Mystery baby name: Latrenda

Graph of the usage of the baby name Latrenda in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Latrenda

And now for this week’s biggest mystery name: Latrenda.

Latrenda debuted on the SSA’s baby name list in 1965 with 90 baby girls:

  • 1967: 27 baby girls named Latrenda
  • 1966: 42 baby girls named Latrenda
  • 1965: 90 baby girls named Latrenda [debut]
  • 1964: unlisted
  • 1963: unlisted

It was the top baby name debut of 1965, in fact, and it came in 33rd on my list of the top 50 girl name debuts ever.

Yet, despite the impressive numbers, I still have no clue where it comes from.

My online searches are leading my to a ton of people named Latrenda (and La’Trenda, etc.) but I can’t get past this wall of Latrendas to discover what inspired the name in the first place.

I can tell you that the states with the most Latrendas in 1965 were Alabama (11), Georgia (11) and Texas (9), and that most of the other states with 5+ Latrenda were also in the south.

Also, the similar name Trenda saw a corresponding spike in usage in 1965.

Beyond that, I’m stumped. Any ideas?

8 thoughts on “Mystery baby name: Latrenda

  1. Worth noting that Merriam-Webster says the adjective “trendy” came into use in 1962.

  2. Ok–so it’s almost exclusively an African-American name. Mostly in Georgia, Alabama, and Illinois (based on high school graduation), with some in Louisiana and Mississippi.

    3 different ways to spell it (SSA of course doesn’t show this part):

    Latrenda
    LaTrenda
    La’Trenda

    I’m tempted to find someone in that age category on FB and ask them if they know how they got their name.

  3. @Becca – Interesting! (And I guess the word trend, while much older, only began to mean “a prevailing new tendency in popular fashion or culture” around 1950.)

    @Sharalyn – I’m often tempted to do the same thing with names I’m totally stuck on. :) But I’m hoping this post will bring people with the name here (as usually happens!) and that someone will offer their name story in a comment. (If none of us can figure out the mystery before that point, that is.)

  4. My name is La Trenda and I was born in 1965. I don’t know what it means. My mother says she found it in Good Housekeeping or Family Circle? magazine that highlighted a “Cutest Baby Picture”.

  5. Thank you La Trenda! That’s an excellent clue. I’m trying to find archives of those magazines online…there are a few, but none cover 1965. Hm, I might have to go to a real-life library for this one…

  6. My name is La Trenda. I was born in 1965. My mom always told me that she liked “La” as a prefix. She liked the name “Brenda” but thought it was too common….so she dropped the B, threw in the T and voila. She caught a lot of grief from folks for my name. Growing up, folks just called me Trenda. No one had ever heard that name, apparently, in our circle until mom gave me this name. Born in Alabama.

  7. Thanks for the comment, La Trenda!

    Sorry there have been no further developments on this one, guys. Haven’t been to a library yet, but I will get to one at some point and check those magazines…

  8. My name is La’Trenda, born 1976 in Florida. My mother had her good friend name me. I’ve always been curious about the origin of my name. I’ve learned somethings I didn’t know here, but I see everyone wants I know the same thing…..Where did the name come from? What’s it’s meaning?

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