Wanza was a top debut name of 1915. That year, at least 33 U.S. babies were named Wanza:
- 1919: 8 baby girls named Wanza
- 1918: 12 baby girls named Wanza
- 1917: 7 baby girls named Wanza
- 1916: 13 baby girls named Wanza
- 1915: 33 baby girls named Wanza [debut]
- 1914: unlisted
The name kept appearing in the U.S. baby name data until the 1960s, but it never hit as high as 33 again.
Where did it come from?
I have no idea.
The name Wanda was on the rise from the late 1800s through the 1930s, and Wanda’s increasing popularity gave other Wan-names (e.g., Waneta, Wanita) a boost. This probably helped Wanza a bit. But it doesn’t explain why dozens of babies were suddenly named Wanza in 1915.
I thought I’d found the answer in Mae Van Norman Long’s novel The Wonder Woman, which features a character named Wanza, but the book wasn’t published until 1917 — following the trend, not sparking it.
Any ideas on this one?
Update, Apr. 2025: Looks like Anonymous has solved the mystery, yet again!
As it turns out, The Wonder Woman had been serialized in the popular women’s magazine McCall’s during 1915. (Here are direct links to the seven installments: June, July, August, September, October, November, and December.)
The character in question, Wanza Lyttle, was a “gay, quick-tempered, happy-hearted” young woman who drove a peddler’s cart. “She was the apple of her father’s eye, the pride of the village, and the delight of the steamboat men on the river.”
A big thanks to Anonymous, who has also helped us figure out Nerine and Zeline recently.
Source: SSA
Second image: Clipping from McCall’s magazine (Jul. 1915)
I don’t know either but my grandmother is named Wanza and she was born in Kentucky in 1922.
I’m not sure but a google search seems to indicate that Wanza was a place with a small part to play in troop movements during WWI. A lot of unusual names dating from 1914-18 are actually places significant to veterans. I’d imagine some of the Wanza’s either had fathers who were servicemen or perhaps uncles that died in the region.
Does that sound feasible to you?
PS first page google only yielded one result relevant to that theory so the search may go on for an answer.
Interesting theory, Bec! Thank you.
You’re right — a lot of WWI-inspired place-names popped up during those years. But, from what I’ve seen, those places were all important battle sites. Marne, for instance. Wanza is a rather obscure reference; my hunch is that it’s probably too obscure to have caused the spike.
Wanza is a tree native to the African continent (particularly Ethiopia).. maybe there is a connection there? some book or play that mentioned wanza?
My name is wanza born in the 60. I have never new where my. Name originated from
Thanks for the comment, Wanza! Hopefully one day we’ll get this figured out. :)
My name is Wanza. My grandmother wrote to my parents with this name. She knew a little girl with that name. I recently visit Japan and found a shopping mall named Wanza. Naturally, I had to visit it. It is near Tokyo.
I think you might’ve been right about Mae Van Norman Long’s “The Wonder Woman” after all. The novel was published in 1917, BUT it had been serialized earlier, in McCall’s Magazine, between June and December 1915! Is there a way to tell when in 1915 Wanza started to be used?
Here’s a link to the July 1915 issue. The others are available on the Internet Archive, too.
https://archive.org/details/sim_rosie_1915-07_42_11/mode/1up
Anonymous, thank you for finding that! All the pieces fit together now!
I use the SSDI to get a feel for when babies were born within certain (early) years. I just did a search for 1915 Wanzas and found 37 of them:
So it does look like the usage occurred more toward the middle and end of the year.
Thank you yet again! I really appreciate all your help lately. :)