How popular is the baby name Brandy 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 Brandy.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the baby name Brandy


Posts that mention the name Brandy

What popularized the baby name Wanya in the 1990s?

Singer Wanyá Morris
Wanyá Morris

The name Wanya first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1992. It reached peak usage four years later:

  • 1997: 24 baby boys named Wanya
  • 1996: 95 baby boys named Wanya [peak]
  • 1995: 77 baby boys named Wanya
  • 1994: 10 baby boys named Wanya
  • 1993: 7 baby boys named Wanya
  • 1992: 7 baby boys named Wanya [debut]
  • 1991: unlisted
  • 1990: unlisted

Other spellings that popped up in the mid-1990s include Wanye, Wanyae, Wonya, Juanya, Juanye, and Juanyae.

So, what was influencing the name Wanya?

Singer Wanyá (pronounced wahn-yay) Morris, who was born in Philadelphia in 1973.

Wanyá is a founding member of the Philly-based vocal harmony group Boyz II Men — one of the most successful musical acts of the 1990s.

The group’s first two singles, “Motownphilly” and “It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday,” both became top-5 hits on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart during the latter months of 1991.

Among Boyz II Men’s other hits were…

  • “End Of The Road” (1992), which became the first song to rank #1 for 13 weeks straight,
  • “I’ll Make Love To You” (1994), which ranked #1 for 14 weeks straight, and,
  • with Mariah Carey, “One Sweet Day” (1995), which became the first song to rank #1 for 16 weeks straight.

Both “End of the Road” and “I’ll Make Love To You” also won Grammy Awards for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (in 1993 and 1995, respectively).

Singer Wanyá Morris in the "Brokenhearted" music video
Wanyá Morris in the “Brokenhearted” video

Another song that would have drawn particular attention to Wanyá Morris’ first name in the mid-’90s was “Brokenhearted,” a duet with Brandy that peaked at #9 on the Hot 100 in October of 1995.

What are your thoughts on the name Wanya? (How would you spell it?)

P.S. Wanyá’s middle name is Jermaine…

Sources: Wanya Morris – Wikipedia, Boyz II Men – Wikipedia, Boyz II Men – Billboard, List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones – Wikipedia, SSA

Images: Screenshots of the music videos for “Water Runs Dry” and “Brokenhearted”

What popularized the baby name Mandy in the mid-1970s?

Barry Manilow's album "Barry Manilow II" (1974)
Barry Manilow album

According to the U.S. baby name data, Mandy more than sextupled in usage in 1975:

  • 1977: 3,100 baby girls named Mandy [rank: 94th]
  • 1976: 2,924 baby girls named Mandy [rank: 100th]
  • 1975: 2,710 baby girls named Mandy [rank: 106th]
  • 1974: 446 baby girls named Mandy [rank: 435th]
  • 1973: 384 baby girls named Mandy [rank: 473rd]

Amanda — the name from which Mandy derives — also saw a discernible increase in usage in 1975.

What gave these names a boost?

The Barry Manilow song “Mandy,” which was released in October of 1974. It reached the top spot on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in January of the following year.

Here’s what it sounds like:

Interestingly, “Mandy” is a cover of a song called “Brandy” that was first recorded by Scott English and released in early 1972. The single became popular in both the UK and Australia, but was only a minor hit in the U.S.

When Barry Manilow recorded his version in mid-1974, he (and Bell Records president Clive Davis) decided to change the title from “Brandy” to “Mandy” so as to avoid confusion with the Looking Glass song “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl).”

The baby name Mandy went on to see peak usage several years later — either in 1977 (highest ranking) or in 1978 (highest number of babies), depending on how you look at it.

What are your thoughts on the name Mandy?

P.S. The similar name Mindy was also most popular in the late 1970s…

Sources: Mandy by Barry Manilow – Songfacts, Barry Manilow – Billboard, Brandy (Scott English song) – Wikipedia, SSA

What happened to the baby name Monica in the late 1990s?

White House intern Monica Lewinsky
Monica Lewinsky

After ranking among the top 100 girl names in the U.S. for more than three decades, the name Monica suddenly dropped out of the top 100 in 1998:

  • 2001: 1796 baby girls named Monica [rank: 182nd]
  • 2000: 1,992 baby girls named Monica [rank: 167th]
  • 1999: 2,134 baby girls named Monica [rank: 151st]
  • 1998: 3,229 baby girls named Monica [rank: 105th]
  • 1997: 4,223 baby girls named Monica [rank: 79th]
  • 1996: 4,326 baby girls named Monica [rank: 82nd]

The name’s decline in usage was even steeper the following year (-34% in 1999 vs. -24% in 1998). Here’s a visual:

Graph of the usage of the baby name Monica in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Monica

What was negatively influencing the name Monica in the late 1990s?

