How popular is the baby name Rick 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 Rick.

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Popularity of the baby name Rick


Posts that mention the name Rick

What turned Blade into a baby name in the early 1980s?

The character Rick Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) from the movie "Blade Runner" (1982)
Rick Deckard from “Blade Runner”

The name Blade first emerged in the U.S. baby name data in 1982:

  • 1984: 8 baby boys named Blade
  • 1983: unlisted
  • 1982: 7 baby boys named Blade [debut]
  • 1981: unlisted
  • 1980: unlisted

Why?

I think the influence was the 1982 movie Blade Runner, which was based on the dystopian sci-fi novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) by Philip K. Dick.

The movie was set in Los Angeles in 2019. The main character, Rick Deckard (played by Harrison Ford), worked as a “blade runner” — a police officer tasked with tracking down and killing genetically-engineered humans known as “replicants” (which were designed to work in space colonies, but sometimes escaped to Earth).

This is one of several cases in which a baby name seems to have been inspired by a movie title as opposed to a movie character. Another example is Seattle, which debuted the year after Sleepless in Seattle came out.

The baby name Blade went on to see a steep rise in usage during the first half of the 1990s, no doubt thanks to the Young and the Restless character Alexander “Blade” Bladeson (played by Michael Tylo). The character appeared on the soap opera from early 1992 to late 1995.

The character Blade (played by Wesley Snipes) from the movie "Blade" (1998)
Blade from “Blade”

Blade never managed to crack the boys’ top 1,000, but it did reach and maintain its highest level of popularity from the mid-’90s through the first years of the 2000s.

  • 2003: 89 baby boys named Blade
  • 2002: 112 baby boys named Blade (peak popularity)
  • 2001: 103 baby boys named Blade
  • 2000: 95 baby boys named Blade
  • 1999: 99 baby boys named Blade

During most of this period, the primary pop culture influence would have been the movie character Blade, who was featured in a trilogy of superhero/horror films: Blade (1998), Blade II (2002), and Blade: Trinity (2004).

Blade (played by Wesley Snipes) was an African-American dhampir (half-human, half-vampire) whose mission was to hunt and kill vampires. His birth name was Eric Brooks; his nickname was a reference to his proficiency with bladed weapons such as swords and daggers. (Like Black Panther, Blade originated as a Marvel comic book character.)

What are your thoughts on the baby name Blade? Would you use it?

Sources: Blade Runner – Wikipedia, List of The Young and the Restless characters (1990s) – Wikipedia, Blade (character) – Wikipedia, Blade (Eric Brooks) – Marvel, SSA

Images: Screenshots of Blade Runner and Blade

What popularized the baby name Kiana in the 1990s?

Fitness instructor Kiana Tom
Kiana Tom on “Kiana’s Flex Appeal

The baby name Kiana started picking up steam in the late 1980s. The name’s rise accelerated through the first half of the 1990s, and it reached peak popularity in 1996:

Girls named Kiana (U.S.)Girls named Kiana (HI)
19981,371 [rank: 226th]49 [rank: 9th]
19971,507 [rank: 198th]47 [rank: 11th]
19961,585† [rank: 190th]56 [rank: 8th]
19951,535 [rank: 192nd]41 [rank: 17th]
19941,117 [rank: 249th]39 [rank: 23rd]
1993712 [rank: 358th]36 [rank: 31st]
1992633 [rank: 402nd]38 [rank: 25th]
1991333 [rank: 658th]20 [rank: 65th]
†Peak usage

The name was particularly trendy in the state of Hawaii.

Here’s a visual of the national usage:

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

What was drawing attention to the name Kiana during those years?

Fitness personality Kiana Tom.

It all started in the mid-1980s, when ESPN began broadcasting fitness shows. Their first, Bodies in Motion hosted by Gilad Janklowicz, premiered in 1985. Their second, Getting Fit with Denise Austin, followed two years later.

Their third, BodyShaping, started airing in 1988 and was originally hosted by 6-time Ms. Olympia Corinna “Cory” Everson. As the series evolved, though, hosting duties were transferred to Kiana Tom (who’d been one of Cory’s assistants) and bodybuilder Rick Valente.

Kiana Tom — who is of Chinese, Hawaiian, and Irish descent, and who typically did her beach workouts in a bikini — proved so popular with viewers that, in 1995, she was given her own fitness show: Kiana’s Flex Appeal on ESPN2.

She also hosted several other programs (such as ESPN Summer Sizzle) and gave acting a try (appearing in the fourth Universal Soldier film with Jean-Claude Van Damme, for instance) during the 1990s.

In a 2001 interview, she mentioned that she knew about dozens of her namesakes:

[A]t least 83 children have been named Kiana now — that’s the ultimate compliment!

She was born Joanne Kiana Tom in Hawaii in 1965. Her middle name is the Hawaiian form of the name Diana.

What are your thoughts on the name Kiana? (Do you like it more or less than the homophone Qiana?)

P.S. DePrise Brescia was another BodyShaping regular.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Kiana’s Flex Appeal

What gave the baby name Marylou a boost in 1961?

