How many babies were named after these famous Georgians?
Some epically famous people originated in Georgia. But it’s not for sure Georgia residents cared enough to name their children after the figures.
Gladys Knight and Ray Charles both called the Peach State home base. We even fostered Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States. (http://www.ajc.com/list/news/jimmy-carter-and-atlantas-carter-presidential-libr/aL5t/) Here's a look at how much their legacy determined what Georgians named their kids:
Jimmy Carter
At first glance, it looks like the names James and Jimmy surged during Carter’s presidential term. From 1977 until 1981, James remained in the top three most popular baby names in Georgia, according to data from the Social Security Administration.
The name Jimmy stayed consistently in the top 80 most popular names in Georgia during that same time.
But it’s not for sure that trend had much to do with Carter’s voting base.
The name James was already popular for Georgian parents. It was the No. 1 name every year in the 1960s and stayed in the top ten names throughout the 2010s.
The name Jimmy was actually more popular before Carter’s run for president. It was in the top 40 names from 1960 until 1968.
Ray Charles
The name Raymond stayed in the top 100 popular names throughout Ray Charles’ most popular years in the ‘60s and ‘80s.
The name Ray only made the top 100 names once in the past 55 years. It was the 91st most popular name in 1960 -- right in the middle of Charles’ first successful recording years.
Coincidence? Well -- maybe.
Gladys Knight
No question: Gladys Knight is an accomplished Atlanta figure.
She and her younger siblings and cousins formed Gladys Knight and the Pips when she was still only 8 years old. (http://www.biography.com/people/gladys-knight-9542334)
The group began to hit it big when they started recording with Motown Records in the 1960s. It won a Grammy in 1973 for Best Pop Vocal Performance with its song “Neither One of us Wants to be the First to Say Goodbye.”
Knight even went on to have her own solo career in the ‘90s.
