The animated Disney movie Aladdin, based on the Middle Eastern folk tale of the same name, was released in theaters in November of 1992.
Set in the fictional desert city of Agrabah, the film followed a street urchin named Aladdin (voiced by Scott Weinger) who, with the help of a genie summoned from a magic lamp, set out to win the heart of the sultan’s daughter, Princess Jasmine (voiced by Linda Larkin).
Aladdin became the highest-grossing movie of 1992. It went on to win multiple Oscar and Grammy Awards in early 1993.
It also had an influence on U.S. baby names. The rare name Aladdin, for instance, quadrupled in usage the year after Aladdin came out:
- 1995: 6 baby boys named Aladdin
- 1994: 13 baby boys named Aladdin
- 1993: 24 baby boys named Aladdin (peak usage)
- 1992: 6 baby boys named Aladdin
- 1988: 5 baby boys named Aladdin
The titular character’s name is a form of Ala al-Din, which means “excellence of the faith” in Arabic.
The name Jasmine saw a significant increase in usage the same year:
- 1995: 10,279 baby girls named Jasmine [rank: 25th]
- 1994: 11,713 baby girls named Jasmine [rank: 23rd]
- 1993: 12,062 baby girls named Jasmine [rank: 23rd]
- 1992: 10,478 baby girls named Jasmine [rank: 28th]
- 1991: 11,525 baby girls named Jasmine [rank: 24th]
Jasmine was one of the fastest-rising girl names of 1993, in fact.
In the original tale, the princess’ name was Badr al-Budur, which means “full moon of full moons” in Arabic. Disney decided to rename the character, choosing Jasmine “because of the popularity of the actress Jasmine Guy at the time.” (Guy was also behind the trendiness of the name in the late ’80s, incidentally.)
Princess Jasmine’s pet tiger Rajah (pronounced rah-zhah) seems to have been influential as well. The name Rajah (which derives from the royal title Raja) reached peak usage for both baby boys and baby girls in 1994:
| Girls named Rajah | Boys named Rajah | |
| 1996 | . | 6 |
| 1995 | 17 | 7 |
| 1994 | 20† | 24† |
| 1993 | 5 | 7 |
| 1992 | . | 7 |
The name Jafar, which refers to the film’s primary antagonist (voiced by Jonathan Freeman), similarly peaked in popularity in 1994:
- 1996: 17 baby boys named Jafar
- 1995: 14 baby boys named Jafar
- 1994: 33 baby boys named Jafar (peak usage)
- 1993: 13 baby boys named Jafar
- 1992: 7 baby boys named Jafar
The Return of Jafar, a direct-to-video Aladdin sequel that was released in May of 1994, was likely drawing extra attention to the villain’s name that year.
Sources:
- Aladdin (1992 Disney film) – Wikipedia
- 1992 in film – Wikipedia
- Korkis, Jim. “Creating Princess Jasmine.” Cartoon Research 3 Mar. 2023.
- Dent, Susie. Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 19th ed. London: Chambers Harrap, 2012.
- Behind the Name
- SSA
Images: Screenshots of Aladdin
