Perfume names as baby names

We all know that brand names are being used more and more often as baby names, and that brands associated with luxury or high status (e.g., Bentley, Tiffany) are particularly enticing to expectant parents.

So it’s not too surprising that there are a lot of people out there named after designer fragrances — women’s perfumes in particular, but men’s colognes and unisex fragrances as well. Here are three dozen examples:

Ajee
1994: Ajee perfume introduced by Revlon.
1994: The baby name Ajee debuted in the U.S. baby name data. It was the top debut name for girls that year.

Allure
1996: Allure perfume introduced by Chanel.
1997: The baby name Allure debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Andron
1981: Andron perfume introduced by Jovan.
1981: The baby name Andron debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Antaeus
1981: Antaeus cologne introduced by Chanel.
1981: The baby name Antaeus debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Aviance
1975: Aviance perfume introduced by Prince Matchabelli.
1975: The baby name Aviance debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Azuree
1969: Azurée perfume introduced by Estée Lauder.
1975: The baby name Azuree debuted in the U.S. baby name data. (Though this debut may have more to do with Kojak than with the perfume.)

Cachet
1970: Cachet perfume introduced by Prince Matchabelli.
1972: The baby name Cachet debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Celisse
1982: Celisse perfume introduced by Dana.
1982: The baby name Celisse debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Cerissa
1974: Cerissa perfume introduced by Charles Revson.
1975: The baby name Cerissa debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Chimere
1979: Chimère perfume introduced by Prince Matchabelli.
1979: The baby name Chimere debuted in the U.S. baby name data. It cracked the top 1,000 for girls in 1980 and 1981.

Cristalle
1977: Cristalle perfume introduced by Chanel.
1977: The baby name Cristalle debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Drakkar
1972: Drakkar cologne introduced by Guy Laroche.
1982: Drakkar Noir cologne introduced by Guy Laroche.
1987: The baby name Drakkar debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Enjoli (pronounced ahn-zho-lee)
1978: Enjoli perfume introduced by Revlon.
1978: The baby name Enjoli debuted in the U.S. baby name data. It was the top debut name for girls that year.

Envy
1997: Envy perfume introduced by Gucci.
1999: The baby name Envy debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Eternity
1988: Eternity perfume introduced by Calvin Klein.
1990: The baby name Eternity debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Euphoria
2005: Euphoria perfume introduced by Calvin Klein.
2007: The baby name Euphoria debuted in the U.S. baby name data. So far, it’s a one-hit wonder.

Florecita
2007: Florecita perfume introduced by Revelations.
2007: The baby name Florecita debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Jadore
1999: J’adore perfume introduced by Christian Dior.
2000: The baby name Jadore debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Jontue
1975: Jontue perfume introduced by Revlon.
1977: The baby name Jontue debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Lahana
1992: Lahana perfume introduced by Avon.
1992: The baby name Lahana debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Lutece
1984: Lutèce perfume introduced by Houbigant.
1986: The baby name Lutece debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Millennia
1996: Millennia perfume introduced by Avon.
1997: The baby name Millennia debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Nahema
1979: Nahéma perfume introduced by Guerlain.
1981: The baby name Nahema debuted in the U.S. baby name data. So far, it’s a one-hit wonder.

Odyssey
1981: Odyssey perfume introduced by Avon.
1982: The baby name Odyssey debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Pavi Elle
1983: Pavi Elle perfume introduced by Avon.
1983: The baby name Pavielle debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Raffinee
1982: Raffinée perfume introduced by Houbigant.
1982: The baby name Raffinee debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Rebelle
2012: Rebelle perfume introduced by Rihanna.
2013: The baby name Rebelle debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Safari
1990: Safari perfume introduced by Ralph Lauren.
1992: The baby name Safari debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Samsara
1989: Samsara perfume introduced by Guerlain.
1991: The baby name Samsara debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Senchal
1981: Senchal perfume introduced by Charles of the Ritz.
1982: The baby name Senchal debuted in the U.S. baby name data. So far, it’s a one-hit wonder.

Sensi
2003: Sensi perfume introduced by Giorgio Armani.
2006: The baby name Sensi debuted in the U.S. baby name data. So far, it’s a one-hit wonder.

Toccara
1981: Toccara perfume introduced by Avon.
1981: The baby name Toccara debuted in the U.S. baby name data. Toccara cracked the top 1,000 for girls in 1981, 1982 and 1983.

