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The Barbie movie is coming out in just weeks, July 21. I want to see it because I grew up with Barbies...I still love Barbies...and who didn't want a Barbie dreamhouse?! But how has Barbie inspired baby names?
While Margot and Ryan -- popular names in their own right, featuring prominently in the top 500 baby names -- helm the Barbie movie, BabyCenter looked into other names that might also have a role to play.
Here's what we found:
- The name Barbara had its heyday in the 1920s through the 1950s, where it ranked in the top 10 baby names for girls and even reigned at No. 2 for nearly a decade.
- Ruth Handler is credited with creating the Barbie doll. The name Ruth has been in the top 500 baby names since the Social Security Administration started keeping track in 1900.
- Millicent is Barbie's middle name, but sadly it hasn't ranked in the top 1,000 names in the U.S. since 1965.
- Christie is the first Black Barbie doll. She was introduced in 1968 as a friend of Barbie's and was a staple for many years, though she was discontinued in 2005. Her name was most popular in the '60s and '70s, but has been declining in recent years.
- Teresa Rivera is one of Barbie's BFF's. Teresa is Latina and was first introduced in 1988. The name is more often spelled Theresa, and while both spellings spent decades in the top 100 names, the name has been less popular in the past 20 years.
- Margaret (a.k.a. Midge) is Barbie's first best friend, introduced in 1963 as the pregnant Barbie doll. Margaret is also Barbie's mom's name. So the name has strong significance in the Barbie universe -- with an equally strong presence as a baby name, spending more than 30 years in the top 10 names in the early 1900's (though it has been on the decline since). Emerald Fennell is playing Midge on the big screen.
- Kenneth or "Ken" Sean Carson was introduced as Barbie's boyfriend in 1961 (though they split up and stayed friends from 2004-2011). Ken was named after Ruth Handler's son. Like the seemingly hundreds of actors playing Ken variants in the film, Kenneth spent 100 years in the top 100 baby names, but never broke into the top 10.
- Allan Sherwood is Ken's best friend, first introduced in 1964 and revived several times over the years. In Barbie, he will be played by Michael Cera. Unlike Michael's own name however, Allan hasn't been hugely popular – peaking at No. 115 in 1940 and on the decline ever since.
- Brad was the first male Black Barbie doll. He joined Barbie's crew in 1970, originally as Christie's boyfriend. Bradley is one of the more consistently popular names – it's been in the top 500 names since the '30s.
- Blaine is an Australian surfer who spent two years as Barbie's main man after she and Ken broke up in 2004, but he was retired when Ken made his comeback in 2006. The name isn't hugely popular, peaking in 1989 at No. 374.