How popular is the baby name Jerry 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 Jerry.

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Popularity of the baby name Jerry


Posts that mention the name Jerry

Where did the baby name Jkwon come from in 2004?

J-Kwon's single "Tipsy" (2004)
J-Kwon single

Did you know that Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” — one of the most successful country songs of 2024 — borrows heavily from a 20-year-old rap song?

That song, “Tipsy” by J-Kwon, has been described by Rolling Stone as “a raucous rap ode to underage drinking.” It was released in January of 2004 (when J-Kwon was just 17) and peaked at #2 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in April.

The same year, the baby name Jkwon made its first appearance in the U.S. baby name data:

  • 2006: 27 baby boys named Jkwon
  • 2005: 30 baby boys named Jkwon
  • 2004: 100 baby boys named Jkwon [debut]
  • 2003: unlisted
  • 2002: unlisted

(These babies were likely named “J-Kwon,” but the SSA’s data excludes hyphens and ignores internal capitalization.)

Jkwon was the highest-debuting boy name of the year. In fact, it currently ranks 11th on the list of top boy-name debuts of all time. Other spellings (such as Jquan, Jakwon, Jaquan, Jaykwon, and Jayquan) also saw higher usage in 2004.

The name dropped back out of the data (i.e., below the five-baby threshold) before the end of the decade, though, because the rapper’s subsequent singles weren’t as successful as “Tipsy” [vid].

J-Kwon was born Jerrell Jones in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1986.

His stage name was initially J-Rell, but he changed it to J-Kwon in the year 2000.

The new name was inspired by the movie Jerry Maguire (1996), in which professional football player Rod Tidwell (played by Cuba Gooding, Jr.) used the invented word kwan — a French pronunciation of the English word “coin” — to refer to something more than money. (“You know, some dudes might have the coin, but they’ll never have the kwan.”) Rod explained the concept to his agent Jerry (played by Tom Cruise) by saying, “It means love, respect, community, and the dollars too — the entire package. The kwan.”

What are your thoughts on the name Jkwon?

P.S. Shaboozey was born Collins Obinna Chibueze to Nigerian immigrants living in Virginia in 1995. When he was a freshman in high school, his football coach misspelled his surname “Shaboozey.” The misspelling turned into a nickname, and the nickname became his stage name.

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Where did the baby name Jheri come from in the 1980s?

Michael Jackson's Jheri curl hairstyle on the cover of the 1982 album "Thriller"
Michael Jackson’s Jheri curl

The Jerry-like name Jheri appeared regularly in the U.S. baby name data from 1980 until the mid-1990s:

  • 1996: unlisted
  • 1995: 7 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1994: 11 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1993: 10 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1992: 8 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1991: 12 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1990 9 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1989: 8 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1988 10 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1987 12 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1986: 9 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1985: 13 baby girls named Jheri (peak usage)
  • 1984: 8 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1982: 12 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1981: 8 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1980: 6 baby girls named Jheri (debut)
  • 1979: unlisted

Why?

Because of the Jheri curl, a hairstyle featuring loose, glossy curls that was trendy among African-Americans primarily during the 1980s. Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Rick James, and other famous men and women of the era sported Jheri-curled hair.

Where did the style come from?

The “curl” originated with hairdresser/entrepreneur Jheri Redding, who developed a chemical process to make straight hair curly. Salons started offering the Jheri Kurl (as it was often spelled in advertisements) in the early 1970s.

Then, African-American hairdresser/entrepreneur Willie Lee Morrow adapted the process for African-American hair. His two-step method involved straightening the hair before adding a looser curl. (He also introduced “curl activator” to add moisture to the style.) Salons began offering Morrow’s California Curl in the late 1970s.

Some salons, in fact, offered both perms:

Newspaper advertisement for California Curl and Jheri Kurl (Feb. 1979)
(Feb. 1979)

Finally, African-American entrepreneur Comer Cottrell made Morrow’s perm both less expensive and more widely available by developing the do-it-yourself Curly Kit.

His kits were advertised heavily in Jet magazine throughout 1980:

Magazine advertisement for Curly Kit (Aug. 1980)
(Aug. 1980)

In mid-1981, Forbes magazine declared the Curly Kit “the biggest single product ever to hit the black cosmetics market.” Numerous copycat kits (with names like Classy Curl, S-Curl, and Super Curl) soon followed.

Despite the crucial contributions of Morrow and Cottrell, though, it was Jheri Reddings’s distinctive first name — associated with the curl since the start — that became the generic term for the style.

So, where did “Jheri” come from?

