Most of our Names of the Day range from the underused to the obscure. Today’s choice is the polar opposite – a pleasing chart-topper.
Thanks to Another for suggesting her son’s name for consideration: Ethan.
Ethan means enduring and indeed, he’s been around since the Old Testament. Ethan the Ezrahite penned Psalm 89. And in the US, we all think of American revolutionary Ethan Allen.
But between the Bible and the Boston Tea Party, Ethan was little used. Chances are that he was discovered along with other Old Testament monikers after the Protestant Reformation, but he never took off.
Instead, it was that colonial era Ethan who brought the name into broader use. Allen was an intrepid baby namer – his eight children included a Permelia and a Hannibal – as well as a leader of Vermont’s Green Mountain Boys.
Allen was born in the 1730s; nearly a century later, an unrelated Ethan Allen was a Massachusetts gun maker. Fastforward another hundred years, and a third, also unrelated, Ethan Allen played Major League Baseball.
Despite famous bearers from the 1700s to the early 1900s, Ethan appeared sporadically in the US Top 1000 during the 19th century, and disappeared entirely from 1902 through 1951.
In 1952, Ethan re-entered the rankings at #994, and eventually started climbing. He broke into the Top 300 in 1977 and leapt into the Top 100 in 1989. In 1997, he broke into the Top 50. As of 2007, he stands at #3.
A pair of famous pop culture Ethans helped the name catapult to greater use:
- Actor Ethan Hawke had his big breakthrough role as Todd in 1989′s Dead Poets Society;
- Tom Cruise played Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible film trilogy beginning in 1996.
But the name isn’t just silver screen ready. It’s also literary, thanks to Edith Wharton’s 1911 novel Ethan Frome. His tale is tragic, so we wouldn’t expect it to inspire lots of little Ethans in the 1910s and 20s, but with distance, it adds an air of refinement to the name.
Ships, trains, a submarine and a fort have all been named after Ethan Allen. Should you find yourself in New York City, head over to Penn Station and hop on the Ethan Allen Express to Vermont.
The only real drawback to Ethan is his towering popularity. Still, it’s worth noting that even the most common given names are shared by fewer individuals than ever before. Fifty years ago, the third most popular name for boys born in the US – David – was shared by 3.76% of all newborns. In 2007, less than 1% of all baby boys were called Ethan. The lack of variant spellings also makes Ethan feel slightly less common than a #3 ranking would imply.
Ethan fits right in with the passion for Biblical names that we associate with Colonial America. He’s likely to be brother to Hannah or Abigail, Luke or Nathaniel. They’re all names that we think of as classic and can’t miss. Their only drawback is that lots of parents have landed on these as favorites, and they’re not as sharp a departure as those of us who grew up with Jason, Michael, Jennifer and Heather might expect.
Ethan’s okay with me. I mean, I don’t like him enough top use him myself but Ethan beats Matthew in my book. Similar sounds, different feel. Crisper, sharper & more suave vs. Tired, sort of bland and desperately in need of rest.
Ethan’s one I don’t mind hearing en masse like I do. I’m not sure why. I find him a bit lispy but it makes him light and airy, which is fairly unusual in a boy name. Makes him interesting. He’s definitely far too popular for my liking (hence why I’ll never use him myself) there are three on my block alone. One is approximately 13, another about 8 the third is just learning to walk two doors down. He fits into my neighborhood nicely but doesn’t stand out really among the Connor/Conor, Caleb, Raphael, Ava, Alana, Laura, Aiden, Egan & Emily already around. Effortlessly fits in. I prefer my kids to stand out a little. Whether for looks, height or names (preferably all three) Makes them more memorable. (I sat here for almost five minurtes going up & down the block in my head trying to remember everyone’s names – and I know I still missed a handful!)
Ethan’s cool and it’s easy to see why.
My son’s name is Ethan. He was born in 1995 when the name was not very common but not unheard of either. When he was younger (before Ethan became popular) people often misheard his name as Ian, Nathan or Steven. Some people related the name more to Ethan Allen furniture than the historical Ethan Allen. Though now there are Ethans everywhere I don’t regret the choice. He likes his name.
I don’t know; I keep hearing how popular the name is, but in the three states we have lived in since our Ethan was born (he turned two today) my husband and I have yet to meet another Ethan! I knew several my age, but haven’t met any younger than I am and have yet to meet any playmates for my Ethan. We love it (obviously). When I started thinking about it as a contender for my son, it sounded preppy, clean, not trendy. We didn’t check the popularity stats – but all of my other pregnant friends were having boys that year and no one else chose Ethan, so we were happy to snag it. Anyway, that’s my boy, Ethan James – solid, reliable, preppy, classic, (not a trend!).
My son is also Ethan James. There is 1 other Ethan in his school (but it’s a small school).
Ethan isn’t really my thing as I’m not fond of the ‘th’ noise but thats just a personal thing. I’m not so used to hearing Ethan as you guys because he isn’t quite as popular over here. Although I have just checked and was slightly surprised to see that he is currently ranked 15th and has been in the top 20 for the last 5 years (I can’t check any further unfortunately).
I was interested to hear what Verity was saying about the passion for Biblical names that Americans associate with Colonial America – and that in the States, Ethan would be a likely sibling to a Hannah or Abigail, Luke or Nathaniel. Speaking generally, the UK is neither as religious nor have we experienced the trend for old Testament Biblical names on any great level. As a result, Ethan feels much more like a modern naming choice here and I think this would be reflected in his likely siblings names. A UK Ethan would be more likely to be the sibling of an Aiden, Dylan or Jack (everyone has a Jack!), Mia, Chloe or Keira than the aforementioned American options.
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