The name Sanita started appearing in the U.S. baby name data in the late 1950s:
- 1961: unlisted
- 1960: 7 baby girls named Sanita
- 1959: 6 baby girls named Sanita
- 1958: 10 baby girls named Sanita
- 1957: 11 baby girls named Sanita [debut]
- 1956: unlisted
In 1957, a young woman named Sanita Pelkey won the Miss New York beauty pageant and finished twelfth in the Miss USA pageant.
(That was the doubly scandalous year during which the Miss USA winner, Leona Gage, was found to be married and the Miss Universe winner, Gladys Zender of Peru, was found to be underage. Leona was stripped of her title, but Gladys was not.)
Getting back to Sanita Pelkey…she went on to appear in several movies and on television until the late ’60s. (And she was briefly married to Rex Reason, a fellow actor with a similarly memorable name.)
Do you like the name Sanita?