Baby names that start with Xav– may be trendy right now, but they weren’t trendy back in the mid-1980s, when the name Xavion suddenly popped up in the U.S. baby name data:
- 1987: unlisted
- 1986: unlisted
- 1985: 13 baby boys named Xavion [debut]
- 1984: unlisted
- 1983: unlisted
What put it there?
A Memphis-based rock/funk band called Xavion, which was apparently the first African-American rock group to be featured on MTV.
(An article about MTV programming in a late 1984 issue of Billboard magazine mentioned Xavion in a paragraph about “breakout” acts along with Bad Manners, Dokken, Grim Reaper, Iron Maiden, Whitesnake, and Zebra.)
The band is best remembered for two singles: “Eat Your Heart Out” (which almost reached the Hot 100 chart in September of 1984) and “Get Me Hot” (which reached #72 on the Hot Black Singles chart in January of 1985).
What are your thoughts on the name Xavion?
P.S. Xavion’s lead singer, Dexter Haygood, was a contestant on the first season of (the American version of) The X Factor in 2011.
Sources:
- “A Day in the Life of MTV: 164 Clips.” Billboard 17 Nov. 1984: 31.
- Xavion – Wikipedia
- For Your Ears: Xavion – Burnin’ Hot – TheBRHM.com
- US Hot 100 Bubbling Under – Top 40 Weekly
- SSA