Where did the baby name Rheeta come from in 1935?

The character Rheeta in a 1935 panel of the comic strip "Mandrake the Magician" (1934-2013).
Rheeta from Mandrake the Magician

In the middle of the 1930s — while the name Rita was on the downswing, notably — the name Rheeta appeared in the U.S. baby name data for the first and only time.

  • 1937: unlisted
  • 1936: unlisted
  • 1935: 9 baby girls named Rheeta [debut]
  • 1934: unlisted
  • 1933: unlisted

What put it there?

A character from the newspaper comic strip Mandrake the Magician, which was first published in June of 1934 and lasted all the way until 2013.

The character Rheeta was part of a 17-week storyline called “The Hidden Kingdom of Murderers” that ran on Sundays during the first half of 1935 (from February to May).

In this particular story, Mandrake used his magic to track down a group of murderers plotting to take over the world. Rheeta was Mandrake’s panther…until Mandrake turned her into a young woman. She changed forms several times throughout the story.

Do you like the name Rheeta? What’s your preferred spelling?

Sources: Mandrake the Magician – Wikipedia, Ask the Archivist: First Mandrake Sunday Story, The Hidden Kingdom of Murderers – MandrakeWiki

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