I have lived a fair while but have never met a man whose real name was
Humphrey, until now that is. The man that sells me my paper told me to
call him Humphrey, and further that this was his real name that his
parents gave him and that which appears on his birth certificate.  I
thought the last real Humphrey was an actor who died in the mid-50s. 
Anyway my question is,how many people in USA or perhaps England,(any
western country will do I suppose) have actually named their son
Hunmphrey in recent times, say this decade for instance i.e 2000-2005.
I figure very very few in USA over last 4 years or so of this century
but maybe I am wrong. Its not a bad name after all just so very
unusual nowdays I suspect. JOHN FROM MELBOURNE

Howdy, John!

You're certainly correct: Humphrey is not a popular name for babies in
the United States. The U.S. Social Security Administration publishes
lists of the 1000 most popular baby names, by decade. I searched
through each decade's lists, and the name "Humphrey" did not appear in
the top 1000 at any time in the 20th Century. These lists did include
unusual first names such as "Heber," "Rolla," and "Waino," so we're
talking really obscure here. Oddly, even the immense popularity of the
actor Humphrey Bogart in the middle part of the century did not cause
a notable spike in the use of the name "Humphrey."

U.S. Social Security Administration: Popular Baby Names
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/index.html

This might be the most recent instance of Americans assigning the name
"Humphrey" to something:

"February 28, 2004 · Two robotic geologists continue their hard at
work on the surface of Mars. The rover named Spirit is making detailed
studies of a... two-foot-tall rock called 'Humphrey' -- named after
Humphries Peak in Arizona."

National Public Radio: Mars Rovers Build Audience on Earth
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1723149

Best regards,
pinkfreud

---

Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 26 Jan 2005 12:35 PST

I've found an American baby named Humphrey. He's a baby elephant:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0805067868

I guess they named him because, unlike a baby camel, he's hump-free.

..........and howdy to you too Pink One. We will have to stop meeting
like this I think or your husband may become a little suspicious.
Looks like you did a fair amount of research going over every decade
as you did so I have to drop in five stars as there is not much more
you could have resaonably been expected to do in terms of research; 
at the consultancy fees I pay that is!!

 You say its odd that mothers did not feel the desire to name their
babies after the handsome film star Humphrey  Bogart, in that era,
which I agree with. What I also find odd is that if there is virtually
no-one called Humphrey in the modern era, then how come virtually
everyone is familiar with the name. I mean its an ancient name rarely
used but so to is Ethelbert + Egbert, names my teenage daughter has
never heard of,  yet she and her three or four friends in kitchen
earlier are all very familiar with the name Humphrey.

 Thanks too to commenters as researchers, I did not expect to get the
history of name as BOWLER kindly provided.

John From Melbourne  P.S Gotta go, a beatuful night and 26 degrees
celcius/85F at 2am so I am heading down coast for a drive.

Humphrey [Unfrai] (male)- "A Germanic folk name Huni, 'peace'. Unfrai
is the true Irish form, but Humphrey has been used as a translation of
Amhlaoibh, the Irish form of Olaf. Humphrey O'Sullivan (c. 1780-1837)
was an Irish language diarest. It is not a common name today."
http://www.irishclans.com/articles/irishbabynames.html

Humphrey Bogart was a famous actor .....

Steph53

Hi John,

Only knew of one, as a kid. Us little kids felt sorry for him. I bet
he copped it in his later years. To have his name associated with a
mute effeminate bear from a children's television show would not have
done much for his confidence.

Phil

My flatmate is called Humphrey (born in 1980) although he uses another
name for day to day life.

Humphrey B. Bear! I'd forgotten him. Tartan vest, yellow hat, no
pants, ever silent. Gorgeous but slightly weird. Yeah, no wonder there
haven't been many (any!) little Aussie boys called Humphrey in the
last 30 years!

StressedMum,

I think B.Bear was banned from Japan along with Donald Duck.
Understandably so. Exposing kids to tartan vests is simply not on.

Phil

John,

Possibly one reason why people in the modern era are familiar with the
name Humphrey - even though Humphrey is uncommon as a forename - is
that Humphrey, Humphreys, Humphries, and other variants are still in
common use as surnames. In the United States a prominent politician,
the late Hubert Humphrey, kept the name in view for many decades.

~Pink

A friend of mine sent me an email saying that she once saw a
children's book called "Humphrey the Happy Humvee," whose lead
character is an automotive utility vehicle. I haven't been able to
find any mention of this online. Somehow I doubt that a happy Humvee
which bears this name will have much influence on the naming of
infants. ;-)