Here are the top one-hit wonder girl names of all time, from 1880 to 2012:
- Alexandr, 301 baby girls in 1989.
- Jacqueli, 157 baby girls in 1989.
- Cassandr, 152 baby girls in 1989.
- Jacquely, 50 baby girls in 1989.
- Meghaan, 36 baby girls in 1984.
- Shastelyn, 34 baby girls in 2009.
- Charnissa, 32 baby girls in 1974.
- Jocell, 31 baby girls in 2011.
- Aidsa, 30 baby girls in 2007; and Madelis, 30 baby girls in 2007.
- Yaindhi, 29 baby girls in 2008.
- Eshanti, 27 baby girls in 2002; Kitzie, 27 baby girls in 1979; and Devy, 27 baby girls in 1960.
- Sarela, 26 baby girls in 2006; Nykeba, 26 baby girls in 1980; and Saresa, 26 baby girls in 1974.
- Shadava, 25 baby girls in 1983.
- Russchelle, 24 baby girls in 1975.
- Kushana, 23 baby girls in 1978; Reesheda, 23 baby girls in 1975; and Timitra, 23 baby girls in 1974.
- Raengel, 22 baby girls in 2007; Saribel, 22 baby girls in 2003; and Anastasi, 22 baby girls in 1989.
- Yoshigei, 21 baby girls in 2006.
- Mccaela, 20 baby girls in 1994; Jaywana, 20 baby girls in 1978; and Malette, 20 baby girls in 1967.
- Francesc, 19 baby girls in 1989.
- Bethzi, 18 baby girls in 2006; Audresha, 18 baby girls in 1994; Khaina, 18 baby girls in 1994; Tijwana, 18 baby girls in 1981; and Desheila, 18 baby girls in 1973.
If we ignore all the 1989 names — which are only truncated spelling variants caused by the baby name glitch of 1989 — the real #1 one-hit wonder becomes Meghaan.
Here’s what I can tell you about some of the above: Shastelyn, Jocell, Madelis and Raengel were inspired by Mexican beauty queens; Aidsa and Yaindhi were inspired by the TV show Objetivo Fama; Eshanti was inspired by singer Ashanti; Nykeba was inspired by a mention in Ebony magazine; Tijwana was inspired by a mention in Jet magazine.
Can you come up with explanations for any of the others?
Image: Adapted from Solitary Poppy by Andy Beecroft under CC BY-SA 2.0.
I was expecting a video game character, but it looks like Yoshigei was a contestant on La Academia
YOSHIGEI- BESAME MUCHO
Thank you very much, Alex!
Looks like Yoshigei was a contestant on the first (only?) season of La Academia USA.
I may have figured out Devy. Apparently a soprano named Devy Barnett appeared on the TV show Ted Mack and the Original Amateur Hour in 1960. I’ll have to put a post together…
Regarding Kitzie:
There was a Kitzie Lee who was Miss DeKalb (GA) and was competing for the Miss Georgia title in June that year. I found mention of her in newspapers as a 1979 Covergirl in Covergirl Magazine, probably sometime in or before June. I haven’t been able to find an image of that to confirm, but a magazine might explain the little flash-in-the-pan usage of Kitzie nationwide. Many of the 1979-born Kitzies had Lee — or, in one case, Lea — as a middle name.
Good theory, Anonymous — thank you for making that connection!
I think you’re right, if Kitzie Lee was the influence, then she must have been featured somewhere else. Because she didn’t go on to win Miss Georgia and compete in the Miss America pageant (like Marlesa Ball did a few years later).
So far, I’ve only seen Kitzie Lee’s name (never her photo) in a handful of Georgia newspapers.
I can’t find any issues of “Cover Girl” magazine, but I did find news stories (like these) from the late ’70s and early ’80s about a pageant/modeling magazine called “Cover Girl” that seems to have been pretty sketchy — also, low-circulation. If this is the same magazine, then I doubt it would have given her much exposure.
Kitzie Lee could have been featured somewhere else, though.
(Another thing I want to throw in: The debut of Kitzie, regardless of the specific influence, might have been amplified by the trendiness of Kizzy in the late ’70s.)