The theme this week? Names that tie back to the end of the Vietnam War.
Yesterday’s name, Chaffee, isn’t the only Vietnam-related name we see on the charts in 1975. There are plenty of Vietnamese names that pop up that year as well. Here are the ones I’ve spotted so far:
| Vietnamese Boy Name Debuts, 1975 | Vietnamese Girl Name Debuts, 1975 |
|---|---|
|
Viet, 23 baby boys [top debut] Hung, 16 [4th] Nam, 14 [6th] Huy, 13 [7th] Long, 11 Vu, 10 Tran, 9 Duc, 8 Dung, 8 Hoang, 8 My, 8 Nguyen, 8 An, 7 Luan, 7 Phong, 7 Binh, 6 Minh, 6 Quoc, 6 Anh, 5 Hai, 5 Linh, 5 Quang, 5 Tien, 5 Yun, 5 |
Anh, 10 baby girls [58th highest debut] Phuong, 9 Nguyen, 7 Thu, 7 Bich, 6 Linh, 6 Thao, 6 Trang, 6 Chau, 5 Hoa, 5 Lien, 5 Ngoc, 5 Viet, 5 Yen, 5 |
Many other Vietnamese names — Bao, Chinh, Dao, Giang, Huong, Khanh, Lam, Nguyet, Phuc, Quyen, Suong, Thanh, Vuong, and so forth — debut on the SSA’s list during the late ’70s and early ’80s.
One of the Vietnamese babies born at Chaffee in 1975 was Dat Nguyen, who went on to become the first Vietnamese-American to play in the NFL. His name, Dat, wasn’t popular enough to make the national list until 1979.
[For context, one of the pop culture names that debuted in 1975 was Chakakhan. Another was Tennille, inspired by Captain & Tennille.]