How popular is the baby name Hutch 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 Hutch.

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Popularity of the baby name Hutch


Posts that mention the name Hutch

How did “Starsky & Hutch” influence baby names in the late 1970s?

The characters Kenneth Hutchinson and David Starsky from the TV series "Starsky & Hutch" (1975-1979).
Hutch and Starsky from “Starsky & Hutch

The main characters of the popular TV series Starsky & Hutch (1975-1979) were a pair of plainclothes police detectives based in Southern California. Neither one was actually from Southern California, though.

Dark-haired Dave Starsky (played by Paul Michael Glaser), who was intense and impetuous, was originally from Brooklyn, New York.

And light-haired Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson (played by David Soul), who was more laid-back and intellectual, was originally from Duluth, Minnesota.

The year the show started airing, both Starsky and Hutch emerged for the first time in the U.S. baby name data:

Boys named StarskyBoys named Hutch
1977309
197645†12
197511*5*
1974..
1973..
*Debut, †Peak usage

A year later, in 1976, the compound name Paulmichael debuted as well.

And, several decades after that, the movie Starsky & Hutch (2004) starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson gave the name Hutch (but not Starsky) another boost.

The characters Kenneth Hutchinson and David Starsky from the TV series "Starsky & Hutch" (1975-1979).
Hutch and Starsky from “Starsky & Hutch

So, what do the surnames Starsky and Hutch mean?

I haven’t had any luck tracking down the etymology of the Polish surname Starski/Starsky, but Hutch can be traced back (via the the Middle English personal name Hucche) to the name Hugh, which was derived from a Germanic word meaning “heart, mind, spirit.”

If you were having a son, and you had to name him either Starsky or Hutch, which would it be?

Sources:

P.S. Starsky and Hutch cruised around in a red-and-white Ford Gran Torino nicknamed the “striped tomato.”

Where did the baby name Torino come from in 1970?

Ford Torino advertisement
Ford Torino advertisement

In the early 1970s, the name Torino began popping up in the U.S. baby name data:

  • 1972: 7 baby boys named Torino
  • 1971: 5 baby girls and 8 baby boys [debut] named Torino
  • 1970: 7 baby girls [debut] named Torino
  • 1969: unlisted
  • 1968: unlisted

Why?

Because of a car: the Ford Torino.

Torinos were introduced in late 1967 for the 1968 model year. By 1970, the Torino had become Ford’s primary mid-sized model, replacing the Fairlane.

The Gran Torino, as featured in Starsky & Hutch, came along in late 1971 (model year 1972).

“Torino” is the Italian form of Turin, which is the city at the center of Italy’s automotive industry. The folks at Ford had been kicking around the idea using Torino as a car name since at least the early ’60s. The Ford Mustang (introduced in 1964) was nearly called the Torino, for instance.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Torino?

P.S. Also in 1970, the similar-sounding name Toriano suddenly became popular. I think it had more to do with The Jackson 5 than with the car, though.

Source: Farr, Donald. Ford Mustang: America’s Original Pony Car. Minneapolis: Quarto Publishing, 2016.

Image: Clipping from Life magazine (28 Jul. 1972)