How popular is the baby name Clu 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 Clu.

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Popularity of the baby name Clu


Posts that mention the name Clu

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 Trampas come from in 1964?

The character Trampas from the TV series "The Virginian" (1962-1971)
Trampas from “The Virginian

In yesterday’s post on the name Clu, I mentioned The Virginian (1962-1971), television’s first 90-minute Western.

The series was set in Wyoming in the 1890s, and, interestingly, the two main characters — ranch foreman “The Virginian” (played by James Drury) and ranch hand Trampas (played by Doug McClure) — did not use first names.

Despite not being a first name, Trampas ended up in the baby name data in the mid-1960s:

  • 1966: 5 baby boys named Trampas
  • 1965: 6 baby boys named Trampas
  • 1964: 5 baby boys named Trampas [debut]
  • 1963: unlisted
  • 1962: unlisted

The spellings Trampus and Trampis also appeared in the data around that time.

The show was loosely based on the 1902 novel The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains by Owen Wister (after whom Mount Wister in Grand Teton National Park was named). In the novel, Trampas was the antagonist. His name was likely based on the Spanish noun trampa, meaning “trap” or “snare.”

Sources: The Virginian (TV series) – Wikipedia, SSA

Image: Screenshot of The Virginian

Where did the baby name Clu come from in 1962?

Actor Clu Gulager as Billy the Kid in the TV show "The Tall Man" (1960-1962).
Actor Clu Gulager in “The Tall Man

The curious name Clu first surfaced in the U.S. baby name data in 1962:

  • 1964: unlisted
  • 1963: unlisted
  • 1962: 5 baby boys named Clu [debut]
  • 1961: unlisted
  • 1960: unlisted

After that it never came back, making it a one-hit wonder.

Where did it come from?

William Martin “Clu” Gulager, an actor who appeared primarily on television during the early ’60s. Most notably, he co-starred in the NBC series The Tall Man (1960-1962) as a very fictionalized version of Billy the Kid. He could also be seen on shows like Wagon Train and The Virginian around that time.

Clu Gulager was born in Oklahoma in 1928, and was a member of the Cherokee Nation. “Clu” wasn’t a stage name — it was an inherited childhood nickname. He was named directly after his father’s older brother, William Martin “Clu Clu” Gulager, who served in the Oklahoma State Senate from 1922 to 1930.

The nickname “Clu Clu” came from the Cherokee word clu-clu or tlu-tlu, which referred to the purple martin (a type of bird).

What do you think of the baby name Clu?

Sources:

P.S. One of Clu’s distanct relatives was fellow entertainer Will Rogers.