How popular is the baby name Janalene 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 Janalene.

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Popularity of the baby name Janalene


Posts that mention the name Janalene

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

  • 2020: Jexi

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: Apr. 2024]

Where did the baby name Janalene come from in 1940?

The fashion-inspired name Janalene was only fashionable enough to appear in the U.S. baby name data for a single year at the very beginning of the 1940s:

  • 1942: unlisted
  • 1941: unlisted
  • 1940: 6 baby girls named Janalene [debut]
  • 1939: unlisted
  • 1938: unlisted

The source for this one? My guess is an Indianapolis-based women’s clothing company called Janaléne:

The company had been around since the 1920s (at least), but seems to have been most successful during the 1930s and 1940s.

Janaléne hired saleswomen in rural areas to sell clothes door-to-door. They did this with the help of the Janaléne clothing catalogue, which featured drawings of garments plus fabric samples.

The representatives were recruited via advertisements in newspapers and magazines — especially farming magazines. Here’s one such ad:

Get your dresses as a bonus and up to $18 a week. Show “Dated” Dresses. Experience unnecessary. No canvassing. Janalene, Dept. 845. Indianapolis, Ind.

Several similar companies of the era also utilized a direct-sales business model, but Janaléne differentiated itself by selling outdated styles specifically.

Though the name popped up in the baby name data in 1940, records suggest that most Janalenes were actually born during the 1930s. Here’s a Janalene born in West Virginia in 1931, for instance.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Janalene?

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