Whitney

The female given name Whitney first appeared on the U.S. charts in 1962. The name was actually brought into the American consciousness by an old comic television series called “Hazel” which ran from 1961 to 1966. It starred an actress by the name of Whitney Blake as the lady of the household who employs a take-charge live in maid named Hazel. American parents obviously responded to the pretty actress’s first name because it appeared on the female naming charts a year after the sitcom debuted. However, it was Whitney Houston (1963-2012) who really gave the name some serious cachet in the mid-1980s when her debut album was released and she entered the arena of superstardom. In fact, the name Whitney hit its peak popularity on the charts from 1986-1987 as the 32nd most commonly used girl’s name at that time. Since that time, however, Whitney has been retreating on the charts back down to levels of light moderation. This means Whitney is now a more unique and underused choice (although we wonder if Houston’s recent death will prompt another brief revival in 2012). Whitney also has a history (and in fact a longer history) as a masculine given name. However, as the name grew in popularity for girls in the 1980s, the name eventually disappeared off the charts for boys in 1988. It is now considered almost exclusively female. As a unisex name, Whitney is a bit more androgynous and therefore stronger and more confident rather than frilly or girly-girly. Yet somehow it manages to retain a lot of femininity for girls. Whitney is a cool name and one of those surnames-turned-first-names that works better than most!