How popular is the baby name Bayete in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Bayete.

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Popularity of the baby name Bayete


Posts that mention the name Bayete

Interesting one-hit wonder names in the U.S. baby name data

single flower

They came, they went, and they never came back!

These baby names are one-hit wonders in the U.S. baby name data. That is, they’ve only popped up once, ever, in the entire dataset of U.S. baby names (which accounts for all names given to at least 5 U.S. babies per year since 1880).

There are thousands of one-hit wonders in the dataset, but the names below have interesting stories behind their single appearance, so these are the one-hits I’m writing specific posts about. Just click on a name to read more.

2020s

  • (none yet)

2010s

2000s

1990s

1980s

1970s

1960s

1950s

1940s

1930s

1920s

1910s

1900s

  • (none yet)

1890s

As I discover (and write about) more one-hit wonders in the data, I’ll add the names/links to this page. In the meanwhile, do you have any favorite one-hit wonder baby names?

Image: Adapted from Solitary Poppy by Andy Beecroft under CC BY-SA 2.0.

[Latest update: Dec. 2023]

Where did the baby name Bayete come from in 1972?

The album "Worlds Around the Sun" (1972) by Bayeté.
Bayeté album

The intriguing name Bayete was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data in the early 1970s:

  • 1974: unlisted
  • 1973: unlisted
  • 1972: 5 baby boys named Bayete [debut]
  • 1971: unlisted
  • 1970: unlisted

What was the source?

A young jazz pianist named Todd Cochran, who sometimes performed under one of several different aliases. Bayeté was the name he used for the two albums (Worlds Around the Sun and Seeking Other Beauty) he put out with Prestige records in 1972. One of the songs on the first album also featured the name in its title: “Bayeté (Between Man and God).”

The word Bayete, roughly meaning “hail” in Zulu, is a traditional Zulu royal salute.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Bayete?

Sources: The Lives of Todd Cochran – Never Enough Rhodes, Bayete – A Dictionary of South African English