The baby name Elle, which had been rising slowly since the mid-1990s, more than doubled in usage in 2002:
- 2004: 596 baby girls named Elle [rank: 494th]
- 2003: 497 baby girls named Elle [rank: 556th]
- 2002: 418 baby girls named Elle [rank: 612th]
- 2001: 197 baby girls named Elle
- 2000: 181 baby girls named Elle
What gave Elle a boost that year?
My guess is the bubbly main character of the movie Legally Blonde, which came out in July of 2001.
At the beginning of the film, Elle Woods (played by Reese Witherspoon) — a sorority girl obsessed with the color pink — got dumped by her blue-blooded boyfriend, Warner. (“Elle, If I’m going to be a senator, well, I need to marry a Jackie, not a Marilyn.”)
Elle decided to win Warner back by following him to Harvard Law School. She managed to gain admission, but struggled to fit in once she arrived. Eventually — thanks to her positivity and determination — Elle made friends, found success, and forgot all about Warner.
Legally Blonde was a surprise hit at the box office, and its main character proved so memorable that, twenty years later, the New York Times stated: “She remains an emblem for challenging stereotypes and embracing female empowerment in the face of misogyny.”
The movie was based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Amanda Brown, who attended Stanford Law School for two years in the mid-1990s. While there, she “spent her class time thumbing through Elle magazine and lampooning her classmates in letters home.” Those letters were the basis of Legally Blonde, the protagonist of which was named after the French fashion magazine. (The French pronoun elle means “she.”)
What are your thoughts on the name Elle?
P.S. The acceleration of the rise of Ella in 2002 may have been spurred by the movie as well.
Sources:
- Legally Blonde – Wikipedia
- Kaplan, Ilana. “‘Legally Blonde’ Oral History: From Raunchy Script to Feminist Classic.” New York Times 8 Jul. 2021.
- Whiting, Sam. “Blonde Ambition: Author Amanda Brown marvels at the industry surrounding ‘Legally Blonde’.” SFGate 13 Jul. 2003.
- “Blonde Ambition.” Stanford Magazine Sep./Oct. 2001.
- AFI Movie Club: Legally Blonde – American Film Institute
- SSA
Image: Screenshot of Legally Blonde
.svg){kind=link}