White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

U.S. President Bill Clinton, who’d been married to Hillary Clinton since 1975, began an affair with Lewinsky during his first term in office. They had a total of ten sexual encounters over the course of sixteen months (from late 1995 to early 1997).

News of the affair broke in January of 1998.

Clinton initially denied the relationship (under oath). It wasn’t until August that he finally acknowledged that he’d had “inappropriate intimate contact” with Lewinsky.

President Bill Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky (in Feb. 1997)
Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky

Ongoing coverage of the “Monica Lewinsky scandal” (as it was called) dominated the headlines during 1998 and, in October, the Wall Street Journal ran an article about Lewinsky’s impact on other women named Monica:

It’s as if the reputations of Monicas everywhere have been stained by the notorious Lewinsky. “Before this, everyone would say, ‘Monica — what a pretty name,'” Monica Gardner, a 34-year-old bond buyer from Arlington, Va., recalls wistfully. “Now, it’s embarrassing.”

Bill Clinton was impeached (for committing perjury and obstructing justice) in December. He was acquitted of the charges in February of 1999.

The following month, an impressive 70 million people tuned in to watch Barbara Walters interview Monica Lewinsky on 20/20. A poll conducted the next day “found that 72% of [respondents] still have a generally unfavorable impression of [Lewinsky], down just slightly from a high of 78% in September.”

Two weeks later, Lewinsky was on the cover of Time magazine. When the Time interviewer stated, “You’re probably the most famous woman in the world right now,” Lewinsky responded, “Unfortunately.”

What are your thoughts on the name Monica?

P.S. The name’s decline might have been even steeper if not for several less-controversial ’90s associations, such as fictional character Monica Geller (from Friends), tennis player Monica Seles, and mononymous R&B singer Monica (whose duet with Brandy, “The Boy Is Mine,” topped Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart for 13 weeks straight in mid-1998).

Sources:

Images: Adapted from Monica Lewinsky (US DOD) and Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky on February 28, 1997 (White House)

What popularized the baby name Brandy in the early 1970s?

Looking Glass single "Brandy" (1972)
Looking Glass single

The baby name Brandy — which comes from the name of the alcoholic beverage — first appeared in the U.S. data as a girl name during the WWII era.

Over the next few decades, usage of the name slowly increased with some help from pop culture. The films Two of a Kind (1951), Destry (1954), and Hatari! (1962) all featured female characters named Brandy, and several early TV shows (such as The Untouchables, The Defenders, and Tales of Wells Fargo) likewise included minor female characters with the name.

Then, in the early 1970s, the usage of Brandy suddenly tripled:

  • 1974: 3,831 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 80th]
  • 1973: 3,714 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 82nd]
  • 1972: 2,082 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 140th]
  • 1971: 704 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 353rd]
  • 1970: 610 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 385th]

Other spellings (such as Brandi, Brandie, Brandee, Brande, and Brandye) also got a boost.

Why?

Because of the soft-rock song “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” [vid] by the New Jersey band Looking Glass.

It was released as a single in May of 1972 and reached the #1 spot on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in late August.

The song was about a female bartender named Brandy who, though she served many of the sailors passing through her harbor town, pined for a particular one (who’d left her to return to the sea).

Band member Elliot Lurie wrote the song. How did he choose Brandy’s name?

The name was derived from a high school girlfriend I had whose name was Randy with an “R.” Usually when I write […] I strum some guitar and kind of sing along with the first things that come to mind. Her name came up. Then I started writing the rest of the song, and it was about a barmaid. I thought Randy was an unusual name for a girl, it could go either way, and (the song was about) a barmaid, so I changed it to Brandy.

Thanks to the song, the name Brandy entered the girls’ top 100 in 1973.

But that’s not the end of the story. Later the same decade, the name got another boost from another song:

  • 1980: 6,410 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 42nd]
  • 1979: 6,775 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 39th]
  • 1978: 6,699 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 37th] (peak ranking)
  • 1977: 5,477 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 51st]
  • 1976: 5,232 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 55th]

This time it was the R&B song “Brandy” [vid] by the vocal group The O’Jays.

It was released as a single in July of 1978 and went on to peak at #79 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in October.

The song was about a dog named Brandy that had run away from home, believe it or not. An advertisement for the song in Billboard magazine offered the following visual:

Detail of an advertisement for the song "Brandy" from Billboard magazine (Aug. 1978)
“Brandy” advertisement

Future R&B singer Brandy Norwood, who was born in early 1979, might have been named with the O’Jays tune in mind.

So, how did the liquor come to be known as “brandy” in the first place? The word derives from the Dutch term brandewijn, meaning “burnt wine” (as brandy is created from wine that has been distilled via heat). It’s possible that Brandy’s emergence as a baby name in the mid-20th century was inspired by the trendiness of Sherry (which, in turn, was likely influenced by the rise of Cheryl).

What are your thoughts on the name Brandy?

Sources:

Second image: Clipping from Billboard magazine (5 Aug. 1978)