The name Chipper first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in the middle of the 1940s:
- 1948: unlisted
- 1947: unlisted
- 1946: 5 baby boys named Chipper
- 1945: 7 baby boys named Chipper [debut]
- 1944: unlisted
- 1943: unlisted
Why?
Comics!
On April 1, 1945, a baby boy named Chipper was born to Nina and Skeezix* Wallet of the comic strip Gasoline Alley. I’m not sure why they chose to call him Chipper. (The name of his sister Clovia, on the other hand, came with a memorable story.)
Chipper went on to serve with the Seabees in Vietnam and then become a doctor.
Do you like the baby name Chipper?
*Skeezix’s real name was Allison. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, the word skeezix is “a cowboy slang term for an orphaned calf.”
- Growing Old in Gasoline Alley: Ninety-four Years And Counting
- Gasoline Alley – Encyclopædia Britannica
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