“Who loves ya, baby?”
The TV crime drama Kojak was on the air for five seasons (1973 to 1978). It starred actor Aristotelis “Telly” Savalas as lollipop-sucking, tough-talking, big-hearted New York City police detective Theo Kojak. The series became very popular and, as a result, all of the names in that sentence (Aristotelis, Telly, Savalas, Theo, and Kojak) either debuted or saw increased usage in the baby name data in the mid-1970s:
| 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | |
| Aristotelis | . | . | . | 5 boys* |
| Telly | 41 boys | 293 boys | 277 boys | 207 boys |
| Savalas | . | 30 boys* | 26 boys | 13 boys |
| Theo | 27 boys | 32 boys | 57 boys | 58 boys |
| Kojak | . | 9 boys* | 6 boys | . |
| Azuredee | . | . | 10 girls* | 7 girls |
| Azure | . | . | 121 girls* | 60 girls |
*Debut
The name Savalas is currently tied for 48th-highest boy name debut of all time. The name Telly reached the top 1,000 for the first time in 1974, and variant name Telley debuted the same year. Even Aristotle was affected.
So…where do those “Azure” names come from?
They’re from a specific Kojak episode called “Elegy in an Asphalt Graveyard,” which first aired on February 2, 1975. The episode focused on the murder of a character named Azure Dee (played by Denyce Liston), a Manhattan call-girl who Kojak happened to know. Also, notably, the episode began and ended with a melancholy song called “Azure Dee,” [vid] sung by Telly Savalas himself.
The name Azure is currently the 22nd-highest girl name debut of all time. The similar name Azuree debuted the same year, but Azuree was probably influenced as much by the the Estée Lauder perfume as by the Kojak character.
Sources: Kojak – Wikipedia, Telly Savalas, Actor, Dies at 70; Played ‘Kojak’ in 70’s TV Series, Telly Savalas – IMDb, “Elegy in an Asphalt Graveyard,” Kojak (TV Episode 1975) – IMDb
My name is Azure Dee!