Where did the baby name Bayete come from in 1972?

The album "Worlds Around the Sun" (1972) by Bayeté.
Bayeté album

The intriguing name Bayete was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data in the early 1970s:

  • 1974: unlisted
  • 1973: unlisted
  • 1972: 5 baby boys named Bayete [debut]
  • 1971: unlisted
  • 1970: unlisted

What was the source?

A young jazz pianist named Todd Cochran, who sometimes performed under one of several different aliases. Bayeté was the name he used for the two albums (Worlds Around the Sun and Seeking Other Beauty) he put out with Prestige records in 1972. One of the songs on the first album also featured the name in its title: “Bayeté (Between Man and God).”

The word Bayete, roughly meaning “hail” in Zulu, is a traditional Zulu royal salute.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Bayete?

Sources: The Lives of Todd Cochran – Never Enough Rhodes, Bayete – A Dictionary of South African English

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