Though I’m talking about the baby name and not the UFC fighter, the two are inextricably linked.
In 2015, California-born mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey (pronounced row-zee — the first syllable rhymes with “now”) was at the peak of her fame. How do I know this? Just look at Google’s 2015 search rankings. She was the most searched-for athlete, the 3rd most searched-for person, and the 5th most searched-for term overall in the U.S.
The same year, the name Rousey debuted in the U.S. baby name data.
While 2016 started out pretty well for Rousey (she hosted Saturday Night Live in January, for instance) the year ended with her second UFC defeat, along with talk of her retiring from MMA altogether. Even more telling, Ronda Rousey was nowhere to be found among the top search terms of 2016.
So will her surname be back on the baby name charts in 2016? How about 2017? What do you think?
Update, Jan. 2022: Rousey has not come back, so I’m gonna go ahead and declare this one a one-hit wonder!
- 2017: unlisted
- 2016: unlisted
- 2015: 6 baby girls named Rousey [debut]
- 2014: unlisted
- 2013: unlisted
Image: © 2015 Sports Illustrated
My guess is no, Rousey won’t return in 2016. It seems that a lot of people simply stopped talking about her after that first lost in Nov. 2015.
And…you are correct! Rousey was not back on the list in 2016. It may end up being a one-hit wonder (unless her acting career takes off).