Ricky Nelson's single "Hello Mary Lou" (1961).
“Hello Mary Lou” single

The baby name Marylou was generally on the decline during the second half of the 20th century, but there was a conspicuous spike in usage in 1961 specifically:

  • 1963: 207 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 708th]
  • 1962: 207 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 719th]
  • 1961: 300 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 580th]
  • 1960: 227 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 675th]
  • 1959: 223 baby girls named Marylou [rank: 670th]

You can see it on the graph:

Graph of the usage of the baby name Marylou in the United States since 1880
Usage of the baby name Marylou

What caused the spike?

The Ricky Nelson song “Hello Mary Lou” (1961), which peaked at #9 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in May of 1961.

It was written by Gene Pitney, but sounded enough like the earlier song “Merry, Merry Lou” [vid] by Cayet Mangiaracina that the two musicians are now credited as co-authors.

Here’s “Hello Mary Lou”:

The song was released as the B-side to Nelson’s #1 hit “Travelin’ Man.” It was also included on his sixth studio album, Rick Is 21.

That album title is notable because, on his 21st birthday, Nelson — born Eric Hilliard Nelson in 1940 — officially changed his recording name from “Ricky Nelson” to “Rick Nelson.”

The name change was a hard sell, though, because audiences had known him for so long as Ricky. He’d gone by “Ricky” on his family’s long-running sitcom, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (on radio and/or television from 1944 to 1966), and he’d continued to use “Ricky” when he launched his recording career in 1957. (His first five albums were called Ricky, Ricky Nelson, Ricky Sings Again, Songs by Ricky, and More Songs by Ricky.)

One of the ways he promoted his songs — “Hello Mary Lou” included — was by performing them at the end of weekly Ozzie and Harriet TV episodes. (Elvis Presley was a fan of these musical segments, incidentally.)

Getting back to Mary Lou…what are your thoughts on the compound name Marylou? Would you consider using it?

And, which song you like better: “Hello Mary Lou” from 1961, or “Mary Lou” from 1926?

Sources:

P.S. In April of 1963, Rick Nelson married 17-year-old Kristin Harmon. Later the same year, she began appearing regularly (as “Kris”) on Ozzie and Harriet. As a result, the names Kristin and Kris both saw increased usage in 1963.

Where did the baby name Eliantte come from in 2019?

Eliantte chains with diamonds
Eliantte chains

The name Eliantte debuted in the U.S baby name data in 2019, dropped out the data the next year, then returned in 2021:

  • 2021: 13 baby boys named Eliantte
  • 2020: unlisted
  • 2019: 6 baby boys named Eliantte [debut]
  • 2018: unlisted
  • 2017: unlisted

Where did it come from?

New York City-based jewelry company Eliantte (pronounced el-ee-AHN-tay), known for creating extravagant, bespoke pieces for hip hop artists.

The brand has gotten shout-outs in hundreds of rap songs since early 2015. The songs that saw the most chart success (before/during 2019) were…

  • “Famous” (2017) by 21 Savage
    • Lyric: “Went and seen Eliantte, and he froze us”
    • Peak: #94 on the U.S. Hot 100
  • “Yosemite” (2018) by Travis Scott, feat. Gunna and Nav
    • Lyric: “Thirty pointers and up, Eliantte, drippin’, my whole team wet”
    • Peak: #25
  • “Never Recover” (2018) by Lil Baby, Gunna and Drake
    • Lyric: “Hit Eliantte and left with a puddle”
    • Peak: #15
  • “Startender” (2018) by A Boogie wit da Hoodie, feat. Offset and Tyga
    • Lyric: “Eliantte chains, now it’s time to run it up”
    • Peak: #59
  • “Daddy” (2019) by Blueface, feat. Rich the Kid
    • Lyric: “Eliantte bust down on the chain”
    • Peak: #78

Other rappers that have name-checked Eliantte in one or more songs include Future, Young Thug, Young Scooter, Fetty Wap, Young Dolph, Rick Ross, Roddy Ricch, Soulja Boy, Playboi Carti, City Girls, Lil Uzi Vert, and Don Toliver.

So how did the brand come to be called “Eliantte”?

Eliantte & Co. was founded in 2018 by a man who goes by the name “Elliot Eliantte” (or simply “Eliantte”). He was previously known as “Elliot Avianne,” because he’d worked for the NYC-based jeweler Avianne & Co. for about a decade before starting his own business.

Elliot of Eliantte & Co.
Elliot

The nickname Eliantte emerged sometime in the mid-2010s, when Elliot was in the studio with rapper Young Scooter:

I got the name Eliantte from Young Scooter. He was trying to say my name in a song but it wasn’t really rhyming. So he said ‘eliantay.’

I actually stopped him after. I’m like, “Yo, that’s not my name. Say Elliot.”

And he’s like, “Bro, it’s not working.” He’s like, “We’re gonna go with ‘eliantay’.”

And then from there, you know, everybody was calling me ‘eliantay’.

I’m sure being mentioned in lyrics helped me out in my career, but also my craftsmanship, my detail, the designs I do, I set a lot of trends, so all that comes into play.

I’m not sure how he settled on the spelling “Eliantte.” I also couldn’t find any clues about Elliot’s actual surname. But I did learn that any mention of “Elliot” in a rap song is also typically a reference to Elliot Eliantte.

The name’s return to the data in 2021 may be due (at least in part) to the extra attention Elliot Eliantte got for selling Lil Uzi Vert the $24 million pink diamond that the rapper wore — implanted in his forehead — for roughly the first half of the year.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Eliantte?

Sources:

Images: © Eliantte & Co., © 2019 GQ