Redding coined it himself.

He was born Robert William Redding on a farm in Illinois in 1907. He became a licensed cosmetologist after noticing, during the Depression, that hairdressers were still being paid well.

Redding was an innovative marketer — he introduced the concept of “pH balanced” shampoos, for instance — and he created the eye-catching name for himself at some point before 1950, because he’s listed as “Jheri R Redding” on the 1950 U.S. Census:

Jheri Redding on 1950 U.S. Census

He launched his first company, Jheri Redding Products, six years later.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Jheri?

Sources:

  • Johnston, David Cay. “Jheri Redding Is Dead at 91; A Hair Products Entrepreneur.” New York Times 21 Mar. 1998: A-13.
  • Folkart, Burt A. “Jheri Redding; Beauty Products Pioneer.” Los Angeles Times 18 Mar. 1998.
  • Mack, Toni. “Caution + Daring = 82% Returns.” Forbes 8 Jun. 1981: 101-103.
  • Byrd, Ayana and Lori Tharps. Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America. NY: St. Martin’s Press, 2002.
  • Ford, Tanisha C. Dressed in Dreams: A Black Girl’s Love Letter to the Power of Fashion. NY: St. Martin’s Press, 2019.
  • Moore, Jennifer Grayer. Fashion Fads Through American History: Fitting Clothes Into Context. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2015.
  • SSA

Images: Clipping from Chula Vista Star-News (25 Feb. 1979); clipping from Jet magazine (14 Aug. 1980); clipping of the 1950 U.S. Census

Where did the baby name Krisily come from in 2005?

American TV personality Krisily Kennedy
Krisily Kennedy

The rare name Krisily was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data in 2005:

  • 2007: unlisted
  • 2006: unlisted
  • 2005: 11 baby girls named Krisily [debut]
  • 2004: unlisted
  • 2003: unlisted

Where did it come from?

The Bachelor runner-up Krisily Kennedy.

Krisily (pronounced KRIS-ih-lee) was a contestant on the show’s seventh season, which aired during the spring of 2005 and featured bachelor Charlie O’Connell, younger brother of actor Jerry O’Connell.

During the show’s 3-hour finale — the first in which a bachelor made his final decision on live TV — Charlie chose the other remaining contestant, Sarah Brice, over Krisily.

Krisily (who was Miss Rhode Island USA in 2003, incidentally) went on to participate in the first season of Bachelor Pad in 2010.

What are your thoughts on the name Krisily?

P.S. One of Charlie’s twin nieces was named after him. (The other twin was named after Dolly Parton.)

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Where did the baby name Tondra come from in 1946?

Kidnapping victim Terry Taylor of Charlotte, North Carolina in 1946.
Terry Taylor, 4 years old

The interesting name Tondra first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1946:

  • 1949: unlisted
  • 1948: 9 baby girls named Tondra
  • 1947: unlisted
  • 1946: 9 baby girls named Tondra [debut]
  • 1945: unlisted
  • 1944: unlisted

I don’t know why it dropped out of the data and then returned in 1948 with the same (relatively high) number of babies — that’s not a typical pattern — but I can explain the initial appearance.

In February and March of 1946, the kidnapping of 4-year-old Terry Taylor of Charlotte, North Carolina, was front-page news across the nation for several days straight.

Terry, her 5-year-old sister Tondra Taylor, and their 19-year-old nursemaid Rosemary Johnson were at a park in Charlotte one Tuesday when Rosemary decided to take Terry on a bus ride out of state. (They left Tondra behind at the park.)

The pair remained missing until Thursday night, when they were discovered in Annapolis, Maryland. Rosemary had managed to find a position as a maid. She had told the homeowners that she was the child’s widowed mother, but the homeowners became suspicious (in part because the child called herself Terry even though Rosemary insisted the name was Jerry) and called the police.

Terry’s parents drove to Annapolis on Friday to retrieve her, and nursemaid Rosemary was arrested. (Turns out her real name was Loretta Brozek. She was found guilty in July and sentenced to seven years in federal prison, but in October she was transferred to a mental institution.)

Though older sister Tondra was never the focus of the story, her name was mentioned repeatedly in the news that week.

And, ironically, Tondra’s name wasn’t really Tondra — it was Tonda (according to the North Carolina birth records, the 1940 U.S. census, and at least one early news report). In fact, she seems to be the same Tonda Taylor who founded the LGBTQ group Time Out Youth in Charlotte in 1991.

The name Terry — already on the rise for both genders at that time — also saw a jump in usage in 1946.

Do you like the name Tondra? How about Tonda?

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