The popularity of cartoon characters’ names

Last updated on January 20th, 2024

Due to their non-aging nature, cartoon characters are often stuck with many of the elements from when they were created. This includes their names; while some names remain timeless in popularity, others are a strong sign of when the characters were created. For example, you probably don’t meet many people (at least below a certain age) going by “Velma” or “Lois” these days.

Below is a look at various popular comic and animated characters and the popularity of their names. Information is based on the US Social Security Administration’s popularity rankings of the top 1000 baby names each year (from 1900 to 2022, the most recent year available). Since some names are actually nicknames, I’ll also throw in the formal names when applicable. And of course, I’ll skip obviously only-in-a-cartoon names (“Goofy,” “Shaggy,” etc.). I note the rankings are based on gender; the Social Security Administration assigns all names to separate male/female lists. (“Gender-neutral” names like “Leslie” appear in both lists.)

Disney classic shorts (aka “Mickey & Friends”)

Mickey stayed more popular as a name a lot longer than I expected, only falling out of the top 1000 names after 1997. In 1928 (the year Mickey and Minnie debuted), “Mickey” ranked #650 and “Minnie” ranked #118. Minnie fell out of the top 1000 after 1971, while Minerva did so after 1973.

Donald has stayed popular for decades, peaking during the Depression. Its peak year, 1934, also happens to be the year Donald Duck debuted. “Donald” has stayed in the top 1000 up to this day, though it looks like it dropped in rankings during the Trump administration (from #489 in 2016 to #676 as of 2022).

To my surprise, “Daisy” is still a fairly popular name. It peaked in the early 20th century, but made a comeback in the 1990s (it ranked #125 in 2022).

Scooby-Doo

“Frederick” is still in the top 1000, so “Fred” is probably still a popular nickname. “Fred” as a given name (versus nickname) hasn’t been in the top 1000 since the early aughts, however. (“Fredrick,” with one “e,” hasn’t been in the top 1000 since 2009.)

“Daphne” peaked in popularity in the early 60s, but has seen a recent rise in popularity, making Ms. Blake the most popular Mystery Inc. member name-wise. “Velma” peaked in popularity in the 1910s, and hasn’t been in the top 1000 since the early 70s.

If wondering, “Norville” (Shaggy’s real name) has never been in the top 1000 names. The joke being Shaggy’s real name is uncommon/old-fashioned, contrasting with Shaggy’s hippie-like personality.

The Simpsons

Matt Groening named the Simpsons family members (except for Bart) after his own family, which might explain why most of them have such old-fashioned names by modern standards.

I note Lisa’s full name is “Lisa Marie Simpson”; it’s not short for “Elizabeth.”

“Bart” hasn’t been in the top 1000 since 1987, ironically the year “The Simpsons” debuted (as shorts on “The Tracey Ullman Show”).

The most popular Simpson name-wise is its youngest one: Maggie. Both her nickname and full name (“Margaret”) are popular to this day.

DC Comics

Despite sounding old-fashioned, “Clark” is still a popular name, along with “Bruce” and “Diana.” However, the most popular classic Justice League member (and maybe overall DC Comics character) name-wise is… Green Arrow (Oliver “Ollie” Queen). Since the mid-2010s, “Oliver” has jumped into the top 10 names, and as of 2022 is the third most-popular boy’s name.

Not so popular are Barry and Hal’s names. Barry’s full name is “Bartholomew,” so see “The Simpsons” entry above. As for Hal, it’s short for “Harold,” which barely makes the top 1000.

On the Teen Titans side, the most popular Titan name-wise these days is Cyborg, whose real name is “Victor.”

Famously, while Mr. Grayson is still called “Dick,” that hasn’t been a popular given name since the late 1960s; it also likely fell off as a popular nickname not long after that.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy’s real name (“Garfield”) hasn’t been remotely popular in decades. It’s also now the name of a more famous-than-Beast Boy comic character (a certain lazy gluttonous feline). I’m not sure how much the comics use BB’s real name these days, or even the nickname “Gar” he was sometimes called. An episode of the 2000s “Teen Titans” series (season 5’s “Homecoming Part 2”) sees the team surprised to learn Beast Boy’s real name; Raven notes she plans to get a “lot of mileage out of this one.”

Marvel

While Peter’s a popular name, his heir apparent, Miles Morales, is even more popular name-wise. The name “Miles” jumped into the top 100 names in 2018, and has stayed there since. I note that 2018 is also the year “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” was released in theaters, a popular film and the general public’s first heavy exposure to Miles Morales. Miles is also a main character on “Spidey and His Amazing Friends,” a popular preschooler cartoon on Disney+ (it’s the most popular Marvel show period on Disney+).

“Anthony” (Tony Stark’s full first name) has been in the top 100 names since 1900, but peaked in the top 10 during the mid-to-late 2000s. My guess: the popularity of “The Sopranos” (which ran from 1999 to 2007) and its main character (named Tony), plus the 2008 “Iron Man” movie, boosted the popularity of “Anthony.” Oddly, the only superhero comic character I can find who goes by “Anthony” and not “Tony” is DC Comics’ Professor Anthony Ivo, the mad scientist who built Amazo, the android with all of the Justice League’s powers. (And of course, Ivo’s robot’s more popular/better known than him.)

The most popular Fantastic Four member name-wise is the Thing, aka Ben Grimm. “Benjamin” has been a top 10 baby name since 2015.

While Wolverine’s birth name is “James,” the name he actually goes by is “Logan.” And “Logan” has become a quite popular name in recent years, peaking in 2017 as that year’s fifth most-popular baby name. Meanwhile, per the old “Wolverine vs. Cyclops” debate, Scott Summers’ first name has noticeably declined in popularity since his creation, dropping from #12 (in 1963) to #588 (in 2022).

Other characters

I’ll discuss a few other characters briefly:

SpongeBob SquarePants

Between the characters with non-cartoony/actual names (Sandy, Pearl, etc.), the most popular main character name: Patrick, which ranked at #218 in 2022. “Patrick” was a top 100 name from 1937 until 2004.

The Owl House

People apparently name their kids “King?” His name ranked at #222 in 2022. Other main cast members appearing that year: Luz (#943), Willow (#37), Augustus (#467) (though not “Gus”); Hunter (#101; “Hunter” otherwise has been a top 100 name since the 90s).

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

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