How popular is the baby name Jeopardy 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 Jeopardy.

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Popularity of the baby name Jeopardy


Posts that mention the name Jeopardy

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]

What turned Jeopardy into a baby name in 1983?

Greg Kihn Band album

This one confused me for a while:

  • 1985: unlisted
  • 1984: unlisted
  • 1983: 6 baby girls name Jeopardy [debut]
  • 1982: unlisted
  • 1981: unlisted

The name Jeopardy was a one-hit wonder in the SSA’s baby name data in 1983.

My first (and only) guess was the popular quiz show Jeopardy!, but the show began airing in the mid-1960s, so that probably wasn’t it.

Then, a week or two ago, I heard what I think is the answer on an ’80s radio station. It was a tune called “Jeopardy” by The Greg Kihn Band.

“Jeopardy” was apparently one of the top songs in the nation in 1983, reaching #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in May. I would never have guessed it by the bizarre music video.

The word jeopardy, which today means “danger” or “risk,” was derived on the Old French phrase jeu parti, meaning “a divided game, game with even chances.”

Sources: Jeopardy Chart History – Billboard, Jeopardy – Online Etymology Dictionary