Tresor
1990: Trésor perfume introduced by Lancôme.
1997: The baby name Tresor debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

Ysatis
1984: Ysatis perfume introduced by Givenchy.
1988: The baby name Ysatis debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

**Late addition (thanks Julie!):

Charisma
1968: Charisma perfume introduced by Avon.
1968: The baby name Charisma debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

**Another late addition (thanks Blue Juniper!):

Natori
1995: Natori perfume introduced by Avon.
1995: The baby name Natori debuted in the U.S. baby name data.

…And I’m sure that’s not all. Other fragrance names are harder to figure out, though. For instance, the names below were surely given a boost by fragrance, but they also appeared in the SSA data before their corresponding fragrances were introduced:

  • Elan (by Coty, ’68)
  • Jovan (Jovan Musk in ’72)
  • Ciara (by Revlon, ’73) – singer Ciara was named for this one
  • Devin (by Aramis, ’77)
  • Ariane (by Avon, ’77)
  • Tasha (by Avon, ’79)
  • Stetson (by Coty, ’81)
  • Imari (by Avon, ’85)

And names like Armani and Fendi could have been inspired by fragrance, or they could have been inspired by anything else associated with those particular fashion houses.

Can you think of any other perfumes that might have been used as baby names? Let me know and I’ll look them up!

Source: SSA

[Latest update: October 2020]

12 thoughts on “Perfume names as baby names

  1. The perfume baby name that instantly came to mind was Avon’s Charisma, supposedly actress Charisma Carpenter was named after the scent.

    Personally I known a Shalimar, who was named after the perfume, but I don’t know if it counts since the Shalimar Gardens was created in 1641.

  2. Just added Charisma – thanks!

    A 1997 article in the Chicago Tribune quotes Charisma Carpenter as saying that she was named after “a real tacky Avon perfume,” so it looks like she was indeed named after the fragrance. And, by the numbers, it looks like she gave the name Charisma a boost on the baby name charts just like Tocarra Jones have Toccara a boost. Interesting stuff!

    Shalimar is trickier. The perfume was introduced in the early 1920s, but the name didn’t start popping up on the SSA’s list until the 1954. This was the year Debra Paget’s Princess of the Nile came out. In the movie, she plays an Egyptian princess named Shalimar. So it’s hard to know which babies were named for the character, which for the perfume, which for the original gardens (as you mentioned), etc.

    In fact, it’s the same with many of the perfume names above — they were pre-existing words, there’s no way to know how many babies were named after the fragrances specifically. But their names began to be used as names thanks to fragrances, and I think that’s important to note. (Reminds me of all the female Madisons out there. The vast majority weren’t named after the Splash character, but they all have that character to thank for popularizing the name for girls in the first place.)

  3. This is an old post, but I knew a girl with the middle name Azuree, and she said her mother named her that because she liked the smell of the perfume. I thought it was crazy then, but Azuree DOES have a nice sound…

  4. My Life Partner and I have always named our 4 legged babies(dogs) after names of fragrances and their makers. The boys, Ralph Lauren, and Polo. The girls, Safari, Coco, Tresor, Chanel, and Nina. Their names are as memoriable as the love they have instilled upon our hearts in the 17 years my companion and I have been together.

  5. Instead of a naming a baby after a perfume, in 1975 Diane von Furstenberg named her perfume after her daughter, Tatiana. I loved the perfume and liked the idea of using Tatiana as a name for a daughter, but ultimately chose a more traditional name.

  6. Both Chloe and Charlie used names that already existed before the perfumes were marketed in the 1970s. I don’t recall Chloe being all that popular a name in the US before that, so it may have gotten a good boost from the perfume.

    And before the whole “Charlie girl” campaign I can’t recall ever hearing Charlie being used as a girl’s name. Maybe as a nickname for a Charlotte or Charlene, but not as the actual name.

    There was (is?) a perfume called Irisia in the 60s. And from the 80’s there is Ivoire & Loulou. And I swear there was a perfume from YSL that used a feminine sounding version of Yves.
    Many Christian Dior fragrances use Dior in the name itself with variations. One was Diorelle or Diorella, either of which would definitely work as a name.

  7. I remember looking up the female usage of Charlie and being surprised that the perfume — or, more importantly, those Charlie commercials featuring Shelley Hack — didn’t seem to have any effect at all on popularity in the early/mid ’70s.

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