Girl Names of Old Hollywood

Old Hollywood was such a glamorous time! The female celebrities from "the golden era" are still admired for their beauty, grace, elegance, and poise. Even after all these years have gone by, somehow these celebrities still remain relevant and interesting in everything from their fashion sense to the classic films they starred in to their lovely names that continue to inspire parents to this very day!

There were so many beautiful celebrities with amazing names that I just listed the first one I came across with that first name, even though I know there are many more that may have also had that name. I hope I did not forget anyone but if I did, please let me know in the comments below!

Which of these Old Hollywood names are your favorites? Would you ever use one of them for a daughter? Have you already? Do share! These are listed by first (and last) name.

AGNES (Moorehead)                         ANNE (Baxter) ANITA (Page) AUDREY (Hepburn) AVA (Gardner) BARBARA (Stanwyck) BETTE (Davis) BRIGITTE (Bardot) CAROLE (Lombard) CLARA (Bow) CLAUDETTE (Colbert) CYD (Charisse) DEBORAH (Kerr) DONNA (Reed) DOROTHY (Dandridge) ELIZABETH (Taylor) ELSA (Lanchester) ETHEL (Barrymore) EVA MARIE (Saint) FAY (Wray) FRANCES (Farmer) GENE (Tierney) GERALDINE (Fitzgerald) GINA (Lollobrigida) GINGER (Rogers) GLORIA (Swanson) GRACE (Kelly) GREER (Garson) GRETA (Garbo) HATTIE (McDaniel) HEDY (Lamarr) HELEN (Hayes) INGRID (Bergman) IRENE (Dunne) JANE (Russell) JANET (Gaynor) JEAN (Harlow) JEANNE (Crain) JENNIFER (Jones)

JOAN (Collins) JUDY (Garland) JUNE (Allyson) KATHARINE (Hepburn) LANA (Turner) LAUREN (Bacall) LILLIAN (Gish) LINDA (Darnell) LORETTA (Young) LOUISE (Brooks) LUCILLE (Ball) MABEL (Normand) MAE (West) MARILYN (Monroe) MARION (Davies) MARLENE (Dietrich) MARY (Pickford) MAUREEN (O'Hara) MERCEDES (McCambridge) MERLE (Oberon) MIRIAM (Hopkins) MYRNA (Loy) NATALIE (Wood) NORMA (Shearer) OLIVE (Thomas) OLIVIA (de Havilland) PATRICIA (Neal) RITA (Hayworth) ROSALIND (Russell) SHIRLEY (Temple) SOPHIA (Loren) SUSAN (Hayward) TALLULAH (Bankhead) TERESA (Wright) THEDA (Bara) VERA (Miles) VERONICA (Lake) VIVIEN (Leigh)

Don't forget to take a look at the list of Boy Names of Old Hollywood as well!

The Many Character Names of Cary Grant

The late Hollywood film actor Cary Grant was actually born as Archibald Alexander Leach in 1904. He was best known for his dashing good looks and his transatlantic accent. As one of classic Hollywood's leading men, he had many roles over his 34 year acting career.

It is worth noting that since his career spanned from 1932 to 1966, many of these names are rather traditional to the era but they are fun to browse nonetheless!

First and last names will be listed but occasionally they could make for nice first and middle name combos! Which of the following character names is your favorite?

STEPHEN Mathewson                           CHARLIE Baxter NICK Townsend ROMER Sheffield JEFFREY Baxter HENRY Cocker ACE Corbin JACK Clayton MALCOLM Trevor PORTER Madison III MAURICE Lamar JULIAN De Lussac GERALD Fitzgerald KEN Gordon MICHAEL Andrews ANDRE Charville ERNEST Bliss CHARLIE Mason JIMMY Hudson GEORGE Kerby JERRY Warriner JOHNNY Case GEOFF Carter

ALEC Walker WALTER Burns MATT Howard DEXTER Haven ROGER Adams LEOPOLD Dilg PATRICK O'Toole JERRY Flynn MORTIMER Brewster COLE Porter MADISON Brown HENRI Rochard EUGENE Norland Ferguson BARNABY Fulton CLEMSON Reade NICKIE Ferrante ANDY Crewson PHILIP Adams TOM Winters ROGER O. Thornhill VICTOR Rhyall, Earl PETER Joshua WILLIAM Rutland

[Note] This is not a complete list. Since it was so long, I took the liberty to omit character names that did not have a last name, and a few that just weren't very interesting (i.e. I just didn't like them.) View Cary Grant's official IMDB page if you'd like to see his entire filmography. This is about the baby names!

