He’s gone from office, but never forgotten. President Obama’s departure from the White House was a sad occasion for many people, to say the least. But some new parents took their love for the former POTUS, and passed it on to the next generation.
According to the Social Security Administration’s baby name data, 19 new Baracks were born in 2016. This represented an increase from previous years: In 2015, eight boys were named after the former president, and both in 2014 and 2013, 11 kids got his name.
Understandably, the name was most popular when Obama first ran for and became president: 52 babies in 2008 and 69 in 2009. During the president’s reelection year, the name briefly became more popular again; 16 babies got the name Barack in 2012.
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And around the time of the 2008 presidential campaign, a few parents were really into the last name "Obama," too. In 2008, 14 baby boys were named Obama. A year later, 16 babies got the president’s last name as their first.
Naming children after prominent people, like presidents or celebrities, is actually a deep-rooted tradition. According to the Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming, parents started giving babies like Franklin, Washington, and Madison after the revolutionary war to honor the founding fathers.
That idea stuck. Frank Nuessel, author of The Study of Names: A Guide to the Principles and Topics, told TIME that, "A lot of people name their children after a famous person hoping that by giving them this name they’ll have some of the characteristics of the person."
Other presidential names aren’t enjoying the same rise in popularity. Social Security Administration data found the name Donald is the least popular it's been in over a decade. It’s now ranked as the 448 most popular boy’s name. In 2000, it was ranked 217. That’s, well, pretty pitiful.
Now, we’re just waiting for the Barack we know and love to meet one of his little namesakes. We already got to see Joe Biden meet the Golden Retriever pup named after him, but this would take it next level. We can all agree those photos would be almost too adorable to handle.
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