According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Marisol saw a spike in usage in 1970:
- 1972: 639 baby girls named Marisol [rank: 346th]
- 1971: 806 baby girls named Marisol [rank: 327th]
- 1970: 897 baby girls named Marisol [rank: 311th]
- 1969: 398 baby girls named Marisol [rank: 487th]
- 1968: 286 baby girls named Marisol [rank: 566th]
Why?
Because of Puerto Rican beauty queen Marisol Malaret, who was crowned Miss Universe in Miami Beach, Florida, in July of 1970.
Notably, she was the first delegate from Puerto Rico to win the title. (There have since been four more Puerto Rican winners.)
Close to 60% of the usage of the name occurred in New York and New Jersey — the two states in which “nearly three-quarters of all Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. resided” in 1970.
| Girls named Marisol (NY) | Girls named Marisol (NJ) | |
| 1971 | 305 | 112 |
| 1970 | 395 (44.0%) | 130 (14.5%) |
| 1969 | 179 | 52 |
The Miss Universe pageant doesn’t include a talent competition, but it does feature a national costume competition. Marisol’s costume was inspired by the phrase La perla del Caribe (translation: “the pearl of the Caribbean”) — a poetic name for the island of Puerto Rico.
Speaking of the island, Marisol flew home about a week after the pageant. Here’s how the New York Times described the scene:
Thousands of proud, cheering Puerto Ricans jammed the Isla Verde airport today and lined the six-mile route to the capital building to welcome home Marisol Malaret Contreras, Miss Universe of 1970.
I suspect that the baby name Marisol saw higher usage in Puerto Rico as well in 1970, but I don’t know for sure, because the SSA’s data for Puerto Rico only goes back to 1998. (The name Zuleyka got a boost in Puerto Rico in 2006, the year Zuleyka Rivera became the country’s fifth Miss Universe winner.)
What are your thoughts on the name Marisol? (Do you like it more or less than Zuleyka?)
P.S. The first runner-up at Miss Universe 1970, Deborah Shelton (Miss USA), went on to become an actress. She’s best known for playing Amanda “Mandy” Winger on the TV series Dallas.
Sources:
- Marisol Malaret – Wikipedia
- Miss Universe 1970 – Wikipedia
- Williams, Alex. “Marisol Malaret, 73, Television Host And Puerto Rico’s First Miss Universe.” New York Times 24 Mar. 2023: A21.
- Bergad, Laird W. “Puerto Ricans in the United States, 1900—2008: Demographic, Economic, and Social Aspects.” New York, NY: Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center, 2010.
- SSA
Image: Screenshot of the TV broadcast of the 19th Miss Universe pageant