Cowboy names first galloped onto the scene in the 1950s and 1960s, along with the cool Western TV shows and movies of the era.  A lot of these were Old Testament names that had not been heard much since, well, since the real Old West.  Some of the early choices that launched a trend that’s still going strong:

ADAM – - Bonanza

BARNABY — Wagon Train

BART — Maverick

BEAU — Wells Fargo, Maverick

BEN –Bonanza

BRENT — Maverick

BRET — Maverick

CALEB  — Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

CHEYENNE — Cheyenne

EPHRAIM — Seven Brides

FLINT — Wagon Train

GIDEON — Seven Brides

JARROD — Big Valley

JASON — Wanted: Dead or Alive; Here Come the Brides

JEB — Wells Fargo

JED – - Rawhide; How The West Was Won

JEREMY — Here Come the Brides

JOSH — Wanted: Dead or Alive

JOSHUA — Here Come the Brides

LUCAS — Rifleman

LUKE — How the West Was Won

MATT — Gunsmoke

SETH — Wagon Train

SHANE — Shane

SIMON — Rawhide

ZEB — How The West Was Won

Females and their names were in short supply in the Old West, split between hardy pioneer women and dance hall girls. Their names help you tell which was which:

ALICE — Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

BELLE — Wells Fargo

BIDDIE — Here Come the Brides

CANDY –Here Come the Brides

DORCAS — Seven Brides 

EVE — How The West Was Won

JULIE — How The West Was Won

KITTY — Gunsmoke

LIZA — Seven Brides

MARTHA — Seven Brides

MILLY — Seven Brides

SARAH — Seven Brides

Tomorrow: Names for thoroughly modern cowbabies.

We’re often asked to talk about and predict names that are on their way up, but recently someone posed the reverse question, about names that have peaked and are trending downwards.  So here are a few thoughts on some categories of names that have gone from cool to hot to lukewarm, and their possible replacements.

WESTERN PLACE NAMES: Adios to cowboys and girls Dakota, Montana and Sierra, hello to more distant and exotic locales such as Rio, Vienna, Geneva, Sahara, Peru, Kenya

JADEN & CO: Even if it hasn’t quite happened yet, parents are bound to rebel against the megapopularity of all the nouveau Aidan siblings–Jayden, Caden, Cayden, Brayden, Kaden et al–and go back to  the original (now spelled) Aiden, which is rising in popularity all the time.

BIBLICAL GIRLS’ NAMES: Rebecca, Rachel, Hannah  and Sarah may be eternal classics, but many parents feel they have been way overused during the past few decades, and are seeking out  less common examples in the Good Book–Dinah?  Jael?  Salome?  Tamar?  Michal, anyone?–or choosing virtue names like Honor and Verity instead.  Biblical boys’ names, on the other hand, continue to thrive, with Jacob holding fast at Number One.

PREPPY SURNAMES: Upscale nineties favorites, such as the seriously striving Parkers and Porters, Carsons and Carters, seem to have lost their relevence in this changed economy, replaced by livelier, cheerier, unpretentious Irish family names like Sullivan, Brady, Reagan, Riley and Rafferty.  For what it’s worth, though, Cash is on the rise.