Where did the baby name Santee come from in 1965?

Poster for the movie "Black Spurs" (1965)

The interesting name Santee debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1965:

  • 1967: unlisted
  • 1966: unlisted
  • 1965: 5 baby boys named Santee
  • 1964: unlisted
  • 1963: unlisted

After that, it dropped out of that data, only to re-emerge in the 1970s.

The initial appearance was due to a fictional bounty hunter named Santee (played by Rory Calhoun) in the Western movie Black Spurs (1965).

The second appearance, curiously, was due to another fictional bounty hunter named Santee. This one was played by Glenn Ford in the Western movie Santee (1973).

Both characters were mononymous. In either case, “Santee” could have been a surname, or might have been a nickname adopted from any of the places in the U.S. called Santee.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Santee?

Source: Black Spurs (1965) – TCM, Santee (film) – Wikipedia

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