Names Turned Pink Trivia Quiz

Answer: Greenstreet

Sydney Greenstreet was an English actor famous for his roles with Humphrey Bogart. Film director Sydney Polack and Dickens' fictional character Sydney Carton are other noteworthy males named Sydney.

The name Sydney is thought to be derived from the Saint Denis area of Normandy.

It was used as a boy's name from the 18th century, but has been used increasingly as a girl's name in the late 20th century. It was in the list of top 25 birth names for girls from 1999 until 2003.

Some of the popularity of Sydney as a girl's name arose from its use in movies and television. Katharine Hepburn played a female Sidney in her first movie, "A Bill of Divorcement" and lately there have been women named Sydney in "The American President" and on "Alias" among others.

Answer: Swann

Lynn Swan was a noted American professional football player for the Pittsburg Steelers and later athletic director for the University of Southern California. UK athlete Lynn Davies and former UCLA basketball star Lynn Shackleford are other males named Lynn. Baseball star Nolan Ryan's given first name is also Lynn.

The name Lynn is derived from the Welsh word for lake.

In the US it peaked as a male name in the early 1950s. Since then it has been used increasing as a girl's name and more so as a middle name or part of a first name (e.g. Carolyn or Marilyn).

Answer: Fuchs

Sir Vivian Fuchs was a famous British explorer of the Antarctic region. In 1958 he led the team that completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica. West Indies cricket immortal Sir Vivian Richards is another noted male with the name Vivian.

The name Vivian originated in Roman times from the Latin word for "alive". Two early saints had the masculine (Vivianus) and feminine (Viviana) version of the name.

Vivian historically was a male name in England until the 19th century when it was given increasingly to girls rather than the usual feminine versions of Vivianne or Vivienne.

Vivian reached a peak popularity as a girl's name in 1920 when it was the 64th most popular name for girls. Although it fell out of common use in the latter half of the 20th century, it has had a recent rebound in popularity.

Answer: Williams

Robin Williams was a noted American comedian appearing in the movies "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Good Morning Vietnam" among others. Other famous males named Robin are politician Robin Cook, musician Robin Gibb, and athletes Robin Ventura and Robin van Persie.

The name Robin is an old diminutive for Robert when used for males and the robin bird when used for females.

In the UK Robin is primarily a male name with 88% of children born in 2014 being males. In the US, on the other hand, Robin is more often a female name.

Since 1880, a total of 41,594 boys in the US have been given the name Robin while 286,145 girls were named Robin.

Answer: Russell

Addison Russell is an American baseball player. Addison is also the given first name for American politician Mitch McConnell.

The name Addison originally meant "son of Adam", which is somewhat ironic considering its popularity as a girl's name.

Addison was used almost exclusively as a male name since the 19th century, but never achieved a high level of popularity.

The name first achieved popularity as a girl's name around 1994 and reached the top 15 in popularity in 2007 around the same time the similar-sounding name of Madison was also skyrocketing in popularity..

Answer: Carvey

Dana Carvey is a noted American comic best known for his role on "Saturday Night Live". Other noted males with the name of Dana are actor Dana Andrews and US sports coaches Dana X. Bible and Dana Holgorsen.

The name Dana has been used in several different cultures. In Arabic it refers to a beautiful pearl. In Persia it is a name that connotes wisdom. It has also been used as a diminutive for Daniel and a name for those of Danish extraction.

Dana, as a boy's name, peaked in popularity in the 1950s. Since the late 1990s very few baby boys are being named Dana. Dana was used increasingly as a girl's name from the early 1960s and reached a peak in the mid 1970s.

Answer: Kilmer

Joyce Kilmer was a famous poet killed during WWI. He used the name Joyce professionally, although his full name was Alfred Joyce Kilmer. Joyce Hall, the founder of Hallmark Cards, was another male named Joyce, although he preferred to be referred to as J. C. Hall.

The name Joyce was derived from the Old French word Josse, meaning Lord.

It was rarely used as a masculine name with a peak popularity in the 1930s of less than 100 boys born with that name.

