Where did the baby name Perette come from in 1962?

Perette Dijon, a minor character from the TV series "Route 66" (1960-1964).
Perette Dijon from “Route 66

The name Perette first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1962:

  • 1964: unlisted
  • 1963: unlisted
  • 1962: 16 baby girls named Perette [debut]
  • 1961: unlisted
  • 1960: unlisted

Ultimately, Perette was a one-hit wonder — the top one-hit wonder of the year, in fact.

And where did it come from?

A single-episode character on the popular TV show Route 66. The episode, “Mon Petit Chou,” first aired on November 24, 1961. It was set in Pittsburgh and guest-starred French actress Macha Méril as character Perette Dijon, a chanteuse with a Svengali-like manager named Glenn (played by Lee Marvin).

Macha was born Maria-Magdalena Vladimirovna Gagarina, and is technically a princess. (Her parents were Ukrainian nobility who fled to the south of France during the Russian Revolution.) When she decided to become an actress, she continued to use her nickname Macha, a diminutive of Maria, and added the surname Méril in tribute to jazz singer Helen Merrill (born Jelena Ana Milcetic).

Do you like the name Perette? Do you like it more or less than Macha?

Sources: “Mon Petit Chou,” Route 66, TV Episode 1961 – IMDb, Macha Méril – Wikipedia

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