How popular is the baby name Kimble 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 Kimble.
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The surname-name Janssen first appeared on the baby name charts in 1964:
1968: unlisted
1967: 5 baby boys named Janssen
1966: unlisted
1965: 8 baby boys named Janssen
1964: 16 baby boys named Janssen [debut]
1963: unlisted
1962: unlisted
It wasn’t a particularly impressive debut, but 16 baby boys was enough to make Janssen one of the top debut names of the year.
What was the influence here?
Actor David Janssen, who played Dr. Richard Kimble in the memorable TV drama The Fugitive from 1963 to 1967. Dr. Kimble, falsely convicted of murdering his wife Helen, escaped from authorities on the way to death row and spent the rest of the series both evading recapture and searching for the real killer, the mysterious “one-armed man.”
Notably, 72% of the television sets in America tuned in to see the show’s final episode, in which Dr. Kimble finally finds the justice he’s been seeking.
(The name Kimble also saw slightly higher usage while the show was on the air.)
The name Kimetha appeared for the first time in the U.S. baby name data in 1955:
1960: 5 baby girls named Kimetha
1959: 16 baby girls named Kimetha
1958: 16 baby girls named Kimetha
1957: 9 baby girls named Kimetha
1956: 20 baby girls named Kimetha
1955: 15 baby girls named Kimetha [debut]
1954: unlisted
1953: unlisted
The influence? Child actress Kimetha Laurie.
She had appeared on television and in theater productions throughout the 1950s, but her most high-profile role was as sociopathic Rhoda Penmark in the play The Bad Seed (based on the classic thriller of the same name written by William March and published in 1954).
But, wait a minute…how is that right? We’ve all seen images of the little girl from in The Bad Seed. She was played by actress Patty McCormack — wearing those long blonde braids — in both the successful Broadway play (Dec. 1954 to Sept. 1955) and the equally successful movie (released Sept. 1956).
Ah, but in between the play and the film, a touring company took the show on the road for 31 weeks. The first performance was in Delaware on December 1, 1955. In this production, Rhoda the “murderous moppet” was played by Kimetha Laurie — wearing long brunette braids. She had won the part of Rhoda “over 90 other applicants.”
So how did Kimetha Laurie come to have that name? Kimetha was her birth name, coined by her mother, who took “Kim” from her husband’s name (Arthur Kimble Ouerbacker) and added a fanciful ending. She began acting as Kimetha Ouerbacker, but soon switched to the easier-to-pronounce stage name Kimetha Laurie. (Laurie was a family name; the influence wasn’t Piper Laurie.)
A handful of girls born in 1955 and over the next few years got her full stage name, “Kimetha Laurie,” as their first and middle name. One example is Kimetha Laurie Ramler (b. 1959).
Two other baby names that debuted in the data around this time, Kennetha and Kenetha, may have showed up thanks to the combined influences of Kimetha and then-trendy Kenneth.
Do you like the name Kimetha?
P.S. Like Tirrell, Kimetha also had a part on the soap opera Love of Life in the ’50s…
Sources:
Alonso, Harriet Hyman. Robert E. Sherwood: The Playwright in Peace and War. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2007.
“Did You Ever Dine With a Murderess?” Detroit Free Press 18 Jan. 1956: 22.
Image: Adapted from The Bad Seed (1955) via The New York Public Library
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