FilmDrunk

Americans Love To Name Their Kids Michael Myers, Donnie Darko, And Freddy Krueger, Says Whitepages

by: Uproxx authors

Everyone has a funny story about someone they know whose parents gave them a “crazy” first name, typically while under the influence of alcohol/optimism. For me, that person was poor “Lana Sparks,” whose name spelled backwards is “Anal Scraps,” and was nicknamed “Anal Scrappy,” 1997-present. But Scrappy’s not alone: according to The Hollywood Reporter, thousands of Americans have named their kids after famous movie monsters, whether they’re conscious of it or not.

Michael Myers obviously tops the list, with over 4,282 listed Whitepages entries, 333 in Ohio alone (where I’m pretty sure is the only state in the US that still uses the Whitepages). Stephen King comes in at 2,068, Norman Bates from Psycho at 96, and Donnie Darko bottoms out the list with 4 mentions – 3 of whom live in Pennsylvania (is there a nexus of evil in Lancaster?). Scariest to me were the number of parents who named their kids after Freddy Krueger, totaling 5, with 2 mentions in Washington State.

Looking exclusively at first names, over 6,399 people have named their kids Hannibal (Silence of The Lambs), and 315,711 people are named Carrie (again, not that bad, although the one Carrie I knew growing up stole my sticker book and buried it in a sticker book mass grave on the playground). The 2,632 American Caspers have chosen to reside in North Dakota, where the job market for ghosts is particularly strong.

Here’s a full breakdown of this fun/creepy/totally irrelevant study:

Top 13 Most Common Horror Movie Monikers

  1. Michael Myers (Halloween): 4,282; 333 in OH
  2. Stephen King (Author): 2,068; 168 in TX
  3. Norman Bates (Psycho): 96; 9 in TX
  4. Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th): 30; 4 each in PA, CA, NY
  5. Annie Wilkes (Misery): 25; 10 in GA
  6. Jack Torrance (The Shining): 10; 2 in CA
  7. Wes Craven (Director): 7; 2 in NC
  8. Alfred Hitchcock (Director): 7; 2 each in CA and MD
  9. Max Cady (Cape Fear): 6; 3 in FL
  10. Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street): 5; 2 in WA
  11. Donnie Darko (Donnie Darko): 4; 3 in PA
  12. Samara Morgan (The Ring): 2; 1 each in TX and ND
  13. Damien Thorn (The Omen): 1 in CA

First names only:

  1. Carrie (Carrie): 315,711; 23,343 in CA; first name only
  2. Hannibal (The Silence of the Lambs): 6,399; 97 in CA; first name only
  3. Frankenstein: 510; 92 in PA; last name only
  4. Ghost: 38; 14 in PA; last name only