How popular is the baby name Rhonda 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 Rhonda.

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Popularity of the baby name Rhonda


Posts that mention the name Rhonda

Where did the baby name Rhondda come from in 1946?

Rhondda Kelly, Miss Australia 1946
Rhondda Kelly

In December of 1945, the Miss Australia beauty pageant was held in Sydney.

The winner was 19-year-old university student Rhondda Kelly, the representative from Queensland (fittingly).

At least one Australian baby girl — born in March to Mr. and Mrs. Mark Fellows at the Lady Musgrave Maternity Hospital in Maryborough, Queensland — was named Rhondda in her honor.

But I don’t think this baby was her only namesake.

Why? Because, in mid-1946, Rhondda Kelly embarked upon a six-month round-the-world trip that included an east-to-west crossing of the U.S. and Canada during October. Photographs of Miss Australia 1946 were published in various U.S. papers (including the New York Times) that month.

Right on cue, the name Rhondda surfaced in the U.S. baby name data:

  • 1948: unlisted
  • 1947: 6 baby girls named Rhondda
  • 1946: 5 baby girls named Rhondda [debut]
  • 1945: unlisted
  • 1944: unlisted

It remained there for just one more year before falling back below the five-baby threshold.

(Actress Rhonda Fleming — who kicked off the mid-century rise of Rhonda in the late ’40s — wasn’t given a leading role in a movie until 1947.)

So, where does the rare name Rhondda come from?

A Welsh place name (of unknown etymology) that refers to both a river, Afon Rhondda, and a valley, Cwm Rhondda, in South Wales.

What are your thoughts on the name Rhondda? Do you like this spelling, or do you prefer Rhonda?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Rhondda Kelly (1945)

Where did the baby name Iyanla come from in 1998?

Iyanla Vanzant on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (Aug. 1999)
Iyanla Vanzant on “The Oprah Winfrey Show“

The curious name Iyanla first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1998:

  • 2000: 41 baby girls named Iyanla
  • 1999: 49 baby girls named Iyanla
  • 1998: 10 baby girls named Iyanla [debut]
  • 1997: unlisted
  • 1996: unlisted

Where did it come from?

Self-help expert Iyanla (pronounced ee-YAHN-lah) Vanzant, who was featured on 20 episodes of The Oprah Winfrey Show from 1998 to 1999.

According to Oprah.com, Iyanla doled out “some of the best no-nonsense, hard-hitting advice Oprah had ever heard.”

Iyanla’s humorous style and life-changing advice struck a chord with women everywhere. Her message was simple: To live better, you’ve got to love yourself.

She went on to host two of her own talk shows, the most successful of which, Iyanla: Fix My Life, aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) from 2012 to 2021.

Iyanla’s birth name was Rhonda Eva Harris. In her late 20s, she decided to reinvent herself — and adopt a new name, to symbolize her new life. Here’s how she tells the story:

Like Saul on the road to Damascus, I too had a spiritual awakening. Saul became Paul, and Rhonda became Iyanla, which, in the language of the Yoruba people of Nigeria, means “great mother.” It’s not even a name, it’s a title — it’s a title with a purpose.

The Yoruban title Ìyá nlá is made up of the words ìyá, meaning “mother,” and nlá, meaning “big, large.”

What are your thoughts on the name Iyanla?

Sources: Iyanla Vanzant – Wikipedia, Iyanla Vanzant Returns to The Oprah Show – Oprah.com, Iyanla Explains The Origin Of Her Name – Oprah.com [vid], SSA

Image: Screenshot of The Oprah Winfrey Show

What gave the baby name Tracee a boost in 1973?

Tracee Joy Silberstein on lap of mom Diana Ross (1973)
Tracee Joy Silberstein (b. 1972)

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Tracee more than doubled in usage from 1972 to 1973:

  • 1975: 95 baby girls named Tracee
  • 1974: 138 baby girls named Tracee [rank: 918th]
  • 1973: 313 baby girls named Tracee [rank: 536th]
  • 1972: 124 baby girls named Tracee [rank: 978th]
  • 1971: 99 baby girls named Tracee

What caused that spike?

A celebrity baby named Tracee Joy.

She was born in October of 1972 to Diana Ross, former lead singer of The Supremes, and music executive Robert Ellis Silberstein.

Tracee’s birth was mentioned in the newspapers in late 1972, but, more importantly, photos of her family (which included older sister Rhonda Suzanne) were featured in Ebony magazine in January of 1973.

Today, Tracee — known professionally as Tracee Ellis Ross — is an actress best known for her role as Dr. Rainbow “Bow” Johnson on the sitcom Black-ish (2014-2022).

What are your thoughts on the name Tracee? (Do you like this spelling, or do you prefer Tracy?)

P.S. Diana Ross’ three other (biological) children are named Chudney Lane, Ross Arne, and Evan Olav.

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the cover of Ebony magazine (Jul. 1973)

What gave the baby name Sherry a boost in 1962?

The Four Seasons album "Sherry & 11 Others" (1962)
Four Seasons album

The baby name Sherry, already popular in the early 1960s, reached peak usage in 1962 specifically:

  • 1964: 8,495 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 50th]
  • 1963: 9,065 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 49th]
  • 1962: 9,226 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 48th]
  • 1961: 8,358 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 53rd]
  • 1960: 8,314 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 54th]

What accounts for that sudden jump into the girls’ top 50?

The song “Sherry” by The Four Seasons, a vocal quartet led by Frankie Valli (and his distinctive falsetto).

“Sherry,” the group’s second single, was released in July of 1962. In mid-September it reached #1 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart (dethroning “Sheila” by Tommy Roe). It remained in the top spot for five weeks straight.

Here’s what “Sherry” sounds like:

Originally entitled “Terry,” the song was written (in about fifteen minutes) by Four Seasons member Bob Gaudio. When Bob shared it with the rest of the group, the reaction was mixed: “[S]ome of the guys liked it and some didn’t.”

Unable to come to a consensus, they played it for their producer, Bob Crewe, over the phone. Crewe loved the song, but not the name. He considered replacing it with Jackie (after First Lady Jackie Kennedy) and Peri (the name of one of his record labels) before settling upon Sherry — a respelling of Cheri, the name of the daughter of one of his good friends, New York disc jockey Jack Spector.

What are your thoughts on the name Sherry? (Do you like it more or less than Sheila?)

P.S. The name’s steep rise in 1946 may be largely attributable to the baby boom, but I think a second influence was the 1946 western Abilene Town, which featured a character named Sherry (played by actress Rhonda Fleming).

Sources: