How popular is the baby name Martika 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 Martika.
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The rare name Milira first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1990:
1992: unlisted
1991: 16 baby girls named Milira [peak]
1990: 7 baby girls named Milira [debut]
1989: unlisted
1988: unlisted
It more than doubled in usage a year later, then dropped back below the 5-baby threshold.
Where did it come from?
New York-based R&B singer Milira Jones, known mononymously as Milira (pronounced mil-IE-ruh).
Milira’s self-titled debut album, released in June of 1990, featured her two most successful singles: “Mercy Mercy Me” (a “gently hip-hoppy version” of the Marvin Gaye classic) and “Go Outside in the Rain.” Neither one reached Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart, but both landed inside the top 40 on the Hot R&B Singles chart (peaking at #21 and #36, respectively).
Incidentally, one music reviewer began her critique of the album by calling attention to Milira’s name:
Milira — not to be confused with Malaria, Madonna, Martika or CBS recording starlet Mariah — hasn’t much of anything new to offer R&B fans, but what she does, she does professionally.
The name Safire first popped up in the U.S. baby name data in the late 1980s:
1991: unlisted
1990: unlisted
1989: 6 baby girls named Safire [debut]
1988: unlisted
1987: unlisted
What put it there?
Latin freestyle singer Sa-Fire.
She was born (as Wilma Cosmé) in Puerto Rico, but grew up in New York.
Her self-titled debut album, released in 1988, spawned four singles — all of which reached Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart.
The most successful was the ballad “Thinking of You,” which was written “about her uncle who died of AIDS in the Bronx.” The song peaked at #12 on the Hot 100 in May of 1989. It climbed even higher (#4) on the Adult Contemporary chart.
One reporter guessed (in 1989) that the trendiness of Sa-Fire and other “up-and-coming Latino stars” had been fueled by a film:
Since the success of the movie and sound track album “La Bamba” two years ago, the American pop music charts have become populated by young Hispanic performers — Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine, Sa-fire, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, Sweet Sensation, Exposé and Martika.
What are your thoughts on the baby name Safire? Do you like it more or less than, say, Safira?
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