Once a boy name, this name took off for girls during the mid-twentieth century, when it spent 1930 to 1947 in the Top 20.

Answer: Young

Whitney Young was a distinguished Civil Rights leader in the US.

The name Whitney is derived from an English locational surname meaning "white island",

Whitney was in rare but regular use for boys in the US until the early 1960s, when actress Whitney Blake popularized it for girls. It received a further big boost on the girls' side in the 1980s, thanks to singer Whitney Houston.

Answer: Nielsen

Leslie Nielsen was an American/Canadian comic actor appearing in "Airplane" and the "Naked Gun" series of movies. Other famous males named Leslie include author Leslie Charteris, politician Les Aspin, and Manhattan Project leader General Leslie Groves. US President Gerald Ford and comedian Bob Hope were both given the name Leslie at birth.

The name Leslie is a Scottish place name and clan name.

It was predominately a male name until the early 1950s and is now almost exclusively used as a girl's name. Peak usage as a male name occurred in the 1920. Peak usage a girl's name occurred in the early 1970.

Answer: Willson

Meredith Willson is an American composer and playwright most noted for "Music Man" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown".

Meredith is a Welsh name that is generally translated as "Great Lord".

Meredith's highest point of popularity for girls in the U.S. was in the late seventies and into the eighties, when it ranked as high as Number 140. From 1880, a total of 3,196 boys in the US have been given the name Meredith while 70,352 girls were named Meredith.

Answer: Waugh

Evelyn Waugh was a noted English writer of "Decline and Fall", "A Handful of Dust", and "Brideshead Revisited". Interestingly his first wife was also named Evelyn. Other males named Evelyn include British Field Marshal Evelyn Wood and British financier Evelyn de Rothschild.

Evelyn was originally a surname that derived from the French feminine given name Aveline. However, when it transitioned into first name use, Evelyn was considered a masculine name.

After decades of disuse, Evelyn has returned to the baby name stage in a huge way. It reached the Top 10 girl's name for the first time in 2017.

Answer: Rosenbloom

Carroll Rosenbloom is the former owner of the Los Angeles Rams professional football team. I adderd this as being close enough to Carol. Former Boston baseball player Carol Hardy, who has the distinction of being the only player to pinch hit for Hall of Famer Ted Williams, is another famous male named Carol.

As a male name Carol is a variant of the name Charles.

In the US it peaked in popularity between roughly 1924 and 1950. In the US Carol is almost exclusively a female name. Its peak popularity occurred in the early 1940s and it was the fourth most popular name for baby girls in 1941.

Answer: Beardsley

Aubrey Beardsley was a controversial English illustrator artist of the Art Noveau period. Aubrey is also the birth name of Israeli politician Abba Eban and Canadian musician Drake.

The name Aubrey is of French origin for "elf ruler".

The name Aubrey is traditionally male, but it was last ranked among the top 1,000 most common names for boys in the United States in 2002.

Aubrey is now used almost exclusively for girls. It was the 20th most popular name given to girls born in the United States in 2014. Some of its newly-found popularity may be due to a 1970s song about a girl named Aubrey by the group Bread.

Answer: Povich

Shirley Povich was a distinguished American sportswriter for the Washington Post and contributor to Ken Burns' television series on baseball.

Shirley was originally a male name from the English terms for shire and meadow. Its use in Charlotte Brontė's novel "Shirley" (1849) established it as a female name. In that book the parents had selected the name Shirley for a hoped-for son, but decided to keep the name Shirley for their daughter. Due to the popularity of Shirley Temple, in 1935 Shirley was the second most popular name for newborn girls.

In the US less than 9,000 boys have been given the name Shirley since 1880, indicating it never was hugely popular as a male name.

Answer: Bumgarner

Madison Bumgarner is one of the leading pitchers in baseball.

The name Madison originally meant "son of Matthew".

It was rarely used as a boys name until around 1988, but even then the number of boys named Madison in the US was under 300 per year.

Madison became a trendy name for girls when the mermaid in the movie "Splash" was named Madison. Recently the name Madison was one of the five most popular names for baby girls, although it is showing signs of a lack of staying power.