My favorites are Malcolm, Dexter, Leopold, Mortimer and Barnaby. What do you think of this list? Shall I do more for other celebrities? If so, who?

Clark

The masculine name Clark originally comes from the Old English word clerec which actually referred to a priest. Later it became an English surname that means "cleric" or "scribe". It could also refer to a clerk and is associated with the occupational name for a clergyman cleric in a religious setting. Because of these meanings, the name gives the impression of a good and intelligent man.

Famous Clarks include Superman's iconic alias Clark Kent who has been personified by numerous actors and voice talents since its comic book days. There's also Old Hollywood actor Clark Gable best known for his role as Rhett Butler in 1939's Gone with the Wind opposite Viven Leigh. Another association is the American explorer William Clark who helped lead the Lewis and Clark Expedition across America in the early 1800s. Between these three strong, handsome and adventurous namesakes, modern parents are starting to see the appeal of this short but powerful name.

The name Clark has been in regular use since 1880 in the US.  It got its first popularity boost around 1912 and gradually climbed higher and higher until hitting its peak in 1961. In that year, 877 boys were named Clark for a ranking of #268.

Source

After that, the name saw a decline in usage. It has held steady in the lower half of the Top 1000 since then and is rising once again. In 2012, the name was used 467 times for a ranking of #554.

From the scholarly and religious meaning to the image of a seemingly ordinary reporter suddenly becoming "the man of steel" and flying through the sky, Clark is a winning name choice! Parents today seem to be flocking to the shorter names. The most commonly searched and viewed page on The Art of Naming is by far the One Syllable Boy's Names list. While this is just one little blog, it does suggest that short names are in whether they're being used in the first name spot or in the middle. What do you think of this "short name trend" theory? What do you think of the name Clark?

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Audrey, Ella, June, Leah,  Ruth, Sybil, Tessa
Brothers: Archer, Grant, Henry, Max, Noah, Owen, Thomas

Middle Name Ideas:
Clark Alexander
Clark Benjamin
Clark Nathaniel
Clark Sebastian

As a Middle Name: 
Andrew Clark
Jackson Clark
Mason Clark
Samuel Clark

Clark is one of those names that works as a middle name for many names.  I would just avoid a first name that already has a strong C/K sound. Also make sure it is at least 2 syllables.  What would you pair with Clark?

Boy Names of Old Hollywood

Old Hollywood is sometimes referred to as the golden age. It ranged from about 1927 to the early 1960s. In regards to cinema in particular, Hollywood had its own very specific style that produced some of the greatest films ever! True classics! There was such a glamorous vibe in those days that is still admired even today. The celebrities of that time are well known for their elegance, style, poise and even their amazing names!

If you are a fan of this time in our history, I'm sure you will love this list of celebrity baby names for boys! The girl's list will be posted next week!

First (Last) ANTHONY (Quinn)                           BASIL (Rathbone) BUSTER (Keaton) CARY (Grant) CHARLIE (Chaplin) CHARLTON (Heston) CLARK (Gable) CLAUDE (Rains) DAVID (Niven) ELVIS (Presley) ERROL (Flynn) FRANK (Sinatra) FRED (Astaire) FREDRIC (March) GARY (Cooper) GENE (Kelly) GLENN (Ford) GREGORY (Peck) HAROLD (Lloyd) HENRY (Fonda) HUMPHREY (Bogart) JACK (Lemmon) JAMES (Cagney) JIMMY (Stewart) JOHN (Wayne) KIRK (Douglas) LAURENCE (Olivier) LIONEL (Barrymore) LON (Chaney) MARLON (Brando) MICKEY (Rooney) MONTGOMERY (Clift) ORSON (Welles) OLIVER (Hardy) PETER (O'Toole) PAUL (Newman) RICHARD (Burton) ROBERT (Mitchum) ROCK (Hudson) RONALD (Colman) ROSCOE (Arbuckle) RUDOLPH (Valentino) SEAN (Connery) SPENCER (Tracy) STEVE (McQueen) TYRONE (Power) VINCENT (Price) WILLIAM (Holden) YUL (Brynner)

First names from Last Names: Autry Brando Cagney Crosby Connery Cooper Dean Douglas Flynn Ford Grant Harris Holden Howard Hudson Keaton Kelly Lewis Marx Olivier Powell Quinn Rooney Stewart Valentino Wayne

Please let me know if I missed any of your favorites!