancy offered, in part due to the popularity of the Nancy Drew books. As a teenage sleuth, Nancy Drew gave off a great vibe. A total of 175 books featuring her began publishing in 1930 and continued for decades.
Among my cohorts, many other girls’ names had their moment in the sun: Karen, Julie, Natalie, Ann/Anne, Janice, Marcia/Marsha, Elizabeth (in one form or another), and Katherine (ditto). But they couldn’t compete with the six favorites.
Boys’ names pretty much stuck to more traditional favorites. Most popular from the 1940s through the 1960s were James, Robert, John, William, and Richard, with Michael and David gaining strength in the ‘60s.
Both boys’ and girls’ names had changed radically by 2000. Boys were most often named Jacob, Joshua, and Matthew. Girls’ favored names were Emily, Hannah, and Madison.
Some parents began using names derived from pop culture, especially TV series (supplanting Hollywood films)–names like Phoebe in “Friends.”
As for Susan, it’s plunged in popularity since its heyday, when it ranked #2. By 2023, it had fallen to #1708.
Nobody seems to name a daughter Susan anymore.
But with the recent revival of venerable names like Amelia, Evelyn, Charlotte, and Olivia, who knows? Maybe Susan will live again!
susanjustwrites
Susan Just Writes 