Titanic is being re-released in 3D this week, and it made me realize that the main characters are named Jack and Rose. Rose! That's our name! I really hope people don't think that we're naming our baby after a James Cameron movie. Ugh! At least this blog suggests that Rose is unlikely to take off in popularity at this point, at least as a first name. But we'll see how her name is trending after the 2011 Social Security names list is released in mid-May...
Titanic's Jack Dawson Only One of Many Heroes Named Jack
This month marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic and also, in case you haven't noticed the massive marketing campaign, the rerelease of James Cameron's 1997 smash hit Titanic, now in 3D.
The film didn't do much to spur the popularity of Rose, which was peaking as a top 20 name in the 1910s when the Titanic sank, but has steadily declined. It has plateaued at a rank in the 300s and remained there for the past several decades, now serving as a tremendously popular middle name, especially among celebrity babies.
Jack, however, is a different story. In the 1910s, Jack was the 23rd most popular name among baby boys and reached its peak during the next decade, slowly declining until the 1980s when it began to climb again. Jack was rising fast by the time Titanic was released, but the film definitely gave it a boost in 1998.
The name also has an interesting history behind it. Jack was often used as the name for a plucky young hero in legends and fairy tales and was portrayed in a variety of ways -- as a foolish young boy who becomes brave as in Jack and the Beanstalk to a strong and clever young man as he is in Jack the Giant Killer.
You might even have noticed that all different kinds of heroes in movies, television shows, books and more have been repeatedly dubbed Jack. Besides Jack Dawson, a character that propelled Leo DiCaprio to stardom, Jacks can range from young, brave heroes like Jack "Cowboy" Kelly in the cult musical Newsies to the charming and clever Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean films. Rough and ruthless Jack Bauer from TV series 24, Jack Shepard as the leader of the survivors on Lost and the hero of many Tom Clancy novels, Jack Ryan, are just a few more.
There have been so many, especially recently, that we have almost become accostomed, in a way, to think of characters named Jack as heroes, beginning with the hero Jack of the aforementioned folktales. Though, of course, Jack can also be a great name for an antagonist -- Jack Torrance of The Shining for one.
What do you think of the name Jack? What are some other heroes named Jack/which are your favorites?
--A.F.
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