Singer George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou) released his first solo album in late 1987.
Four of the singles from Faith reached the #1 spot on the Billboard charts in 1988 — “Faith” in January, “Father Figure” in February, “One More Try” in May, and “Monkey” in August.
In early 1989, Faith won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. “Father Figure” was also nominated for a Grammy, but lost to Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
Also in 1989, we see the compound name Georgemichael sneak onto the U.S. baby name charts for the very first time:
- 1991: 6 baby boys named Georgemichael
- 1990: unlisted
- 1989: 6 baby boys named Georgemichael [debut]
- 1988: unlisted
- 1987: unlisted
The SSA omits spaces and hyphens, so no doubt some of these Georgemichaels were actually named “George Michael” or “George-Michael.”
U.S. parents gave name one more try in 1997, when it briefly popped back onto the charts, but it hasn’t appeared in the data since then.
The sitcom Arrested Development (2003-2006) featured a character called George Michael, but the character wasn’t able to revive the name. (A character named Maeby, however, did manage to influence the charts…)