The Wolverine effect: popularity of the name Logan

Cinemas and event movies

The other week, I went to the cinema to watch the new ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ movie. I don’t really go to the cinema much these days, but when I do, it’s mostly to experience something different that I can’t get when streaming movies from my living room. For me, it has to be a truly special film to justify paying the high admission price, dealing with parking, or finding a babysitter – especially when there’s the added annoyance of loud moviegoers who disrupt the whole experience. I’m certain many others feel the same way. Over the last few years, a combination of inflation, COVID, and streaming wars have all contributed to this.

The fact that many good movies released this year (such as ‘The Fall Guy’ or ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’) underperformed at the box office is only reinforcing this sentiment that post-COVID (post-streaming?) audiences care less about the quality or originality of the film and more about being part of a cultural moment. In a similar vein, ‘Barbie’ became the must-see movie event of 2023. You can’t be part of the moment if you have to wait an indefinite amount of time until the film is available for streaming.

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ can certainly be described as an ‘event movie’. Although it was unquestionably entertaining as hell and the most fun I’ve had in the cinema in a long time, it falls short of being the greatest movie of the year. The plot has more holes than Swiss cheese, and some of the jokes are so specific that I worry the film won’t age well. However, this hasn’t prevented it from shattering box-office records. After all, ‘D&W’ has its own equivalent of Barbie – Wolverine.

I don’t really care that much about the antics of Deadpool, nor am I a comic book reader. But Wolverine has always been one of my favorite movie characters. While there have been bad X-Men movies, there has never, ever been a bad Wolverine on film. This is only reinforced in ‘D&W’, where Wolverine is clearly the beating heart of this production and the reason why so many people have flocked to the cinema to watch it. Hell, they could make a 3-hour movie of Wolverine preparing dinner, and it would probably still be peak entertainment. (Now imagine Wolverine slicing tomatoes with his adamantium claws and swearing when he realizes he left the pie in the oven for too long, and the crust is now charred).

Hugh Jackman is Wolverine

The highlight of ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ is undoubtedly Hugh Jackman’s amazing arms abs acting and his performance as this iconic character. Jackman has played Wolverine since 2000’s ‘X-Men’. I recall seeing that movie for the first time in my late teens – it was unlike anything I had seen before (remember that this was a time when the only mainstream superhero movies were the older Superman and Batman films; even the first Spider-man movie was still two years away!). The most memorable part was Hugh Jackman’s great portrayal of the gruff antihero Wolverine. You can tell that he always gives his all to that role, and after so many years, he has almost become synonymous with the character. It’s absolutely brilliant that he has agreed to keep playing Wolverine for a little bit longer. (Until he’s 90!)

Although Wolverine, as a comic book character, has been around since the 1970s, his popularity in mainstream pop culture is more linked to his portrayal in films. Most people outside the US don’t follow Marvel comics, so the franchise’s global appeal is primarily due to the success of the movies. Amidst the dozens of other mutant characters in these films, Wolverine stands out. (There is a reason why they have recast all the other main characters over the last 24 years, except for the guy who plays their most popular hero)

It is rare for movie characters to cross over from the screen to the cultural zeitgeist. But Wolverine (at least the movie version) seems to be one of those enduring characters relished by different generations, akin to James Bond, Darth Vader, or Indiana Jones. So much so that when Hugh Jackman – known for his versatility as an actor – isn’t playing Wolverine, he tends to fade from our collective consciousness. His other roles haven’t left a similar impression on audiences. To many, Hugh Jackman is Wolverine, and vice versa.

This made me wonder how the popularity of the X-Men movies and of Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of Wolverine specifically have influenced the cultural zeitgeist (and how would one even measure this?). Perhaps I could explore it further using a public database of popular baby names in the US from 1880-2021. After all, baby names often reflect cultural trends and beloved characters or celebrities.

Popularity of the name Logan

Obviously, I don’t expect there to be very many people actually named Wolverine in the US (although I have the perception that you can name your kid literally anything there). To my relief, I did not find any ‘Wolverine’s in the baby name database either. For the sake of accuracy, I should mention that the database only contains the 1000 most popular names, so I cannot technically rule out that there are actual humans named Wolverine living among us. (If you are reading this and your name is Wolverine, then please accept my sincerest apologies on behalf of parents everywhere). 

Instead, I checked the US baby name dataset for the name ‘Logan’, which is one of Wolverine’s alternate names. As an added bonus, there aren’t that many other Logans in pop culture, so the likelihood of skewed results is reduced. To finish it off, I compared the popularity of the name Logan throughout the years to the release date of the major X-Men movies.

As you can see, there seems to be a direct relationship between the popularity of the name ‘Logan’ and the release of movies featuring the character Logan. The name started gaining popularity already in the 1980s and saw a significant increase in the mid-1990s, possibly due to the growing popularity of the comics and the related animated series that ran from 1992 to 1997.

However, sharp changes in the name’s popularity are clearly correlated with movie releases. It began with the original X-Men trilogy, culminating in 2006’s ‘The Last Stand’. The peak in the name’s popularity also occurred around this time, in 2007. After a brief decline, the name saw a slight resurgence again in 2009 when Hugh Jackman’s first solo movie, ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ hit theaters.

In the subsequent years, the name’s popularity fluctuated. It experienced another rise with the success of the acclaimed ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ in 2014. Then, it made a comeback with the release of the eponymous film ‘Logan’ in 2017 – widely regarded as the best Wolverine movie.

Since 2017, there has been a sharp decline in the popularity of the name ‘Logan’, coinciding with Hugh Jackman publicly announcing his retirement from playing the character. Without new X-Men movies and no news of recasting Wolverine, the popularity of the name ‘Logan’ has fallen back to pre-movie levels. If this isn’t a testament to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine being a cultural moment, I don’t know what is.

The dataset only goes up to 2021; no recent data have been made publicly available (yet). However, I hope to revisit this case study in a few years to further explore the ‘Wolverine effect’ and assess the impact of the recent ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ film on the name ‘Logan’, given the movie’s success. Considering Hugh Jackman’s marvelous return to the character of Wolverine, I am almost certain about the outcome.