How popular is the baby name Kim 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 Kim.

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Popularity of the baby name Kim


Posts that mention the name Kim

Where did the baby name Moesha come from in 1996?

The character Moesha Mitchell (played by Brandy Norwood) from the TV series "Moesha" (1996-2001)
Moesha from “Moesha”

The name Moesha first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1996 with a whopping 426 baby girls:

  • 1998: 122 baby girls named Moesha
  • 1997: 211 baby girls named Moesha [rank: 945th]
  • 1996: 426 baby girls named Moesha [rank: 548th] – debut & peak usage
  • 1995: unlisted
  • 1994: unlisted

It was easily the highest-debuting name of the year. In fact, it currently ranks third on the list of highest-debuting girl names of all time!

The spelling Moeisha also debuted in 1996, as did the variant forms Moeshia and Oesha.

What made the name Moesha so trendy in the mid-1990s?

The TV sitcom Moesha (pronounced moh-EE-shah), which began airing in January of 1996.

The show’s protagonist was “hip, smart and opinionated” African-American teenager Moesha Mitchell.

At the start of the series, Moesha lived in a middle-class Los Angeles neighborhood with her dad, her little brother Myles, and her new stepmom — who also happened to be a teacher at her high school. Her friends included Kim and Hakeem, and she was secretly dating a boy named Ohagi. (Ohagi, pronounced oh-HAH-jee, was a one-hit wonder in the data in 1996.)

The name of the sitcom’s main character was chosen by Sara Finney, one of Moesha‘s three co-creators. Finney, who was inspired in part by name of her niece Tiesha, explained:

We wanted a name that reflected the fact [that] a lot of African-American girls born in the 1970s and 1980s have this ‘esha’ sound at the end of their names.

The actress who portrayed Moesha was none other than Brandy Norwood — better known as mononymous R&B singer Brandy. She also sang the show’s theme song, of course.

By the time the sitcom premiered, Brandy had already scored three top-ten hits: “I Wanna Be Down,” “Baby,” and “Brokenhearted” (a duet with Wanyá Morris of Boyz II Men). Her early success on the charts accounts for the uptick in usage of the baby name Brandy in 1995.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Moesha?

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Moesha

Girl names that end with an M-sound

Girl names that end with an M-sound

In the U.S., most of the names given to baby girls end with a vowel sound. And many of the remaining names end with an N-sound.

So, what about girl names that end with other sounds?

Below is a selection of girl names that end with an M-sound, regardless of last letter. The names are ordered by current popularity.

Autumn
From the English word for the season. Here’s the popularity graph for Autumn.

Miriam
The Hebrew form of the name Mary. Here’s the popularity graph for Miriam.

Tatum
From the English surname, which is derived from the place name Tatham, meaning “Tata’s homestead.” Here’s the popularity graph for Tatum.

Dream
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Dream.

Maryam
The Arabic, Persian, and Urdu form of the name Miriam. Here’s the popularity graph for Maryam.

Salem
From any of various locations called Salem. (The infamous “witch trial” town in Massachusetts was named after the biblical town of Shalem.) Here’s the popularity graph for Salem.

Reem
An Arabic word meaning “gazelle.” Here’s the popularity graph for Reem.

Storm
From the type of weather. Here’s the popularity graph for Storm.

Harlem
From the New York City neighborhood, which was named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Here’s the popularity graph for Harlem.

Charm
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Charm.

Blossom
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Blossom.

Denim
From the type of fabric used to make blue jeans. Here’s the popularity graph for Denim.

Tasneem
From a Quranic word that refers to a fountain in Paradise (heaven). Here’s the popularity graph for Tasneem.

Wisdom
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Wisdom.

Rhythm
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Rhythm.

Airam
The name Maria spelled backwards. Here’s the popularity graph for Airam.

Kim
A nickname for Kimberly (though it also has several other possible derivations). Here’s the popularity graph for Kim.

Shalom
A Hebrew word meaning “peace.” Here’s the popularity graph for Shalom.

Ahlam
An Arabic word meaning “dreams.” Here’s the popularity graph for Ahlam.

Bloom
From the English vocabulary word. Here’s the popularity graph for Bloom.

Less-common girl names that end with an M-sound include Özlem, Nilam, Plum, Sonam, Psalm, Elham, and Thyme.

Which of the above do you like most? What others can you think of?

P.S. Here are lists of girl names that end with D-, K-, L-, R-, S-, T-, V-, and Z-sounds.

Sources: SSA, Behind the Name

Nelly Furtado was named after Nellie Kim

Nelly Furtado's album "Whoa, Nelly!" (2000)

Portuguese-Canadian pop singer Nelly Furtado was born in British Columbia in December of 1978.

Her full name at birth was Nelly Kim Furtado, and, back when she was promoting her first album, she mentioned (during a Yahoo! Music chat) that her given names were inspired by an athlete:

lovegrowsdeeper: is nelly short for noella?

launch_nelly_furtado: No, just Nelly. Nelly Kim Furtado. I was named after a gymnast.

