The name Desiree, which became trendy in the mid-1950s, wasn’t doing anything special in the early 1940s when the name Desira first appeared in the U.S. baby name data:
- 1944: unlisted
- 1943: unlisted
- 1942: 5 baby girls named Desira [debut]
- 1941: unlisted
- 1940: unlisted
So where did Desira come from?
Looks like the source is the comic strip Flash Gordon, which introduced a character named Queen Desira in January of 1942. Desira was the red-headed ruler of the jungle kingdom Tropica (on the rogue planet Mongo) and she was regularly featured in the strip until 1944.
Wonder Woman also introduced a character named Queen Desira in 1942 — a rather fishy coincidence — but I doubt this Desira had much/any influence on the charts, as Wonder Woman wasn’t in newspapers until 1944. (Her first standalone comic book came in mid-1942, a bit after Sheena’s comic book).
Do you like the name Desira?
Sources:
- Grand Comics Database
- Black Gate’s Flash Gordon series: Queen Desira (1942), Jungles of Mongo (1942), Fiery Desert of Mongo (1942-3), Battle for Tropica (1943-4), Triumph in Tropica (1944)
How is it pronounced? I keep saying Deh-seer-uh. It may be a bit difficult now a days because it looks a bit like desire. Who knows though, a movie star may love it and set a new trend.
I love Desiree, if going for a name with desire in it’s meaning or Deidre (even if the meaning is sad) Deidre Hall was so beautiful to me as a kid.
That would be my guess on pronunciation as well. Unfortunately I didn’t find an official pronunciation anywhere, so I don’t know for sure how the cartoonist (Alex Raymond) was pronouncing “Desira” in his head as he created the storyline.