Singer George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou) released his first solo album in late 1987.
Four of the singles from Faith reached the #1 spot on the Billboard charts in 1988 — “Faith” in January, “Father Figure” in February, “One More Try” in May, and “Monkey” in August.
In 1989, Faith won a Grammy for Album of the Year. “Father Figure” was also nominated a Grammy, but lost to Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
Also in 1989, we see the compound name Georgemichael sneak onto the U.S. baby name charts for the very first time:
- 1991: 6 baby boys named Georgemichael
- 1990: unlisted
- 1989: 6 baby boys named Georgemichael [debut]
- 1988: unlisted
- 1987: unlisted
The SSA omits spaces and hyphens, so no doubt some of these Georgemichaels were actually named “George Michael” or “George-Michael.”
U.S. parents gave name one more try in 1997, when it briefly popped back onto the charts, but it hasn’t appeared in the data since then.
The sitcom Arrested Development (2003-2006) featured a character called George Michael, but the character wasn’t able to revive the name. (A character named Maeby, however, did manage to influence the charts…)