• Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Request a Name

Appellation Mountain

Where every name has a story

  • Baby Name Advice & More
  • Master List: Girl Names
  • Master List: Boy Names
  • Private Baby Name Consulting

Nash: Baby Name of the Day

January 28, 2016 By appellationmountain 4 Comments

Nash: Baby Name of the DayNash is a surname name that’s become a modern favorite.

Thanks to Chelsey for bringing up this name in her #namehelp post.

Nash: Ash Tree

This is a nature name in disguise. In Middle English, the phrase atten ash meant “at the ash tree,” and so it became a place name and eventually a surname, too.

Nash: Francis

Back in the 1700s, Francis Nash was a army general during the American Revolution. He died after being wounded during the Battle of Germantown. Plenty of places are name in his honor – more on that later.

Nash: Motors

Nash Motors

Kenosha, Wisconsin was home to an automobile manufacturer by the name. Their first vehicles were produced in 1916, and it stayed in operations for more than five decades.

They’re mostly forgotten now, but they were innovators in their day. Among other things, they introduced the first seatbelts.

Nash: Others

Others have answered to the name over the years, including:

  • Early twentieth century Tennessee outdoorsman, conservationist, and writer Theophilus Nash Buckingham. He preferred to be known by his middle name.
  • Poet Ogden Nash.
  • American Hall of Fame jockey, Nash Turner.
  • If you’ve seen A Beautiful Mind, you might know the story of John Nash, a brilliant mathematician who grappled with mental illness. Russell Crowe was nominated for an Oscar for the role.
  • Musician Graham Nash, the N in CSN&Y, along with David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young.

Nash: Bridges

Don Johnson rocketed to stardom playing a television detective on Miami Vice in the 1980s. In 1996, he returned to the small screen as an inspector with the San Francisco Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit. This time, Johnson was Nash Bridges, a role he’d play for six seasons.

There’s no question that the show was the catalyst for the name’s success. Since then, other fictional characters have answered to the name, including a character on One Life to Live.

Nash: Ville

Nash: Baby Name of the DayRemember that town named for Francis? It’s still going strong, and since it’s the capital of country music, it lends this name a certain Southern twang.

The name has a fierce quality, too. Add a silent ‘g’ and you have gnash – as in the angry grinding of teeth. The city’s ice hockey team is known as the Predators. Their mascot is a saber-tooth tiger called – what else? – Gnash. The mascot has been around since the team’s 1998 founding, which is also the height of the television series’ success.

Nash: Numbers

The name saw steady, sparing use through the twentieth century, until Don Johnson’s return to the small screen boosted it from obscurity.

There were 55 boys named Nash in 1995. Then the show debuted. In 1996, there were double the number of births – 110. By 1998, there were 204.

The name plateaued, but rose again slightly in 2005. Could that be thanks to the NBA’s Steve Nash? He was an eight-time NBA All-Star and twice the league’s MVP. In 2005, he led the Phoenix Suns to the Western Conference Finals. It could be just enough to encourage parents to embrace the name.

Of course, it also sounds like Cash, a fast-rising name in the same era. And we’re in love with short names for boys at the moment. In 2014, there were nearly 900 newborns with the name, enough to put Nash at #364 in the US.

What do you think of Nash? Would you consider it for a son?

 

More names you might like:

  • Name Help: Is Locke too Ness?Name Help: Is Locke too Ness?
  • Baby Name of the Day: GreilBaby Name of the Day: Greil
  • Starbaby News: Welcome Nash LemuelStarbaby News: Welcome Nash Lemuel
  • Henley: Baby Name of the DayHenley: Baby Name of the Day
  • Baby Name of the Day: ThorstenBaby Name of the Day: Thorsten

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Print

Comments

  1. Rebecca says

    February 26, 2016 at 3:09 PM

    My son is named Nashville Tucker. He’s 11 years old now and his name suits him perfectly. We were in Nashville when we found out we were expecting our surprise fifth and final baby. We decided on the first name Nashville ~ nickname Nash ~ before we even left town! Tucker was to honor my husband’s maternal grandparents.

    Reply
  2. The Mrs. says

    January 28, 2016 at 8:17 PM

    As a Yankee, I’d never considered where Nashville got its name. Wow, I love this name so much more.

    Abby, your write-ups are the best! 🙂

    Reply
  3. April says

    January 28, 2016 at 1:52 PM

    It’s definitely a niche crowd but there is also Kevin Nash who has been a huge name in professional wrestling since the 1980’s.

    Reply
  4. Christina Fonseca says

    January 28, 2016 at 3:14 AM

    I love Nash as a direct result of Don Johnson as Nash Bridges! Have never met one in real life.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter


POPULAR POSTS

Tweets by @appmtn
Visit Appellation Mountain's profile on Pinterest.

Copyright © 2022 · AppellationMountain.net on Genesis Framework · Privacy Policy · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.