COWBOY (& COWGIRL) NAMES

Cowboy names first galloped onto the scene in the 1950s and 1960s, along with the cool Western TV shows and movies of the era.  A lot of these were Old Testament names that had not been heard much since, well, since the real Old West.  Some of the early choices that launched a trend that’s still going strong:

ADAM – – Bonanza

BARNABY — Wagon Train

BART — Maverick

BEAU — Wells Fargo, Maverick

BEN —Bonanza

BRENT — Maverick

BRET — Maverick

CALEB  — Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

CHEYENNE — Cheyenne

EPHRAIM — Seven Brides

FLINT — Wagon Train

GIDEON — Seven Brides

JARROD — Big Valley

JASON — Wanted: Dead or Alive; Here Come the Brides

JEB — Wells Fargo

JED – – Rawhide; How The West Was Won

JEREMY — Here Come the Brides

JOSH — Wanted: Dead or Alive

JOSHUA — Here Come the Brides

LUCAS — Rifleman

LUKE — How the West Was Won

MATT — Gunsmoke

SETH — Wagon Train

SHANE — Shane

SIMON — Rawhide

ZEB — How The West Was Won

Females and their names were in short supply in the Old West, split between hardy pioneer women and dance hall girls. Their names help you tell which was which:

ALICE — Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

BELLE — Wells Fargo

BIDDIE — Here Come the Brides

CANDY –Here Come the Brides

DORCAS — Seven Brides

EVE — How The West Was Won

JULIE — How The West Was Won

KITTY — Gunsmoke

LIZA — Seven Brides

MARTHA — Seven Brides

MILLY — Seven Brides

SARAH — Seven Brides

Tomorrow: Names for thoroughly modern cowbabies.