Baby Name: Ruby

Would you name your son Bimbo?

I ask because Bimbo was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data in 1954. Five baby boys got the name that year.

• 1956: unlisted
• 1955: unlisted
• 1954: 5 baby boys named Bimbo [debut]
• 1953: unlisted
• 1952: unlisted

Cruel? Not necessarily.

These parents weren’t bestowing the name with the slang term in mind. (Bimbo, originally a variant of bambino, Italian for “baby,” had become a synonym for “floozie” back in the 1920s.) They’d heard it in a country song about a little boy called Bimbo. Here’s the first verse:

Bimbo is a little boy who’s got million friends
and every time he passes by, they all invite him in
He’ll clap his hands, sing and dance, and talk his baby talk
With a hole in pants, and his knees stickin’ out, he’s just big enough to walk

“Bimbo,” written circa 1953 by Rod Morris, was recorded in 1953-1954 by various performers including Gene Autry,* Ruby Wright, Pee Wee King/Redd Stewart, Eddy Howard, Lawrence Welk, Polly Possum, and Brucie Weil.

But the most successful rendition was performed by Jim Reeves, whose “Bimbo,” released in late 1953, peaked at #2 on the list of Best Selling Country & Western Records for three weeks from late January to early February, 1954.

[T]he song became wildly popular, especially with families who had children. “People were even naming their little boys ‘Bimbo,’ after the song,” [Jim’s wife] Mary said in astonishment.

Here’s a video featuring the Jim Reeves recording:

What do you think of the name Bimbo?

*This was a few years after Gene’s rendition of “Frosty the Snowman” inspired a handful of parents to name their sons Frosty.

Update, Aug. 2024: Bimbo is no longer in the U.S. baby name data! I’m not sure when the SSA made the adjustment, but this is the first time I’ve noticed it. There’s a chance the name could reappear in a future data release, though, so I will leave this post up for now.

Sources:

• Jordan, Larry. Jim Reeves: His Untold Story. N.p.: Page Turner Books International, 2011.
• Bimbo – Online Etymology Dictionary
• SSA

Second image: Clipping from Billboard magazine (6 Feb. 1954)