These eight first names are the most common on the Stanley Cup

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If you want your kid to win the Stanley Cup, you might as well name him Bob.

Yesterday, the official NHL History Instagram account released a list of the most common first names to appear on the league’s championship trophy.

Each year, the players from the winning team are added to one of the rings on the historic trophy, with the names being etched in history forever (or until their ring ultimately gets retired off the trophy and replaced with newer champions).

And Bob, with 47 entries, claimed the top spot, beating out Bill (38) and Mike (34) to round out the top three.

Here’s a list of the eight most common names to appear on the Stanley Cup, with the three most notable entries for each one:

  1. Bob: Bob Gainey, Bob Goldham, Bob Turner (five each)
  2. Bill: Bill Barilko (four times), Bill Ezinicki (three times), Bill Nyrop (three times)
  3. Mike: Mike Bossy (four times), Mike Keane (three times), Mike McEwen (three times)
  4. John: John Ferguson (five times), John Tonelli (four times), John Madden (three times)
  5. Dave: Dave Keon (four times), Dave Langevin (four times), Dave Hunter (three times)
  6. Ken: Ken Dryden (six times), Ken Mosdell (four times), Ken Morrow (four times)
  7. Doug: Doug Harvey (six times), Doug Jarvis (four times), Doug Risebrough (four times)
  8. Joe: Joe Klukay (six times), Joe Mullen (three times), Joe Nieuwendyk (three times)

Unfortunately for us Bob fans, it might be a while before there’s another one on the Stanley Cup, assuming Sergei Bobrovsky doesn’t count should his Florida Panthers come out victorious over the Edmonton Oilers. The Panthers are currently up 2-0 in the series, with Game 3 going tonight at Edmonton’s Rogers Place.

Suppose you’re looking for a bit more history into the naming science behind sports success. In that case, we’d recommend taking a peek at “The Bob Emergency,” a two-part YouTube docuseries led by Secret Base’s Jon Bois that discusses the dearth of the name “Bob” in professional sports.

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