In June of 1994, former NFL star Orenthal James “O. J.” Simpson was charged with murdering his ex-wife, Nicole, and Nicole’s friend Ron.
The heavily publicized murder trial began early the next year. Simpson was finally acquitted on October 3, 1995 — nineteen years ago today.
Believe it or not, the trial had an impact on U.S. baby names in the mid-1990s.
In March of 1995, memorable witness Brian “Kato” Kaelin — who had been living on Simpson’s property at the time of the murders — took the stand. (His nickname came from the Green Hornet character.)
While the usage of Kato did not see a large increase in usage, both the male and female usage of Kaelin spiked in 1995:
| Kaelin (m) | Kaelin (f) | Kato | |
| 1997 | 44 | 120 | 6 |
| 1996 | 65 | 118 | 15 |
| 1995 | 121† | 160 | 13 |
| 1994 | 63 | 89 | 10 |
| 1993 | 12 | 38 | 6 |
In July of 1995, Arnelle Simpson — O. J.’s adult daughter with his first wife, Marguerite — was called as the first witness for the defense.
Both the name Arnelle and the variant spelling Arnell saw higher usage that year as a result:
| Arnelle | Arnell | |
| 1997 | 10 | 7 |
| 1996 | 28 | 13 |
| 1995 | 51† | 21 |
| 1994 | 16 | 5 |
| 1993 | . | . |
Simpson’s defense attorney, Robert Kardashian, did not influence names in the 1990s…but his daughters and ex-wife would go on to influence U.S. baby names in multiple ways after becoming reality TV stars in the 2000s.
Sources: O. J. Simpson murder case – Wikipedia, SSA