The baby name Krystal saw a steep rise in usage in 1951. In fact, it was one of the fastest-rising baby names that year:
- 1953: 40 baby girls named Krystal
- 11 (27.5%) in MI
- 1952: 59 baby girls named Krystal
- 15 (25.4%) in MI
- 1951: 55 baby girls named Krystal
- 18 (32.7%) in MI
- 1950: 8 baby girls named Krystal
- 1949: 9 baby girls named Krystal
As you can see, much of the usage was in the state of Michigan specifically.
What was the influence?
A set of quadruplets — Krystal, Kristine, Keith, and Kenneth — born to Kenneth and Ann Rosebush of Oakwood, Michigan, on January 10, 1951. They lived in hospital incubators for several weeks before being allowed to go home.
Photos of the K-named quads regularly appeared in the papers during the early 1950s.
It’s hard to tell whether they had any influence on the names Keith and Kenneth, which were already on the rise in the early 1950s, but it does look like the name Kristine (which was sometimes misspelled Kristene in the papers) was affected:
- 1953: 1247 baby girls named Kristine
- 113 (9.0%) in MI
- 1952: 1885 baby girls named Kristine
- 206 (10.9%) in MI
- 1951: 1755 baby girls named Kristine
- 186 (10.6%) in MI
- 1950: 1247 baby girls named Kristine
- 110 (8.8%) in MI
- 1949: 1174 baby girls named Kristine
- 94 (8.0%) in MI
The Rosebush family also included four older children, all girls, named Dorothy (Dottie), Jacquelyn, Barbara, and Joann.
Sources:
- “Quadruplets Born to Wife, Age 34.” Madera Daily News-Tribune 10 Jan. 1951: 5.
- “Rosebush quads, Ma and Pa doing very well, thank you.” Port Huron Times Herald 11 Jan. 1951: 1.
- “Last Pair of Quads Ready To Join Brothers at Home.” Battle Creek Enquirer 18 Feb. 1951: 1.
- Kristine Sue (Rosebush) Beebe – Obituary
