How popular is the baby name Randy 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 Randy.

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Popularity of the baby name Randy


Posts that mention the name Randy

What popularized the baby name Brandy in the early 1970s?

Looking Glass single "Brandy" (1972)
Looking Glass single

The baby name Brandy — which comes from the name of the alcoholic beverage — first appeared in the U.S. data as a girl name during the WWII era.

Over the next few decades, usage of the name slowly increased with some help from pop culture. The films Two of a Kind (1951), Destry (1954), and Hatari! (1962) all featured female characters named Brandy, and several early TV shows (such as The Untouchables, The Defenders, and Tales of Wells Fargo) likewise included minor female characters with the name.

Then, in the early 1970s, the usage of Brandy suddenly tripled:

  • 1974: 3,831 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 80th]
  • 1973: 3,714 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 82nd]
  • 1972: 2,082 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 140th]
  • 1971: 704 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 353rd]
  • 1970: 610 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 385th]

Other spellings (such as Brandi, Brandie, Brandee, Brande, and Brandye) also got a boost.

Why?

Because of the soft-rock song “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” [vid] by the New Jersey band Looking Glass.

It was released as a single in May of 1972 and reached the #1 spot on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in late August.

The song was about a female bartender named Brandy who, though she served many of the sailors passing through her harbor town, pined for a particular one (who’d left her to return to the sea).

Band member Elliot Lurie wrote the song. How did he choose Brandy’s name?

The name was derived from a high school girlfriend I had whose name was Randy with an “R.” Usually when I write […] I strum some guitar and kind of sing along with the first things that come to mind. Her name came up. Then I started writing the rest of the song, and it was about a barmaid. I thought Randy was an unusual name for a girl, it could go either way, and (the song was about) a barmaid, so I changed it to Brandy.

Thanks to the song, the name Brandy entered the girls’ top 100 in 1973.

But that’s not the end of the story. Later the same decade, the name got another boost from another song:

  • 1980: 6,410 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 42nd]
  • 1979: 6,775 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 39th]
  • 1978: 6,699 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 37th] (peak ranking)
  • 1977: 5,477 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 51st]
  • 1976: 5,232 baby girls named Brandy [rank: 55th]

This time it was the R&B song “Brandy” [vid] by the vocal group The O’Jays.

It was released as a single in July of 1978 and went on to peak at #79 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in October.

The song was about a dog named Brandy that had run away from home, believe it or not. An advertisement for the song in Billboard magazine offered the following visual:

Detail of an advertisement for the song "Brandy" from Billboard magazine (Aug. 1978)
“Brandy” advertisement

Future R&B singer Brandy Norwood, who was born in early 1979, might have been named with the O’Jays tune in mind.

So, how did the liquor come to be known as “brandy” in the first place? The word derives from the Dutch term brandewijn, meaning “burnt wine” (as brandy is created from wine that has been distilled via heat). It’s possible that Brandy’s emergence as a baby name in the mid-20th century was inspired by the trendiness of Sherry (which, in turn, was likely influenced by the rise of Cheryl).

What are your thoughts on the name Brandy?

Sources:

Second image: Clipping from Billboard magazine (5 Aug. 1978)

What popularized the baby name Latoya?

La Toya Jackson's album "Heart Don't Lie" (1984)
La Toya Jackson album

The name Latoya first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in the 1960s. After rising quickly during the ’70s — and seeing upticks in usage in both 1977 and 1981 — the name achieved peak popularity in 1984:

  • 1985: 3,402 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 81st]
  • 1984: 5,051 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 60th] (peak usage)
  • 1983: 3,151 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 90th]
  • 1982: 3,200 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 91st]
  • 1981: 4,267 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 69th]
  • 1980: 2,505 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 123rd]
  • 1979: 1,880 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 148th]
  • 1978: 2,040 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 135th]
  • 1977: 2,321 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 125th]
  • 1976: 2,052 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 135th]

Here’s a visual:

Graph of the usage of the baby name Latoya in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Latoya

What fueled the rise of Latoya?

The career of singer La Toya Jackson.

(The SSA removes spaces and ignores internal capitalization, which explains why the name is rendered “Latoya” in the dataset.)

