“American Gladiator” names vs. real-life baby names

Ready for a game?

The original American Gladiators — an athletic competition show that aired on television from 1989 to 1996 — featured a total of 32 gladiators with 31 tough-sounding gladiator names. (Why 31? Because “Lace” was used twice.)

Here are the 31 original names:

1. Atlas
2. Blaze
3. Bronco
4. Cyclone
5. Dallas
6. Diamond
7. Elektra
8. Gemini
9. Gold
10. Havoc
11. Hawk
12. Ice
13. Jade
14. Jazz
15. Lace
16. Laser
17. Malibu
18. Nitro
19. Rebel
20. Sabre
21. Siren
22. Sky
23. Storm
24. Sunny
25. Tank
26. Thunder
27. Titan
28. Tower
29. Turbo
30. Viper
31. Zap

The short-lived American Gladiators reboot (2008) featured a total of 20 gladiators with 18 new tough-sounding gladiator names. (Why 18? Because “Siren” and “Titan” were recycled from the original.)

Here are the 18 reboot names:

1. Beast
2. Crush
3. Fury
4. Hellga
5. Hurricane
6. Jet
7. Justice
8. Mayhem
9. Militia
10. Panther
11. Phoenix
12. Rocket
13. Stealth
14. Steel
15. Toa
16. Venom
17. Wolf
18. Zen

So here’s the game: Try to guess what percentage of the 31 original gladiator names and what percentage of the 18 reboot gladiator names have appeared at least once in the U.S. baby name data.

(To appear in the data, a name has to be given to 5 or more U.S. babies, of one gender or the other, in a single year.)

Come up with your guesses before reading on!

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Ok, here are the answers.

Of the 31 original gladiator names, 26 — about 84% — have appeared in the SSA data:

1. Atlas
2. Blaze
3. Bronco
4. (not Cyclone)
5. Dallas
6. Diamond
7. Elektra
8. Gemini
9. Gold
10. Havoc
11. Hawk
12. Ice
13. Jade
14. Jazz
15. Lace
16. (not Laser)
17. Malibu
18. (not Nitro)
19. Rebel
20. Sabre
21. Siren
22. Sky
23. Storm
24. Sunny
25. Tank
26. Thunder
27. Titan
28. (not Tower)
29. Turbo
30. Viper
31. (not Zap)

And, of the 18 reboot gladiator names, 10 — about 56% — have appeared in the SSA data:

1. (not Beast)
2. (not Crush)
3. Fury
4. (not Hellga)
5. (not Hurricane)
6. Jet
7. Justice
8. Mayhem
9. (not Militia)
10. (not Panther)
11. Phoenix
12. Rocket
13. (not Stealth)
14. Steel
15. Toa
16. (not Venom)
17. Wolf
18. Zen

How close did you get to 84% and 56%?

Sources: American Gladiators (1989 TV series) – Wikipedia, American Gladiators (2008 TV series) – Wikipedia, SSA

Images: Screenshot of American Gladiators; American Gladiators trading card

[Latest update: May 2025]