How popular is the baby name Chelsi 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 Chelsi.

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Popularity of the baby name Chelsi


Posts that mention the name Chelsi

Baby named for Miss Universe, becomes Miss Universe contestant

Chelsi Shikongo at the Miss Universe pageant
Chelsi Shikongo

While doing research for yesterday’s post about Chelsi Smith, I came across another beauty queen with the same first name: Chelsi Shikongo.

Chelsi Tashaleen Shikongo was born in Namibia in 1998, and was indeed named after Chelsi Smith, the American who’d won the Miss Universe pageant in Namibia three years earlier.

Shikongo went on to win the title of Miss Namibia 2021, and to represent Namibia at the Miss Universe pageant (which was ultimately won by Harnaaz Sandhu of India). Though Shikongo wasn’t chosen as a finalist, the red dress she wore during the preliminary evening gown competition was inspired by the one that Smith had been wearing when she’d won the crown decades earlier.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of the TV broadcast of the 70th Miss Universe pageant

What gave the baby name Chelsi a boost in 1995?

Chelsi Smith, Miss Universe 1995
Chelsi Smith (at Miss Universe)

The name Chelsea and its many spelling variants (including Chelsey, Chelsie, and Chelsy) saw peak usage in the early 1990s. They’ve been on the decline ever since.

But Chelsi-with-an-i saw a noticeable (if brief) turnaround in 1995:

  • 1998: 76 baby girls named Chelsi
  • 1997: 111 baby girls named Chelsi
  • 1996: 180 baby girls named Chelsi
  • 1995: 303 baby girls named Chelsi [rank: 697th]
  • 1994: 170 baby girls named Chelsi
  • 1993: 267 baby girls named Chelsi [rank: 773rd]
  • 1992: 324 baby girls named Chelsi [rank: 677th]

Why?

Because of beauty queen Chelsi Smith.

She won the Miss Texas USA pageant in mid-1994, then the Miss USA pageant in early 1995. (Notably, she was also voted Miss Congeniality by the other delegates in both contests.)

Finally, in May of 1995, Chelsi traveled to Windhoek, Namibia, to compete in the Miss Universe pageant (which was “broadcast to more than 600 million viewers worldwide”). She won this one as well, becoming the sixth U.S. woman to wear the Miss Universe crown.

Chelsi Smith, Miss USA 1995
Chelsi Smith (at Miss USA)

The Miss Universe pageant has never included a talent competition, but it did introduce a national costume competition in the early 1960s. The costumes are often ostentatious (“sequins, feathers, fringe and of course, gigantic headpieces”), but Chelsi opted for something more modest:

Smith chose a 75-year-old ankle-length, silk-trimmed cotton lace dress as her national costume to commemorate the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave women the right to vote, passed in 1920.

What are your thoughts on the name Chelsi?

Sources:

Images: Screenshots of the TV broadcasts of the 44th Miss Universe pageant and the 44th Miss USA pageant