According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Corbin nearly tripled in usage in 1987:
- 1989: 525 baby boys named Corbin [rank: 406th]
- 1988: 374 baby boys named Corbin [rank: 473rd]
- 1987: 234 baby boys named Corbin [rank: 592nd]
- 1986: 79 baby boys named Corbin
- 1985: 54 baby boys named Corbin
Why?
Because of actor Corbin Bernsen, who played Arnold “Arnie” Becker on the popular NBC legal drama L.A. Law, which began airing (on Thursday nights) in September of 1986.
Arnie Becker was an “oily but effective” divorce attorney who drove a Porsche 911 (license plate: LITIG8R) and led a promiscuous lifestyle. He was described as “television’s first unapologetically yuppie antihero” by a Rolling Stone writer (who noted that Alex P. Keaton was a mere “cuddly yuppie puppy” compared to Becker).
For his portrayal of Becker, Corbin Bernsen received nominations for both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
The first name Corbin often comes from the surname Corbin, which has several possible derivations — including the Old French/Middle English word corbin, a diminutive of corb, meaning “crow, raven.”
P.S. The name saw another jump in usage in the late 1990s, thanks to the sci-fi movie The Fifth Element…
Sources:
- L.A. Law – Television Academy Interviews
- Kilday, Gregg. “Networking Class Hero.” Rolling Stone 4 Jun. 1987.
- Asimow, Michael, Kathryn Brown and David Ray Papke. (Eds.) Law and Popular Culture: International Perspectives. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014.
- Hanks, Patrick, Simon Lenarcic and Peter McClure. (Eds.) Dictionary of American Family Names. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022.
- SSA
Image: Screenshot of L.A. Law