Where did the baby name Danya came from in 1939?

Advertisement for Danya hand cream (1940)
Danya ad, 1940

The name Danya began showing up in the U.S. baby name data in 1939:

  • 1943: 9 baby girls named Danya
  • 1942: 7 baby girls named Danya
  • 1941: 16 baby girls named Danya
  • 1940: 5 baby girls named Danya
  • 1939: 7 baby girls named Danya [debut]
  • 1938: unlisted
  • 1937: unlisted

The influence?

I think it was Danya hand cream, which was introduced by Pond’s in 1937.

Advertisement for Danya hand cream and Drene shampoo (1939)
Drene & Danya ad, 1939

Danya hand cream was advertised in both newspapers and magazines — particularly women’s magazines, such as Ladies’ Home Journal, McCall’s, Good Housekeeping, and Woman’s Home Companion.

In 1939, incidentally, it was cross-promoted with Drene shampoo. You could buy them both together for just 53¢ (a savings of 32¢!).

Despite all the marketing, Danya lotion saw poor sales. It was discontinued in 1943. (Monchel was another name-influencing beauty product that didn’t last long.)

The baby name Danya, on the other hand, stayed in the data for years to come. In fact, peak usage happened relatively recently: 126 baby girls in 2007.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Danya?

Sources:

Images from Good Housekeeping (Mar. 1, 1940, page 131) and Chicago Sunday Tribune (Feb. 12, 1939, page 3).

Popular baby names in Norway, 2020

Flag of Norway
Flag of Norway

According to Statistics Norway, the most popular baby names in the country in 2020 were Nora/Norah and Jakob/Jacob.

Here are Norway’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2020:

Girl Names

  1. Nora/Norah, 416 baby girls
  2. Emma, 362
  3. Ella, 337
  4. Maja/Maia/Maya, 321
  5. Olivia, 315
  6. Emilie, 306
  7. Sofie/Sophie, 296
  8. Leah/Lea, 288
  9. Sofia/Sophia, 282
  10. Ingrid, 271

Boy Names

  1. Jakob/Jacob, 422 baby boys
  2. Emil, 419
  3. Noah/Noa, 396
  4. Oliver, 382
  5. Filip/Fillip/Philip/Phillip, 381
  6. William, 339
  7. Lucas/Lukas, 316
  8. Liam, 308
  9. Henrik, 300
  10. Oskar/Oscar, 297

In the girls’ top 10, Emilie and Leah/Lea replaced Ada and Sara/Sarah/Zara.

In the boys’ top 10, Liam replaced Aksel/Axel.

In the capital city of Oslo, the top names were Mohammad and Maja.

Finally, in 2019, the top two names were Emma and Jakob/Jacob.

Sources: Navn – SSB, Dette var de mest populære navnene i 2020 – SSB

Image: Adapted from Flag of Norway (public domain)

Where did the baby name Chevelle come from in 1963?

Part of a Chevrolet Chevelle advertisement from the 1960s
Chevrolet Chevelle

Ready for another car-inspired baby name?

Today’s name is Chevelle, which made a big splash in the data in 1963 when it debuted both as a girl name and as a boy name — an uncommon occurrence.

  • 1966: 35 baby girls named Chevelle
  • 1965: 43 baby girls named Chevelle
  • 1964: 83 baby girls and 5 baby boys named Chevelle
  • 1963: 49 baby girls and 6 baby boys named Chevelle [dual debut]
  • 1962: unlisted
  • 1961: unlisted

But that’s not all! Also debuting in the data around this time were a slew of similar names: Chevell, Chevella, Shevelle, Shevell, and Shavelle.

The source, of course, was the Chevrolet Chevelle. The new car was introduced in August of 1963 and was an instant success.

How did the company come up with the name?

In all, Chevrolet personnel submitted some 3,000 suggestions for a name. Eventually the list was cut to a half-dozen, including Chevalle (which sounded too much like the French for “horse”) and Chevair.

Bunky Knudsen, Chevy’s general manager, made the final choice.

According to another source, Bunky* admitted that Chevelle was “a coined name with no special meaning.”

What do you think of the baby name Chevelle?

*Bunky’s real name was Semon. The nickname “Bunky,” given to him by his father, was a World War I-era term for bunkmate, or buddy.

Sources:

Five-name Friday: Boy name for Aurora’s brother

It’s Five-Name Friday! Haven’t done one of these in a while. :) Here’s today’s baby name request:

Brother name for Aurora, Andrea and Joseph. Does not need to be A or J name.

Can you come up with five solid baby name suggestions for this person?

Here are the rules:

  • Be independent. Choose your five names before looking at anyone else’s comment.
  • Be sincere. Stick to legit recommendations you would offer a real-life friend.
  • Five names total in your comment, please. If you go over, the extras will be deleted.

Which five baby names are you going to suggest?