Mad Men Baby Names: More Meaningful Than You’d Think

Mad Men Baby Names

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Mad Men just ended, leaving us with a major hole in our Sunday night grown-up time. While a lot of fans have analyzed the wardrobe choices, camera angles, and even reading material featured on the show, the thing that’s always fascinated me most about Mad Men are the names of the characters themselves. And yes, I think show creator Matthew Weiner put the same special thought into those as he did every other aspect of the show.

Here’s my breakdown of the main Mad Men characters’ baby names:

Don Draper: Donald means “ruler of the world”—which might describe the show’s protagonist at his very best . . . but unfortunately, that wasn’t his real name afterall.

Dick Whitman: Interestingly, Richard (which the name Dick comes from) means “brave power.” On one hand, I guess it takes guts to ditch your identity and pretend to be someone else for decades of your life—but on the other hand it’s plainly a dirty and cowardly move—touching on the shortened name’s more, um, common meaning.

Betty Draper: The baby name Elizabeth means “God is satisfaction,” which, well, when you think of Don’s name meaning “ruler of the world” should mean that Betty would be satisfied in her husband and look to him for all things. I think we all know how that worked out. Betty is also slang for a super pretty, pulled together woman—something actress January Jones pulled off without a hitch.

Sally Draper: Sally means princess—and as she was the golden haired daughter of the “ruler of the world,” her name is only fitting. If only her childhood had been more idyllic . . .

Joan Holloway: The name Joan brings to mind a famous woman warrior—Joan of Arc—who hid her femininity to fight for what she thought was right—and was ultimately burned at the stake for her crimes. The stuff of nightmares? I think so.  Mad Men’s Joan flips that narrative through the series. She wears her femininity like armor—in fact, she says at one point that her mother raised her “to be admired,” but later on, she finds that her sexuality and femininity has pigeon-holed her and keeps her from being respected as a partner at the firm. Also pretty grim. I think Weiner knew what he was doing when he picked this name for sure.

Peggy Olsen: Peggy, short for Margaret, means “pearl,” and Saint Margaret, interestingly, is the patron saint of expectant mothers. Since much of Peggy’s storyline was shadowed by her early pregnancy and the child she did not keep, this one is a no-brainer.

Roger Sterling: Roger’s name—like his character—is a bit um, randy you might say! The name Roger means “famous spear,” and during the 17th century, the word roger was also another name for um, a man’s bits. I couldn’t help giggling when I discovered that!

Bert Cooper: Bertrand means “bright shield,” and as played brilliantly by Broadway veteran Robert Morse, Bert did often try to shield his team from bad decisions and deals.

Pete Campbell: Peter means “stone” or “rock,” cold, hard objects that are absent of emotions. That could pretty much sum up Pete on many occasions! On the flipside, it was Pete who brought in a lot of business time after time for the agency, lending another meaning to his being the “rock” of the office.

What do you think of these Mad Men baby names? Would you think twice about naming your son Roger after reading this?! Tell me your thoughts . . . and your favorite Mad Men memories in the comments!