How popular is the baby name Chaffee in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Chaffee.

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Popularity of the baby name Chaffee


Posts that mention the name Chaffee

Where did the baby name Baretta come from in 1975?

Title of the TV series "Toma" (1973)
Toma

The gritty TV police drama Toma, which starred actor Tony Musante as New Jersey police detective David Toma, started airing in 1973.

The year the show premiered, the baby name Toma, which had only ever appeared in the data as a girl name, started seeing usage as a boy name. It even cracked the boys’ top 1,000 briefly.

Girls named TomaBoys named Toma
1975626
19742184 [rank: 884th]
19732144*
19729.
19715.
*Debut

But usage returned to pre-Toma levels after the series was canceled in 1974.

Title of the TV series "Baretta" (1975-1978)
Baretta

In 1975, a retooled version of Toma called Baretta came out. The new show, which starred Robert Blake as New York City police detective Tony Baretta, was less violent and included more comic relief than the original. (Baretta had a pet cockatoo named Fred, and one of his informants was a man called Rooster.)

In response, the name Baretta debuted in the baby name data, and it remained there for the same number of years the Emmy-winning series was on the air (1975-1978).

  • 1979: unlisted
  • 1978: 8 baby boys named Baretta
  • 1977: 13 baby boys named Baretta
  • 1976: 6 baby girls / 13 baby boys named Baretta
  • 1975: 14 baby girls [debut] / 18 baby boys [debut] named Baretta
  • 1974: unlisted
  • 1973: unlisted

Notice how the name debuted on both sides of the list. Other dual-debut names from the 1970s include Chaffee, Chudney, Khaalis, Shilo, Sundown, and Tavares.

Which name do you like more, Toma or Baretta?

Where did the baby name Illya come from in 1965?

The character Illya Kuryakin from the TV series  "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (1964-1968).
Illya Kuryakin from “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

The name Illya double-debuted in the U.S. baby name data in the mid-1960s:

 Boys Named IllyaGirls Named Illya
196755 [rank 980th]10
196678 [rank 828th]11
196535*5*
1964..
1963..
*Debut

Illya was the top debut name for boys in 1965. In fact, it ended up becoming one of the top boy-name debuts overall, and it reached the top 1000 twice.

So where did it come from?

The influence wasn’t the movie that gave yesterday’s name Ilya a boost, but the Cold War-era spy show The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which premiered on TV in 1964 and ran until 1968. (U.N.C.L.E. was an acronym for “United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.”)

The main characters were CIA agent Napoleon Solo (played by Robert Vaughn) and KGB agent Illya Nickovetch Kuryakin (played by David McCallum). Illya, a Slavic form of Elijah, was spelled out in the opening credits.

The name Napoleon may have also gotten a slight boost from the show, though it’s hard to tell.

Do you like the name Illya?

(Other dual-gender debuts I’ve posted about include Chaffee, Dasani, Dondi, Rikishi, and Sundown.)

Where did the baby name Dasani come from in 1999?

Dasani water bottles

Bottled water became increasingly trendy in the U.S. during the final decades of the 20th century. It wasn’t until the mid-to-late ’90s, though, that major players in the beverage industry finally hopped on the bandwagon: Pepsi launched Aquafina in 1994, and Coca-Cola followed with Dasani in 1999.

While I’ve never seen “Aquafina” used as a human name, Dasani popped up in the U.S. baby name data right on cue in 1999. In fact, in was a rare dual-gender debut that year:

Girls named DasaniBoys named Dasani
20036718
2002105†28
20019460†
20005837
19999*9*
1998..
1997..
*Debut, †Peak usage

The name, which saw peak usage in the early 2000s, also gave rise to a bunch of variants (Dasany, Dasanii, Desani) and soundalikes (Asani, Masani, Jasani, Tasani, Kasani, Sani).

What does the word Dasani mean? Here’s the official answer, straight from the 1999 version of the Dasani website (archived via the Wayback Machine):

People are having a lot of fun guessing the origin of the name DASANI. One Coca-Cola executive jokingly said it sounded like a “Roman god of water.” Actually, the name DASANI is an original creation. Consumer testing showed that the name is relaxing and suggests pureness and replenishment.

Similarly, an article from early 1999 explained that “the name Dasani isn’t derived from any existing word, English or foreign, but is meant to evoke the idea of freshness and purity.”

What are your thoughts on the baby name Dasani?

Sources:

P.S. I have seen Aquafina used as a stage name: Awkwafina (born Nora Lum).

P.P.S. Other dual-gender debuts include Chaffee, Dondi, Illya, Rikishi, Shelva, and Sundown.

Where did the baby name Rikishi come from in 2000?

Professional wrestler Rikishi
Rikishi

The name Rikishi is rather unique. Not only is it a rare dual-gender one-hit wonder, but it’s it’s also the only debut name I know of that was popularized by a fake sport.

If you’re a professional wrestling fan, you already know where this one came from: Rikishi, the character played by Solofa Fatu, Jr.

Fatu’s pro-wrestling career started in 1985. He played a series of not-so-successful characters (Prince Alofa, Fatu, The Sultan) before appearing as the bleach-blond, loincloth-wearing Rikishi Fatu on the TV show WWF Metal for the first time in late 1999.

The following year, the baby name Rikishi debuted (times two!) in the SSA’s baby name data:

  • 2002: unlisted
  • 2001: unlisted
  • 2000: 10 baby boys and 6 baby girls named Rikishi [dual-debut]
  • 1999: unlisted
  • 1998: unlisted

That’s the only year it managed to make the national list, though.

So where did the ring name Rikishi come from? Rikishi is the Japanese word for “sumo wrestler.” It can be traced back to an Old Chinese word meaning “man of strength.”

And what helped Rikishi become a WWF superstar? His signature wrestling move, the humiliating “Stink Face.”

With his opponent lying prone in the corner of the ring, Fatu sticks his sizable rear end, which is covered in skimpy tights, in their face with a smile normally reserved for children at Christmas.

“That [move] came up two years ago in Mobile, Ala., when I was wrestling the Big Bossman and he fell in the corner,” said Fatu, who has given the stinkface to almost every top WWF performer. “As I turned around, I heard some man yell out, `Put your [butt] in his face.’ Meantime, I forgot what spot came next, so I walked over and put my [butt] in his face.

“It was the biggest reaction I had gotten, so I said I was going to do it next time. It’s been easy since then. I don’t think the Bossman knew what was coming. He saw my cheeks backing up and had nowhere to go.”

Here’s a 5-minute Rikishi Stinkface Compilation. Lovely, no?

Sources: Rikishi – Wikipedia, Rikishi’s Move Is A Little Cheeky, But It Gets Him Noticed
Image: Adapted from Rikishi at Tribute to the Troops in 2003 by TSgt Lisa M. Zunzanyika, USAF.