View Message

This is a reply within a larger thread: view the whole thread

Re: Olive
There's documented use here in the 13th century, with various spellings, and it's been in continuous use since then. But yes, there was a peak Olive moment at the turn of the last century, and yes, Ms Schreiner was named before it really took off. Data time:
(from E&W birth registrations)
1840-1860 - 1600+ Olives, so quite well-used, if not super popular (for comparison, Lily, a later fad, only had 393 births at that time)
1861-1880 - 2900+ Olives
1881-1900 - 13000+ Olives
1901-1920 - 27000+ Olives (Peak Olive Moment!)
and then it starts to drop again. Interesting that it never really disappeared, and is currently climbing the charts again. Under some definitions, it might qualify as a classic.

This message was edited 8/3/2018, 3:02 PM

vote up1vote down

Replies

Quote1901-1920 - 27000+ Olives (Peak Olive Moment!)

Might that be attributed to the cartoon character, Olive Oyl?
vote up1vote down
The comic strip (a US publication) started in 1929 and the cartoons weren't released until 1933, so nope.
I'm guessing that the popularity of the name probably influenced the choice of name for the character, though.
vote up1vote down