In 1976 and 1977, several names like Sujey, Sugey and Suhey popped up in the national baby name dataset:
1975 | 1976 | 1977 | |
Sujey | – | 35* | 36 |
Sugey | – | 13* | 29 |
Suehay | – | 11* | – |
Sujei | – | 10* | 6 |
Suhey | – | 8* | 7 |
Sugei | – | 6* | – |
Zujey | – | – | 5* |
Sujeiry | – | 6* | – |
Sugeiri | – | 5* | – |
(Suehay, Sugei, and Sugeiri were one-hit wonders.)
The fact that the letters J, G, and H were used interchangeably — plus the fact that usage was concentrated in states with large Spanish-speaking populations (like California and Texas) — suggested right away to me that these names were being used by Spanish-speaking families.
In fact, I was already thinking “telenovela” when I happened to spot this intriguing Instagram post by sassysugey:
Life always gives you surprises…met another “Sugey” that was named because of the same telenovela! #sugey #telenovela #unamuchachallamadamilagros
That third hashtag pointed me to the 1974 Venezuelan telenovela Una Muchacha Llamada Milagros (A Girl Called Milagros/Miracles), which was indeed airing in the U.S. in 1976.
Everything seemed to be lining up pretty well…until I checked the list of actors and characters in Una Muchacha Llamada Milagros. None of them had a name similar to “Sujey.”
So: either the name was used in the storyline somewhere (and I’m unaware of it), or this is the wrong telenovela, or the answer isn’t a telenovela at all.
Does anyone out there have any information on the name Sujey, or on its possible connection to Una Muchacha Llamada Milagros? If so, please leave a comment!
Sources: Una muchacha llamada Milagros – Wikipedia, Una muchacha llamada Milagros – IMDb, SSA