Soviet gymnast Nelli Kim competed against Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Both Nelli and Nadia earned more than one “perfect 10” at the Games that year, but Nadia’s initial 10 came first.

During the years she was competing, Kim’s first name was typically transliterated “Nelli.” These days she lives in the U.S. and seems to prefer the spelling “Nellie.”

Interestingly, Nellie Kim knows about her namesake and is eager to meet her:

– Do you know the singer Nelly Furtado, who was named after you?

– Her full name is Nelly Kim Furtado. Here’s the story… I don’t know how to contact her. About 10-15 years ago she came to Minneapolis with a concert, my American friends wrote her an email: Dear Nelly, you know, Nellie Kim is also here, it would be great to meet, gather both Nellie Kims, get acquainted. But there is probably some filtering going on there: someone from her management apparently considered this letter a joke.

But who knows what will happen — maybe some journalist will tell her: dear, there’s this Nellie Kim, she lives basically across the road from you. You’re in Canada, she’s in Minneapolis, an hour flight.

I hope they’re able to get together someday. :)

Sources:

Name quotes #117: Carroll, Sydney, Tosca

double quotation mark

Time for the latest batch of name quotes!

From a recent Daily Mail article about an Englishman named Pele Johnson (who was born in September of 1970 — not long after the 1970 World Cup took place in Mexico):

“[M]y whole life has been shaped by the fact that I’m called Pele. Everywhere I’ve gone, it’s always been about my name first.

“It’s never hindered me in my career or anything, it’s a wonderful thing.”

[…]

His father Anthony Johnson wanted to name him after all the forwards and midfield of the Brazilian team in tribute to them winning the Jules Rimet trophy for the third time three months earlier.

It would have made him Pele Jairzinho Tostao Rivelino Clodoaldo Gerson Johnson.

[…]

Instead, the couple compromised on using two of the team’s names, meaning he was christened Pele Jairzinho Johnson.

From the 2004 book I’m a Believer: My Life of Monkees, Music, and Madness by Mickey Dolenz:

I have three younger sisters. The oldest of the three is “Coco.” Her real name is Gemma Marie, but somewhere along the line I nicknamed her “Coco Sunshine” and it stuck. I don’t think she has ever forgiven me.

From the 1915 article “What’s in a Name?” in Cosmopolitan magazine:

Carroll McComas has done her best to make up to her father, Judge C. C. McComas, for the disappointment she caused him in failing to be born a boy. When he insisted upon going through with his prepared program, notwithstanding her sex, and named her Charles Carroll McComas, her family history records that she dimpled sweetly and never whimpered.

[Stage actress Charles Carroll McComas (1886-1962) and her like-named father were descendants of Charles Carroll, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Her three older sisters were named Helen, Alice, and Clare.]

From the October 2000 Libertad Digital article “El Tribunal de Elecciones de Honduras rechaza los nombres ‘raros’” (translated):

The National Elections Tribunal (TNE) has announced that it will introduce an initiative to the legislature to prohibit the absurd, obscene or grotesque names of people in Honduras. The measure has been taken because in that country the law does not allow Hondurans to change their names.

The president of the TNE, the liberal Lisandro Quezada, has indicated that “the height of the situation is that there are strange names such as Cruz de Cardán, Silvín, Llanta del Milagro, Bujía and Motor Martínez that, without a doubt, cause annoyance to those who owe them take your whole life.”

[Those five names were inspired by automotive parts: Cruz de Cardán means “Cardan cross,” Silvín (created from the English words sealed beam) means “headlamp,” Llanta del Milagro means “miracle tire,” and Bujía means “spark plug.”]

From a 2017 Cricket Australia article about Trinidadian cricket player Brian Lara:

“So special did Lara consider his inaugural Test hundred [at Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, Australia, in early 1993] … [that] when his first daughter was born in 1996 she was christened Sydney. And following a visit to the venue that inspired her naming with her famous father in 2016, she now holds honorary membership at the SCG.”

Finally, here’s what Sports Illustrated learned from Maye Musk last year about the names of the Musk children:

  • Elon (b. 1971) “was named after his mother’s grandfather, John Elon Haldeman.”
  • Kimbal (b. 1972) “was named after the book titled Kim by Nobel Prize-winning author Rudyard Kipling.”
    • During his 2018 Reddit AMA, Kimbal said: “My name means Warrior Chief. It is the name of an english orphan in Rudyard Kipling’s book called Kim (short for Kimball). My parents mispelled [sic] my name on my birth certificate, so I’m Kimbal, not ‘Kimball’.”
  • Tosca (b. 1974) “was named after a girl that Musk’s ex-husband [Errol] had a crush on in high school.”
    • Maye noted: “I didn’t care. I thought the name was pretty. And I liked it and it suited her.”