How popular is the baby name Lafondra 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 Lafondra.

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Popularity of the baby name Lafondra


Posts that mention the name Lafondra

Mystery baby name: LaFondra

Graph of the usage of the baby name Lafondra in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Lafondra

Ready for another mystery? This month we’ve got the name Lafondra, which was the top debut name of 1962:

  • 1964: unlisted
  • 1963: 10 baby girls named Lafondra
  • 1962: 30 baby girls named Lafondra (7 born in California specifically)
  • 1961: unlisted
  • 1960: unlisted

Though it’s written “Lafondra” in the SSA data, elsewhere on the internet it’s usually written “LaFondra” (with a capital F).

The first thing I should note is that actress Jane Fonda became popular in the early 1960s. As a result, usage of the baby name Fonda was boosted into the top 1,000 from 1960 to 1966:

  • 1967: 97 baby girls named Fonda
  • 1966: 118 baby girls named Fonda [rank: 930th]
  • 1965: 128 baby girls named Fonda [rank: 884th]
  • 1964: 145 baby girls named Fonda [rank: 864th]
  • 1963: 181 baby girls named Fonda [rank: 767th] – peak usage
  • 1962: 161 baby girls named Fonda [rank: 826th]
  • 1961: 143 baby girls named Fonda [rank: 904th]
  • 1960: 152 baby girls named Fonda [rank: 841st]
  • 1959: 108 baby girls named Fonda

The trendiness of “Fonda” in turn gave a boost to Lafonda (typically written “LaFonda”):

  • 1964: 21 baby girls named Lafonda
  • 1963: 24 baby girls named Lafonda
  • 1962: 35 baby girls named Lafonda – peak usage
  • 1961: 24 baby girls named Lafonda
  • 1960: 9 baby girls named Lafonda

But LaFonda saw peak usage the year before Fonda, in 1962 — the same year that LaFondra-with-an-R debuted. So perhaps the event that gave LaFondra-with-an-R a boost had an effect upon LaFonda as well.

The “La” prefix in both of these names suggests African-American usage, so I scanned copies of Jet and Ebony from the time period, but couldn’t come up with any clues.

Do you have any theories about where LaFondra came from? (Even better: If you’re a LaFondra, please leave a comment and tell us how you got your name!)

Baby names that debuted most impressively in the U.S. data, 1881 to today

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Though most of the baby names in the SSA’s annual datasets are repeats, each dataset does contain a handful of brand-new names.

Below are the most popular debut names for every single year on record, after the first.

Why bother with an analysis like this? Because debut names often have cool stories behind them, and high-hitting debuts are especially likely to have intriguing explanations tied to historical people/events. So this is more than a list of names — it’s also a list of stories.

Here’s the format: “Girl name(s), number of baby girls; Boy name(s), number of baby boys.” Keep in mind that the raw numbers aren’t too trustworthy for about the first six decades, though. (More on that in a minute.)

  • 1881: Adell & Celeste, 14; Brown & Newell, 14
  • 1882: Verda, 14; Cleve, 13
  • 1883: Laurel, 12; Brady, Festus, Jewell, Odell & Rosco, 8
  • 1884: Crystal & Rubie, 11; Benjamen, Jens, Oakley & Whitney, 9
  • 1885: Clotilde, 13; Arley & Terence, 9
  • 1886: Manuelita, 10; Terrence, 10
  • 1887: Verlie, 13; Myles, 11
  • 1888: Ebba, 18; Carlisle, Hughie & Orvel, 9
  • 1889: Garnett, 12; Doyle, 9
  • 1890: Verena, 11; Eduardo & Maggie, 10
  • 1891: Gayle, Idabelle & Zenia, 9; Sheridan, 14
  • 1892: Astrid, Dallas & Jennett, 9; Corbett, 23
  • 1893: Elmyra, 12; Estel, Mayo, Shelley & Thorwald, 8
  • 1894: Beatriz, Carola & Marrie, 9; Arvel, Erby & Floy, 8
  • 1895: Trilby, 12; Roosevelt, 12
  • 1896: Lotus, 11; Hazen, 11
  • 1897: Dewey, 13; Bryon, Frankie, Mario & Rhoda, 7
  • 1898: Manilla, 35; Hobson, 38
  • 1899: Ardis & Irva, 19; Haven, 9
  • 1900: Luciel, 14; Rosevelt, 20
  • 1901: Venita, 11; Eino, 9
  • 1902: Mercie, 10; Clarnce, 9
  • 1903: Estela, 11; Lenon & Porfirio, 7
  • 1904: Magdaline, 9; Adrain, Arbie, Betty, Desmond, Domenic, Duard, Raul & Severo, 8
  • 1905: Oliver, 9; Eliot & Tyree, 9
  • 1906: Nedra, 11; Domenico & Ryan, 10
  • 1907: Theta, 20; Taft, 16
  • 1908: Pasqualina, 10; Robley, 12
  • 1909: Wilmoth, 9; Randal & Vidal, 9
  • 1920: Dardanella, 23; Steele, 11
  • 1921: Marilynne, 13; Norberto, 14
  • 1922: Evelean, 14; Daren, 35
  • 1923: Nalda, 15; Clinard & Dorland, 9
  • 1924: Charis, 14; Melquiades, 13
  • 1925: Irmalee, 37; Wayburn, 11
  • 1926: Narice, 13; Bibb, 14
  • 1927: Sunya, 14; Bidwell, 14
  • 1928: Joreen, 22; Alfread & Brevard, 9
  • 1929: Jeannene, 25; Donnald, Edsol, Rhys & Wolfgang, 8

(From the SSA: “Note that many people born before 1937 never applied for a Social Security card, so their names are not included in our data.”)

  • 1990: Isamar, 446; Dajour, 26
  • 1991: Emilce, 30; Quayshaun, 93
  • 1992: Akeiba, 49; Devanta, 41
  • 1993: Rosangelica, 91; Deyonta, 37
  • 1994: Ajee, 185; Shyheim, 168
  • 1995: Yamilex, 130; Alize, 30
  • 1996: Moesha, 426; Quindon, 67
  • 1997: Erykah, 279; Cross, 43
  • 1998: Naidelyn, 78; Zyshonne, 26
  • 1999: Verania, 62; Cauy, 32
  • 2000: Kelis, 108; Rithik, 22
  • 2001: Yaire, 184; Jahiem, 155
  • 2002: Kaydence, 70; Omarian, 31
  • 2003: Trenyce, 88; Pharrell, 67
  • 2004: Eshal, 38; Jkwon, 100
  • 2005: Yarisbel, 30; Jayceon, 48
  • 2006: Lizania, 35; Balian, 24
  • 2007: Leilene, 81; Yurem, 206
  • 2008: Aideliz, 91; Yosgart, 72
  • 2009: Greidys, 186; Jeremih, 87

I’ve already written about some of the names above, and I plan to write about all the others as well…eventually. In the meanwhile, if you want to beat me to it and leave a comment about why Maverick hit in 1957, or why Moesha hit in 1996, feel free!

Source: U.S. SSA

Image: Adapted from LotusBud0048a (public domain) by Frank “Fg2” Gualtieri