Baby Name Story: Imagination Meets Style

The baby name Story is a unisex word name with promise.

Thanks to Maria for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF WORD NAMES

We’ve been borrowing words for names for ages. In the 1880s, parents named their children Lawyer and Lemon, Prudence and Dallas. Titles like Commodore and Colonel were heard, too.

The baby name Story doesn’t come along until relatively recently. It debuted in the US data in 1971.

But it doesn’t fell all that novel, for a few reasons:

• This is the Golden Age of Word Names. River and Maverick, Willow and Journey are all established, mainstream choices. Nearly any word name has potential name.
• Story sounds like established names. By the 1970s, we were using Cory and Tori, the latter often short for Victoria, making Story blend right in.
• The meaning fits with modern virtue names. Like Chance, Dream, or Legend, Story implies adventure and interest. It’s not a virtue name, not like Mercy or Grace. But it’s meaningful.

NARRATIVE

As word names go, Story is straightforward.

It comes from the Latin historia – a history or account. It became storia, then eventually storie in Anglo-Norman French. (L’histoire is the equivalent in modern French.)

For centuries, history and story were used interchangeably. Around the sixteenth century, that started to shift. Stories were plots, invented and dramatic, or maybe humorous.

The word continues to evolve, and refers to both factual accounts – think of a news story – as well as fiction. And, of course, “a likely story” is presumed to be untrue.

Like some of the best word names, Story is ambitious and still – somehow – a blank slate.

LAST NAME FIRST

Of course, Story – and Storey – occur as surnames, too.

It might come from the Old Norse word storr, meaning big.

Another possibility: it’s a form of Storer, a last name with multiple meanings and origins. It might refer to a type of cloth, or to someone who managed the storehouse for a large estate. It’s also similar to a German name referring to a craftsman.

But in this case, the last name doesn’t seem to be the main source of the given name.

HIGH-PROFILE BAs

In 2001, R&B singer Ginuwine and his partner Solé named their daughter Story. A few years later, in 2007, actress Jenna Elfman gave the name to a son.

That second celebrity birth announcement boosted the baby name Story just a little bit.

Minnie Driver welcomed Henry Story in 2008. Eric Christian Olsen named his daughter Winter Story in 2020.

BY the NUMBERS

The US Social Security Administration reports any name given to a minimum of five girls or five boys in a year. The baby name Story debuted in the data in 1971, when five girls were named Story.

It continued to be used in tiny numbers for girls, usually single digits.

In 1996, Story debuted on the boys’ list, with five births.

After Jenna Elfman’s birth announcement for son Story in 2007, the name rose – though mostly for girls.

• 60 girls were named Story in 2007.
• By 2012, 102 girls received the name.
• But the trend didn’t hold. Instead, Story has risen and fallen without quite catching on. As of 2023, 91 girls and 17 boys received the name.

As for other spellings? 31 girls were named Storie in 2023, along with 22 newborns named Storii. Storee appears in the data some years, but not in 2023.

But the big story is Stori, given to 120 girls and 5 boys in 2023, making it the most popular spelling of the name right now.

IMAGINATION meets STYLE

Despite never quite catching on, the baby name Story remains an imaginative, stylish choice. It’s an optimistic name, one that suggests creativity and adventure.

At the same time, Story isn’t too much to live up to – it’s not like Bravery or Beauty.

There are as many stories as there are lives, and that makes this name even more compelling somehow.

What do you think of the baby name Story?

First published on October 12, 2008, this post was revised on July 17, 2024.