Where did the baby name Jonbenet come from in 1997?

JonBenét Ramsey on the cover of People (Jan. 1997)

Several TV programs about the unsolved murder of 6-year-old JonBenét Ramsey are set to air in the coming weeks and months, as December 25 of this year marks the 20th anniversary of JonBenét’s death.

The news of her murder brought attention to her unusual name — an invention inspired by the name of her father, John Bennett Ramsey — and, in 1997, Jonbenet popped up for the first time in the U.S. baby name data:

  • 2000: unlisted
  • 1999: 6 baby girls named Jonbenet
  • 1998: unlisted
  • 1997: 14 baby girls named Jonbenet [debut]
  • 1996: unlisted
  • 1995: unlisted

It returned in 1999, but has been used too rarely to appear in the data since then. (A name needs to be given to at least five babies of one gender or the other, per year, to be included in the publicly available version of the U.S. baby name dataset.)

Do you think influence of the upcoming TV programs will boost Jonbenet back onto the name charts either this year or next?

Update, July 2023: Turns out that the extra 20th-anniversary attention did not inspire an appreciable number of parents to use the baby name JonBenét in 2016/2017.

Sources: JonBenét Ramsey – Wikipedia, SSA
Image: © 1997 People

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