Where did the baby name Chipper come from in 1945?

The characters Chipper and Clovia from the comic strip "Gasoline Alley" (panel from the early 1950s).
Chipper and Clovia

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.”

Sources:

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