The baby name Jaycie nearly quadrupled in usage from 1995 to 1996:
- 1998: 118 baby girls named Jaycie
- 1997: 162 baby girls named Jaycie
- 1996: 200 baby girls named Jaycie [rank: 963rd]
- 1995: 51 baby girls named Jaycie
- 1994: 40 baby girls named Jaycie
In fact, it reached the top 1,000 for the first and only time in 1996.
Other spellings of the name (like Jacy, Jacey, Jaycee, and Jayci) also saw increased usage that year.
What was the influence?
U.S. gymnast Jaycie Phelps. She was part of the 1996 U.S. women’s gymnastics team — the “Magnificent Seven” — that won gold at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The U.S. gold broke Soviet Union’s decades-long winning streak in the women’s team all-around.
Jaycie Phelps, who was born and raised in Indiana, is now back in her home state running the Jaycie Phelps Athletic Center.
What are your thoughts on the name Jaycie? (What spelling do you prefer?)
P.S. The other six gymnasts on the U.S. team that year were named Amanda, Amy, Dominique (2), Kerri, and Shannon.
Sources:
- Swift, Shelley. “Memories of Gold: Jaycie Phelps reflects on the 25th anniversary of a historic Olympic run.” Daily Reporter [Greenfield] 24 Jul. 2001.
- Gymnastics at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women’s artistic team all-around
- Jaycie Phelps – Wikipedia
Jaycie is too childish for my taste as a first name, but could be cute as a nickname for someone whose initials are J.C., or maybe as a nickname for the phonetic English pronunciation of Jacinda (which I’ve never encountered on a real person, to be fair).