If kids can be Brooklyn and River, why not this one?
Thanks to Urban Angel for suggesting Bridger as Baby Name of the Day.
Bridger is part-place name, part-occupational name. And, of course, Bridger is all surname. While he’s occasionally been promoted to the first spot, just like many a last name, it’s only recently that he’s started to surface as a fashionable option.
Once upon a time, Bridger – just like Bridge or Bridges – referred to a person who lived near a bridge or earned his living as a bridge keeper, often acting as a toll collector, in the days before EZPass.
Bridges were big business for most of history – actually, they still are. One of the oldest surviving ones dates back to the thirteenth century BC. Visit Argolis, Greece and you can still cross the Arkadiko, just like ancient chariots once did.
The word comes from the Old English brycge. Brücker is Bridger’s German cousin.
It’s not quite Windsor or Vanderbilt, but General Joseph Bridger arrived in Virginia back in 1654. Bridgers have been big news in Virginia every since.
I’m not sure if he claims descent from Joseph, but Virginia-born John Bridger, known as Jim, became the quite the legend as an explorer, tour guide and all-around mountain man from the 1820s into the 1850s.
Bridger left Virginia for Missouri as one of William Ashley’s Hundred, young men who set out to work as fur trappers. He went on to play a pivotal role in the history of the West, mediating disputes with Native Americans, establishing safer and shorter routes and founding a trading post of his own. Bridger was hearty – he walked the length of the Rockies – and sharp, learning several languages. By the time he died in 1881, he was known not only for his trailblazing, but for his telling of tall tales.
The West is dotted with places named in his honor:
- Wyoming is home to Fort Bridger. The Fort closed in the late nineteenth century, but a town remains;
- There’s Bridger, Montana;
- There are Bridger Mountains in Wyoming and Montana;
- There’s also a Bridger Pass, Bridger Wilderness and Bridger-Teton National Forest.
He pops up in television and movies, too. Jim Bridger was a character in a 1961 episode of NBC’s Western Wagon Train. More recently, Aldo Raine – Brad Pitt’s character – in 2009′s Inglorious Basterds – told his recruits “Now, I am the direct descendant of the mountain man Jim Bridger.” (He went on to explain that meant he was part “Injun” – and, in fact, Bridger married three times, each time to a Native American woman.)
Bridger has dipped in and out of the US Top 1000 since 1999, and ranked #867 in 2009. But head out West and Bridger has reached as high as the Top 100. Almost all of those baby Bridgers are born in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana – Jim Bridger’s old stomping grounds.
Should young actor Bridger Palmer ever strike it big, the name could explode.
With his Go West backstory, Bridger splits the difference between boy-tastic choices like Gunner and Blaze and preppier surname picks like Carter and Spencer. With the rise of Archer and Miller, odds are we’ll be meeting a few more baby Bridgers throughout the US.
I really don’t like this one. Then again, I dislike most -er names.
Thanks for making Bridger NOTD!
I suggested it as I was surprised at it’s ranking in the top 1000 and was curious about it. It’s not really a name that appeals to me ; it reminds me of geriatric old people playing bridge in a home. However, I guess I can see the appeal. So, not for me, but fine for someone else’s kid. I do like Ryder , though.. But, I like the -rye sound and anything with -rye in front of it I like
It is funny how it ranks, UrbanAngel – it’s actually a handful of states where Bridger is VERY popular throwing off the rest of the curve.
Hmmm, not my thing. It kind of brings to mind badgers. I guess that still is in keeping with the rustic ‘mountain man’ stuff. This one is not for me, though – pass.
LOL. And now I have the Dead Milkmen’s “I Want to Make Friends with the Badger” running through my head …
And, of course, there was a Mr Bridger in that classic English film The Italian Job.
I don’t remember that! I’m adding it to my Netflix queue – as soon as I catch up on Season 1 of Leverage, which I’m enjoying too much.
I’d not heard this one until last fall when a Bridger joined my daughter’s preschool class. I immediately came home and looked it up online – though I never did ask the parents what inspired their son’s name.
It’s not a name I’d use myself – the literal association to bridge keeping seems too unusual – but seeing it on a cute 4-5 year old did give me a favorable impression of the name.
My husband tells me I pronounce it wrong though. I say it like “Bridge-uh” or “Bridge-ah” rather than “Bridge-URR”. So even my daughter didn’t always understand me when I mentioned her classmate’s name.
So if I can channel the great Bewildertrix, that would mean we’d be meeting boys called Bridgah in Australia … hmmm …
*cringe*
I like it; it has a nice history and sound, plus it’s one of those occupation surnames that’s on the rise rather than overused.
I’m intrigued to hear that Miller is growing in use. That’s a family name for me that would be an interesting choice in the top or middle spot.
Argh. I’m tired of surnames as first names. My own family name- Cannon- has been ruined for me to use in the top spot b/c I feel like it’s too trendy now. I think surnames should be reserved for people who actually have the name in their family. I know, I know. I sound like a grinch!
There is something vaguely inauthentic about choosing just any surname, rather than one with personal meaning. And it can lead to sibsets that sound like law firms: Landon, Preston and Bennett LLC.
And yet, I’m always surprised to realize how very many popular names started out as surnames – we just don’t recognize them as such because the given name has become so common.
My dad is a retired transportation engineer who specialized in bridges and overpasses, so Bridger could be an interesting way to honor him. But, rather than use another family’s’ surname, I’d be more inclined to use Bridget (on a girl obviously.)
That’s a really nice point, Julie. I think Bridger/Bridget is one of those boy/girl equivalents Nameberry posted about a while back – unlike Charlotte/Charles, they’re not names that share the same origins. But they are similar in sound, and can be thought of as feminine and masculine versions of each other.
And Bridget? She’s quite fashionable now, I think – at least I’ve met a few, and I see her on message boards … I haven’t look at how she is trending.
I forgot about Bridget. My daughter met a girl at the museum and the girl said “My name is Bridget” and my daughter was like “Bridger?!?” because she’d never heard Bridget before, but she knew a Bridger. That would be a minus point for me – that it sounds so similar to a more well-known girl’s name.