Where did the baby name Wynonna come from in 1985?

Wynonna Judd's debut album "Wynonna" (1992)
“Wynonna” (1992)

The name Winona has been in the U.S. baby name data since the very beginning, but the specific spelling Wynonna didn’t show up until the mid-1980s:

  • 1987: unlisted
  • 1986: 6 baby girls named Wynonna
  • 1985: 5 baby girls named Wynonna [debut]
  • 1984: unlisted
  • 1983: unlisted

What was the influence?

Country singer Wynonna Judd. She and her mother, Naomi Judd, formed The Judds in the early ’80s and the duo won a Grammy Award in 1985 for the song “Mama He’s Crazy.”

The name saw peak usage in 1993, not long after Wynonna began her solo career.

Wynonna’s birth name was Christina Ciminella. She was inspired to change her name after her mother, previously known as Diana Ciminella, became Naomi Judd in the early ’70s following a divorce. (‘Judd’ was her maiden name, but ‘Naomi’ was brand new.)

She chose the name ‘Wynonna’ because she liked the song “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66,” which mentions Winona, Arizona.

(Naomi tried to persuade her younger daughter, Ashley, to change her name as well — to ‘Ramona,’ because of its similarity to ‘Wynonna.’ She wasn’t interested, but she did start to use the surname ‘Judd.’)

The name dropped out of the data in the early 2000s, but has come back recently:

  • 2017: 20 baby girls named Wynonna
  • 2016: 5 baby girls named Wynonna
  • 2015: unlisted

Why? Because of the supernatural Western TV series Wynonna Earp, which debuted on Syfy in 2016.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Wynonna? Do you like the spelling?

Source: Millard, Bob. The Judds: A Biography. New York: Doubleday, 1988.

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