The name Arsenio, which has been appearing in the U.S. baby name data since the 1910s, shot into the top 1,000 in 1989 and and stayed there for three years in a row:
- 1992: 47 baby boys named Arsenio
- 1991: 45 baby boys named Arsenio
- 1990: 188 baby boys named Arsenio [rank: 743rd]
- 1989: 397 baby boys named Arsenio [rank: 479th]
- 1988: 124 baby boys named Arsenio [rank: 854th]
- 1987: 83 baby boys named Arsenio
- 1986: 21 baby boys named Arsenio
Here’s a visual:
The variant forms Aresenio, Arsenial, Arseno, and Marsenio also popped up for the first and only time in 1989.
What caused this sudden interest in the name Arsenio?
Comedian and actor Arsenio Hall.
In 1987, he became the first African-American to host a late-night talk show with his 13-week stint on The Late Show. (It was originally called The Late Show with Joan Rivers, but, after Rivers was fired, the show was re-titled and featured a series of guest hosts.)
Audiences would have noticed him next in the hit movie Coming to America (1988), which starred Hall’s longtime friend Eddie Murphy.
Several months later, in January of 1989, he kicked off The Arsenio Hall Show — a hip, energetic alternative (“woof, woof, woof!”) to the other late-night talk shows of the era.
Notably, Hall’s show was one of the few on mainstream television to showcase hip-hop culture. Musical guests included N.W.A, Ice-T, Tupac Shakur, LL Cool J, Bell Biv DeVoe, Heavy D, Black Sheep, Kwamé, Tone Loc, A Tribe Called Quest, and Leaders of the New School. He also spotlighted R&B acts like Bobby Brown, En Vogue, New Edition, Troop, Jodeci, and Mariah Carey.
The Arsenio Hall Show was a breakout success. It was particularly popular with young urban audiences. Despite this, ratings began to slip in late 1993 (largely due to scheduling issues) and the show was cancelled in May of 1994.
So where does the name Arsenio come from? It’s a form of the ancient Greek name Arsenios, which is based on the ancient Greek word arsen, meaning “masculine, virile.”
What are your thoughts on the name Arsenio?
P.S. The name’s slight rise in 1983 and 1984 was likely due to Arsenio Hall’s time as a sidekick on an earlier late-night show, Thicke of the Night (1983-1984), which was hosted by Alan Thicke.
Sources:
- Arsenio Hall – Wikipedia
- The Arsenio Hall Show – Television Academy Interviews
- Cochrane, Naima. “Music Sermon: How ‘The Arsenio Hall Show’ Brought Black Music To Late Night.” Vibe 7 Jan. 2019.
- Arsenio – Wiktionary
- SSA
I think it’s kind of a cool name qua name, despite containing “arse” and sounding like “arson,” but I think it’s too associated with Arsenio Hall to be a good choice for most people. Nothing against Arsenio Hall, of course — I just think it’s probably hard when there’s only one person people associate with a name, and you aren’t that person. Add to it that the person was famous a few decades before you were born, which means the old people are saying, “Oh, were your parents big Arsenio Hall fans?” and your friends are like, “Who is Arsenio Hall??”
Having a name with one overriding association can be tricky business. Names like Beyoncé, Maleficent, Armani, Lucifer…they’re interesting and memorable, but every time you introduce yourself, you’re also bringing this third entity into the conversation that has nothing to do with you. And people may unfairly judge you based on how they feel about that entity.
Luckily a lot of these associations weaken over time, as you mentioned.