How popular is the baby name Debbera 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 Debbera.

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Popularity of the baby name Debbera


Posts that mention the name Debbera

Where did the baby name Debraca come from in 1977?

Debraca Foxx as the "beauty of the week" in Jet magazine (Nov. 1977).
Actress Debraca Foxx

The name Debraca surfaced in the U.S. baby name data in 1977:

  • 1979: unlisted
  • 1978: unlisted
  • 1977: 7 baby girls named Debraca [debut]
  • 1976: unlisted
  • 1975: unlisted

And it never returned, making it a one-hit wonder.

My first thought was that Debraca might be mashup of Tristaca and Debbera, but some digging revealed a far more likely influence: Debraca Denise Foxx, the stepdaughter of comedian Redd Foxx (stage name of John Elroy Sanford).

Debraca appeared with Redd on an episode of his TV show Sanford and Son in January of 1977. Perhaps more importantly, in late 1977 she was presented as a “beauty of the week” in Jet magazine. (Other Jet beauties include Meyosha and Tchanavian.)

What are your thoughts on the name Debraca?

Sources:

Image: © 1977 Jet

P.S. Debraca dated Jackie Jackson, the oldest member of The Jackson 5, for a couple of years in the early ’70s.

Where did the baby name Tristaca come from in 1977?

tristaca, advertisement, baby name, 1977
Photo of “Tristaca” writing to “Debbera”

Here’s a name with a unique story: Tristaca. It appeared in the U.S. baby name data for just two years, 1977 and 1978.

  • 1979: unlisted
  • 1978: 11 baby girls named Tristaca
  • 1977: 11 baby girls named Tristaca [debut]
  • 1976: unlisted
  • 1975: unlisted

The similar name Tristica also popped up, but in 1977 only.

Where did these names come from?

An eye-catching advertisement for Christian Children’s Fund that ran in newspapers and major magazines (Newsweek, Time, Cosmopolitan, Mademoiselle, Vogue, Redbook, Ladies’ Home Journal, Parents’ Magazine, Psychology Today, etc.) in 1977 and 1978.

The top of the ad featured two photos: one of an impoverished child named Tristaca, the other of a Western woman named Debbera. Below Tristaca’s photo was a letter to Debbera (“My school report is very satisfactory”), and below Debbera’s photo was a letter to Tristaca (“I’m looking forward to the holidays now — hope to do a lot of skiing this winter”).

Check out how the ad copy kept repeating their names:

Tristaca and Debbera, though they’ve never even met, share a very special love. Tristaca lived in extreme poverty. Her mother has tried to support her family herself, but she can only get menial jobs that pay almost nothing.

Tristaca was a girl without any hopes, without any dreams. Then Debbera Drake came into her life.

Christian Children’s Fund was well known for their television commercials during that era, so a TV version of this advertisement might have existed as well, though I can’t find any evidence of it so far.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Tristaca?

P.S. The oddly spelled Debbera did not see a corresponding uptick in usage while the ad was out. Deborah-based names had been very trendy in the ’50s, so no doubt they sounded relatively passé by the later ’70s.