How popular is the baby name Tavares 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 Tavares.

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Popularity of the baby name Tavares


Posts that mention the name Tavares

Where did the baby name Caesare come from in 1981?

The character Caesare from the movie "The Idolmaker" (1980)
Caesare from “The Idolmaker”

The rare name Caesare first appeared in the U.S. baby name data — for both genders, notably — in 1981:

  • 1983: unlisted
  • 1982: 27 baby boys and 5 baby girls named Caesare
  • 1981: 6 baby boys and 5 baby girls named Caesare [dual-gender debut]
  • 1980: unlisted
  • 1979: unlisted

The following year, Caesare reached its highest-ever usage. Also in 1982, we see an increase in the number of baby boys with similar names:

1980198119821983
Cesare76128
Chezarae9*
Chezare9*
Ceasare8*
Chazaray6*
Chez55157
*Debut

(Chezarae and Chazaray were both one-hit wonders.)

What was influencing all of these names?

A movie called The Idolmaker, which was released in November of 1980.

The main character, Vincent Vacarri (played by Ray Sharkey), worked as a talent manager in New York City in the late 1950s. (The character was based on real-life Philadelphia talent manager Bob Marcucci, who discovered and developed both Frankie Avalon and Fabian.)

One of Vinnie’s protégés was teenage busboy Guido (played by Peter Gallagher), who had no discernible talent. Vinnie renamed Guido “Caesare” (pronounced CHEZ-uh-ray, similar to the English pronunciation of Désirée) and got to work transforming him into a star.

Caesare became “an unwilling Trilby to Vinnie’s Svengali,” according to one reviewer.

The name Caesare in lights, from the movie "The Idolmaker" (1980)
“Caesare” in lights

The name Caesare — which was occasionally shortened to “Chez” in the movie — is a spelling variant of the name Cesare, the Italian form of Caesar.

What are your thoughts on the name Caesare? (How would you spell it?)

P.S. Other dual-gender debuts include Chaffee, Dasani, Dondi, Illya, Khaalis, Rikishi, Shilo, Sundown, and Tavares.

Sources:

Images: Screenshots of The Idolmaker

Where did the baby name Tavares come from in 1974?

Tavares album "Hard Core Poetry" (1974).
1974 Tavares album

In the mid-1970s, the name Tavares suddenly popped up in the U.S. baby name data:

  • 1978: 163 baby boys named Tavares
  • 1977: 169 baby boys (peak) named Tavares
  • 1976: 169 baby boys (peak) / 5 baby girls named Tavares
  • 1975: 162 baby boys / 10 baby girls named Tavares
  • 1974: 60 baby boys / 8 baby girls named Tavares [dual-debut]
  • 1973: unlisted
  • 1972: unlisted

What was behind the debut?

Tavares, a soul/R&B music group consisting of the five Tavares brothers: Ralph, Arthur (called “Pooch”), Antone (“Chubby”), Feliciano (“Butch”), and Perry (“Tiny”).

They scored their first hit in 1974 with a cover of the Hall & Oates song “She’s Gone.” The cover reached #1 on Billboard‘s R&B chart and peaked at #50 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart. Over the next few years, the brothers put out a string of successful songs, including “It Only Takes a Minute” (1975) and “Whodunit” (1977).

The Tavares brothers were born and raised in New England, but were of Cape Verdean ancestry. Their Portuguese surname was originally a “habitational name from any of at least seven minor places” in Portugal called Tavares.

Variants of the name that also emerged in the data during the ’70s include Tavare, Travares, Tarvares, Tavaris, Tavaras, Tavarus, Taveres, Tavoris, and Tavores.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Tavares?

Sources:

P.S. Butch was married to Lola Falana from 1971 to 1975.

Where did the baby name Baretta come from in 1975?

Title of the TV series "Toma" (1973)
Toma

The gritty TV police drama Toma, which starred actor Tony Musante as New Jersey police detective David Toma, started airing in 1973.

The year the show premiered, the baby name Toma, which had only ever appeared in the data as a girl name, started seeing usage as a boy name. It even cracked the boys’ top 1,000 briefly.

Girls named TomaBoys named Toma
1975626
19742184 [rank: 884th]
19732144*
19729.
19715.
*Debut

But usage returned to pre-Toma levels after the series was canceled in 1974.

Title of the TV series "Baretta" (1975-1978)
Baretta

In 1975, a retooled version of Toma called Baretta came out. The new show, which starred Robert Blake as New York City police detective Tony Baretta, was less violent and included more comic relief than the original. (Baretta had a pet cockatoo named Fred, and one of his informants was a man called Rooster.)

In response, the name Baretta debuted in the baby name data, and it remained there for the same number of years the Emmy-winning series was on the air (1975-1978).

  • 1979: unlisted
  • 1978: 8 baby boys named Baretta
  • 1977: 13 baby boys named Baretta
  • 1976: 6 baby girls / 13 baby boys named Baretta
  • 1975: 14 baby girls [debut] / 18 baby boys [debut] named Baretta
  • 1974: unlisted
  • 1973: unlisted

Notice how the name debuted on both sides of the list. Other dual-debut names from the 1970s include Chaffee, Chudney, Khaalis, Shilo, Sundown, and Tavares.

Which name do you like more, Toma or Baretta?

Top boy-name debuts of all time in the U.S. baby name data (21-30)

lotus bud

Time for the middle installment of the top boy name debuts.

From 30 to 21:

Kadeem, #30

  • Kadeem debuted with 52 baby boys in 1988.
    Inspired by Kadeem Hardison, an actor on the TV sitcom A Different World.

Armias, Diallo & Draven, 3-way tie for #29

  • Armias debuted with 54 baby boys in 2019.
    Inspired by rapper Ermias Asghedom (Nipsey Hussle).
  • Diallo debuted with 54 baby boys in 1971.
    Inspired by an article in Jet magazine.
  • Draven debuted with 54 baby boys in 1994.
    Inspired by Eric Draven, a character in the movie The Crow.

Vadhir, #28

  • Vadhir debuted with 55 baby boys in 2010.
    Inspired by Vadhir Derbez, winner of the TV dance show Mira Quien Baila 2010.

Foch, #27

Asahd & Mychal, 2-way tie for #26

  • Asahd debuted with 59 baby boys in 2017.
    Inspired by the son of DJ Khaled.
  • Mychal debuted with 59 baby boys in 1978.
    Inspired by basketball player Mychal Thompson.

Tavares, #25

Toriano, #24

  • Toriano debuted with 62 baby boys in 1970.
    Inspired by singer Toriano “Tito” Jackson, a member of The Jackson 5.

Jionni, #23

  • Jionni debuted with 63 baby boys in 2011.
    Inspired by Jionni LaValle, boyfriend of reality TV star Snooki Polizzi.

Jahseh & Tajh, 2-way tie for #22

  • Jahseh debuted with 65 baby boys in 2018.
    Inspired by rapper Jahseh Onfroy (XXXTentacion).
  • Tajh debuted with 65 baby boys in 1989.
    Inspired by singer Tajh Abdulsamad, a member of The Boys.

Pharrell & Quindon, 2-way tie for #21

  • Pharrell debuted with 67 baby boys in 2003.
    Inspired by singer Pharrell Williams.
  • Quindon debuted with 67 baby boys in 1996.
    Inspired by Quindon Tarver, the boy who sang “When Doves Cry” in the movie William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet.

More baby name debuts coming up tomorrow!

More of the top 50 baby name debuts for boys: 50-41, 40-31, 30-21, 20-11, 10-1

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

[Latest update: 7/2021]