My favorite pop culture baby names are the ones that refer to incredibly cheesy things like Rambo, Star Search, and Dijonniase.
The baby name Kebrina, in terms of cheesiness, does not disappoint.
It debuted on the U.S. baby name data in 1979, and saw peak usage in 1993:
- 1996: unlisted
- 1995: 7 baby girls name Kebrina
- 1994: 7 baby girls name Kebrina
- 1993: 50 baby girls name Kebrina [peak]
- 1992: 30 baby girls name Kebrina
- 1991: unlisted
- […]
- 1980: unlisted
- 1979: 5 baby girls name Kebrina [debut]
- 1978: unlisted
The inspiration?
Kebrina Kinkade, the original “psychic to the stars.”
She was already hobnobbing with celebrities (David Hasselhoff, Bruce Jenner, Dick Van Patten, Lorne Greene, etc.) in the late 1970s, but it wasn’t until 1979, the year she appeared on several TV talk shows, that she achieved enough visibility to influence the baby name charts.
Her name did not make the charts during the ’80s, but it pops up in magazines and newspapers throughout the decade. She’s mentioned in a 1982 People article about a missing person investigation, for instance. (They misspelled her name Kabrina Kincaid.) She also came up in a 1987 newspaper article about how the predictions made by America’s “38 top astrologers and psychics” the year before were mostly incorrect.
Expectant parents didn’t take notice of her name again until the infomercial for “Kebrina’s Psychic Answer” — a psychic hotline that costed callers $3.99 per minute — started airing on television in 1992. The spot, hosted by actors Erik Estrada and Jenilee Harrison, ran until 1994.
I’m not sure what Kebrina Kinkade is up to these days, but I’m sure she’d be happy to know that she’s got dozens of namesakes. (I wonder if she could have predicted it…?)
What do you think of the name Kebrina?
Sources:
- Blodgett, Ralph. “A few hits, many misses in seers’ 1986 predictions.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 5 Jan. 1987: 17.
- Gioia Diliberto, Gioia. “A Soldier Disappears, and His Family Launches a Nine-Year Investigation That Ends in Grief.” People 11 Jan. 1982.
- SSA
Image: Screenshot of a TV infomercial for “Kebrina’s Psychic Answer”