Though she wasn’t a member of The Jackson 5 — the pop-soul vocal group featuring her five brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael — La Toya was often mentioned in write-ups about the Jackson family during the early 1970s.

By 1974, La Toya and the remaining Jackson siblings (Rebbie, Randy, and Janet) were participating in the group’s live performances.

Television audiences were introduced to La Toya in the musical variety series The Jacksons (1976-77), which featured all of the siblings except for Jermaine.

In 1980, she launched her solo career. She didn’t become as commercially successful as either Michael or Janet, but her single “Heart Don’t Lie” [vid] — a reggae duet with Howard Hewett of Shalamar — did reach #56 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in June of 1984.

The singer was born La Toya Yvonne Jackson on May 29, 1956 — the sixth birthday of her eldest sibling, Rebbie, coincidentally. In her autobiography, La Toya said that her mother, who had a “fondness for unusual names,” claimed to have coined “La Toya.”

What are your thoughts on the name La Toya?

Sources:

Tom Morello named his baby after Randy Rhoads

Guitarist Randy Rhoads (1956-1982)
Randy Rhoads

Classically-trained heavy metal guitarist Randall “Randy” Rhoads is best remembered for his work with Ozzy Osbourne in the early 1980s. (You can hear him playing on “Crazy Train.”) Though he didn’t live long — he died in 1982, while on tour — his small but impressive body of work influenced a number of future rock guitarists.

One of those guitarists was Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine. Here’s what Morello told Rolling Stone a few years ago:

Randy Rhoads is my favorite guitar player of all time. It was his poster on my wall when I was practicing eight hours a day, and I named my firstborn son, Rhoads, after him.

Baby Rhoads was born in 2007.

Morello and his wife Denise welcomed their second son in 2011. This time they went for a sports name, choosing Roman in honor of 1960’s Los Angeles Rams quarterback Roman Gabriel. Again, Morello explained the decision in terms of posters:

That was the poster on my wall. Before I had rock and roll posters on my wall I had Roman Gabriel on my wall.

Which name do you like more, Rhoads or Roman?

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of a performance with Ozzy Osbourne [vid]

The Jackson 5…and their five other siblings

Seven of the Jackson siblings: Jackie, Michael, Tito, Marlon, Randy, La Toya, Rebbie, and Janet (in 1976)
Seven of the Jackson siblings

We’ve all heard of the Jackson 5, but did you know that there were actually ten siblings in the Jackson family?

Katherine and Joe Jackson of Gary, Indiana, welcomed ten children — seven boys and three girls — over the course of 16 years. Here are the names of all ten, in order:

  1. Maureen Reillette, “Rebbie” (b. 1950)
  2. Sigmund Esco, “Jackie” (b. 1951)
  3. Tariano Adaryll, “Tito” (b. 1953)
  4. Jermaine LaJuane (b. 1954)
  5. La Toya Yvonne (b. 1956)
  6. Brandon (twin, b. 1957) — he died soon after birth
  7. Marlon David (twin, b. 1957)
  8. Michael Joe (b. 1958)
  9. Steven Randall, “Randy” (b. 1961)
  10. Janet Damita Jo (b. 1966)

Here are Jermaine’s thoughts on some of the Jackson family names, from his memoir:

I have often wondered how many names my parents went through before agreeing on the final nine. Not that it mattered in the end, because the choice of “Sigmund Esco” for their first son morphed into “Jackie” when Papa Samuel thought it easy to refer to him as “Jackson boy,” then laziness shortened it some more. And “Tariano Adaryl” [sic] became “Tito” because it was easier for us all. I was forever curious as a child about how two people’s taste could go from the exotic-sounding “Jermaine LaJuane” to “Michael Joe.” From somewhere, and especially after Michael’s death, a rumor began that his middle name was Joseph. Maybe this myth prefers the echo with our father’s name because the crossover reads better about a father and son who struggled to see eye to eye. “Joe” was his middle name, as recorded on his birth certificate. His first name was almost “Ronald,” at the suggestion of Mama Martha, but Mother quickly quashed that one.

(Papa Samuel was Jermaine’s paternal grandfather; Mama Martha was his maternal grandmother.)

Which Jackson sibling name do you like best?

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