A while back we talked about the name Maverick, which was put on the onomastic map thanks to the TV western Maverick (1957-1962).
Since then, I’ve discovered that a handful of minor female characters from Maverick also influenced baby names in the late ’50s and early ’60s. I’ll go in chronological order…
First there’s Samantha, which saw higher usage around the time recurring character Samantha Crawford (played by Diane Brewster) was on the show. She appeared a total of four times: once in 1957, three more times in 1958. (This was still a few years before Bewitched came along.)
- 1959: 111 baby girls named Samantha
- 1958: 109 baby girls named Samantha [rank: 999th]
- 1957: 38 baby girls named Samantha
- 1956: 29 baby girls named Samantha
- 1955: 27 baby girls named Samantha
Second there’s Modesty, which debuted around the time recurring character Modesty Blaine was on the show. She appeared a total of three times. In her first two appearances, in 1959 and 1960, she was played by Mona Freeman.
- 1962: unlisted
- 1961: unlisted
- 1960: 5 baby girls named Modesty [debut]
- 1959: unlisted
- 1958: unlisted
Third there’s Kiz, which debuted the year after character Kiz Bouchet (played by Kathleen Crowley) appeared in the episode “Kiz” (December, 1960).
- 1963: 5 baby girls named Kiz
- 1962: 7 baby girls named Kiz
- 1961: 21 baby girls named Kiz [debut]
- 1960: unlisted
- 1959: unlisted
Fourth there’s Caprice, which doubled in usage the year the character Caprice Rambeau (played by Dawn Wells) appeared in the episode “The Deadly Image” (March, 1961).
- 1963: 31 baby girls named Caprice
- 1962: 43 baby girls named Caprice
- 1961: 48 baby girls named Caprice
- 1960: 24 baby girls named Caprice
- 1959: 15 baby girls named Caprice
And finally there’s Tawney, which saw higher usage the year the Native American character Tawney (played by Sharon Hugueny) appeared in the 2-part episode, “The Devil’s Necklace” (April, 1961).
- 1963: 6 baby girls named Tawney
- 1962: 9 baby girls named Tawney
- 1961: 27 baby girls named Tawney
- 1960: 5 baby girls named Tawney
- 1959: unlisted
Which one of these names — Samantha, Modesty, Kiz, Caprice, or Tawney — do you like best?
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