Mystery baby name: Johnross

Graph of the usage of the baby name Johnross in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Johnross

The last name in the summer Mystery Monday series is Johnross, which debuted on the charts in 1982:

  • 1986: 8 baby boys named Johnross
  • 1985: unlisted
  • 1984: 5 baby boys named Johnross
  • 1983: unlisted
  • 1982: 11 baby boys named Johnross [debut]
  • 1981: unlisted

Dallas, the popular TV show, seems like the obvious answer here. After all, it featured a whopping three characters named John Ross: John Ross “Jock” Ewing, Sr., John Ross “J.R.” Ewing, Jr., and John Ross Ewing III.

But which character did it refer to specifically? And why?

My guess is the youngest — the only one actually called “John Ross” on the show — but he’d been a character since his (fictional) birth in 1979, so I’m not sure how/why he’d be influencing the charts years later.

If you watched Dallas in the early ’80s, what are your thoughts on this? What am I missing?

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