Author: Nancy Man

In 1979 and 1980, four very similar girl names — Brittania, Brittanya, Britania and Britanya — all popped up in the U.S. baby name data:

	Brittania	Brittanya	Britania	Britanya
1983	13	.	.	.
1982	13	6	.	.
1981	35	7	9	10
1980	60†	19*	13*	16*
1979	5*	.	.	.
1978	.	.	.	.
1977	.	.	.	.

What put them there?

A marketing campaign for Brittania blue jeans.

Sportswear brand Brittania (pronounced brih-TAN-yah) was launched in Seattle in 1973 by businessman Walter Schoenfeld.

He was inspired to start selling “washed” blue jeans to Americans after spotting “a pair of faded blue denim slacks in the window of a London shop.” (Brittania jeans were “fashionable alternatives to the dark denim Levi’s that were so prevalent at that time.”)

Sales of Britannia jeans increased throughout the 1970s:

In [fewer] than 10 years, Brittania Sportswear was selling 30 million pairs a year and Brittania — Schoenfeld spelled it that way to distinguish his brand from the Royal Yacht Britannia — had a team of 40 to 50 designers and about 400 employees in Seattle.

Then, in 1980, Schoenfeld made a “decision which ran against his better judgment: Brittania embarked on the first full-scale advertising campaign in its history.”

That year, the company spent about $9 million on advertising. The result was the “My home is __ but I live in Brittania” marketing campaign.

The campaign was very successful; brand recognition increased from 48% in 1978 to 96% in 1980.

But it also created a new problem: too much demand for the product. By the spring of 1980, the company “had a 50 percent increase in orders over the previous year, but lacked production capacity to fill them.”

This situation, along with several other issues, led the company to file for bankruptcy protection in 1983. Several years after that, it was purchased by Levi Strauss.

Brittania may not be around anymore, but, as the very first designer jeans company in the U.S., it paved the way for brands like Jordache, Chardon, and Zena.

It also helped kick the baby name Brittany into high gear circa 1980:

• 1983: 4,377 baby girls named Brittany [64th]
• 1982: 3,102 baby girls named Brittany [94th]
• 1981: 1,714 baby girls named Brittany [165th]
• 1980: 1,406 baby girls named Brittany [190th]
• 1979: 792 baby girls named Brittany [300th]
• 1978: 630 baby girls named Brittany [345th]
• 1977: 488 baby girls named Brittany [419th]

Here’s a visual:

What are your thoughts on the baby name Brittania? (Do you like it more or less than Brittany?)

P.S. Did you know that Seattle’s apparel industry was born in the wake of the Klondike gold rush? Many prospectors bought provisions in Seattle before heading north to Alaska. Apparel companies founded in Seattle include Filson (1897), Nordstrom (1901), and Eddie Bauer (1920).

Sources:

• DeMay, Daniel, Genna Martin and SeattlePI. “Seattle style? New MOHAI exhibit showcases city’s eclectic style and where it came from.” Seattle Post-Intelligencer 2 May 2019.
• Henry’s Advertisement. Texas Monthly Aug. 1981: 16.
• Kamb, Lewis. “Walter Schoenfeld, who reshaped fashion industry, Seattle sports, dies at 84.” Seattle Times 15 Aug. 2015.
• King, Harriet. “Spotlight: Specialist in Diversity.” New York Times 4 Apr. 1976: F5.
• Phinney, Susan. “Seattle Is a Fashion Industry Player.” Seattle Business Magazine Mar. 2012.
• Berger, Lori “Schoenfeld Rides the Waves.” Men’s Wear Vol. 184 (1981): 77+.
• Brittania Sportswear Ltd – Wikipedia