How popular is the baby name Sumiko 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 Sumiko.

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Popularity of the baby name Sumiko


Posts that mention the name Sumiko

Mystery baby names: Open cases

I’m a baby name blogger, but sometimes I feel more like a baby name detective. Because so much of my blogging time is spent doing detective work: trying to figure out where a particular baby name comes from, or why a name saw a sudden jump (or drop) in usage during a particular year.

If a name itself doesn’t make the answer obvious (e.g., Lindbergh) and a simple Google search hasn’t helped, my first bit of detective work involves scanning the baby name charts. I’ve learned that many search-resistant baby names (like Deatra) are merely alternative spellings of more common names (Deirdre).

If that doesn’t do it, I go back to Google for some advanced-level ninja searching, to help me zero in on specific types of historical or pop culture events. This is how I traced Irmalee back to a character in a short story in a very old issue of the once-popular McCall’s Magazine.

But if I haven’t gotten anywhere after a few rounds of ninja searching, I officially give up and turn the mystery baby name over to you guys. Together we’ve cracked a couple of cases (yay!) but, unfortunately, most of the mystery baby names I’ve blogged about are still big fat mysteries.

Here’s the current list of open cases:

  • Wanza, girl name, debuted in 1915.
  • Nerine, girl name, debuted in 1917.
  • Laquita, girl name, debuted in 1930.
  • Norita, girl name, spiked (for the 2nd time) in 1937.
  • Delphine, girl name, spiked in 1958.
  • Leshia, girl name, debuted in 1960.
  • Lavoris, girl name, debuted in 1961.
  • Djuna, girl name, debuted in 1964.
  • Latrenda, girl name, debuted in 1965.
  • Ondina, girl name, debuted in 1968.
  • Khari, boy name, debuted in 1971.
  • Jelani, boy name, debuted in 1973.
  • Toshiba, girl name, debuted in 1974.
  • Brieanna, girl name, debuted in 1979.
  • Sumiko, girl name, spiked in 1980.
  • Tou, boy name, debuted in 1980.
  • Marquita, girl name, spiked in 1983.
  • Caelan, boy name, debuted in 1992.
  • Deyonta, boy name, debuted in 1993.
  • Trayvond, boy name, debuted in 1994.
  • Zeandre, boy name, debuted in 1997.
  • Yatzari, girl name, debuted in 2000.
  • Itzae, boy name, debuted in 2011.

If you enjoy sleuthing, please give some of the above a shot! I’d love to knock one or two off the list before I start adding more mystery names in the coming weeks…

Update, 7/13/16: More still-open cases from the Mystery Monday series last summer: Theta, Memory, Treasure, Clione, Trenace, Bisceglia, Genghis and Temujin.

Mystery baby name: Sumiko

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

Welcome to mystery week! This is the first of 5 posts featuring baby names that saw sudden popularity increases that I can’t quite figure out. Maybe you guys can help?

In 1980, over 100 baby girls were suddenly given the name Sumiko (or some variant thereof):

Name1979198019811982
Sumiko53175
Semiko–23*8–
Samika7222014
Sameka1221129
Sumeka–14*––
Sumika–11*––
Semeka–876
Sameko–7*––
Samica–7––
Semico–7*––
Simeko–7*––
Sumeko–7*––
Semeko–6*––
Semika–677
Sameika–5*––
*Debut

What prompted the Sumiko spike? I’m not sure.

The various spellings suggest that people were hearing the name, but not seeing it written down (as with Kasara and Deirdre). So the source is likely to be a song, a movie, or a TV show.

The only possibility I’ve come up with so far is a minor character from The Young and The Restless named Sumiko. According to various soap opera websites, Sumiko was a cult leader (!) who began appearing on the show in early 1980.

Do you have any other ideas?

Baby name needed: Formal name for nickname Susie

A reader named Kristina writes:

My husband insists on naming our daughter after his mother. He doesn’t necessarily want to name her Susan, her full name, but insists on calling her Susie. I have been trying to come up with names containing the word Sue in them not necessarily at the beginning, but more so in the middle or end of the name.

Hm. This is a tricky one.

Here are some names that include a “su” element:

  • Atsuko, Etsuko, Kasumi, Mitsuko, Sumiko, Suzu, Suzume, Yasu, and other Japanese names. Though these probably won’t make sense unless the baby has some sort of connection to Japan.
  • Sumana, Sumati, Sunita, Suniti, Sushila, Sunila, Suparna, Supriti, and other Indian names. But the connection thing applies for these as well (and to the group below).
  • Consuelo, Asunción, Jesusa, and perhaps a few other Spanish and/or religious names.
  • Ursula seems to be the only traditional “English” name that fits the bill, but the nickname Sula is more natural-sounding for Ursula than Susie. Also, there’s that unshakable (and unfortunate) sea-witch association.
  • Sunny, Sunshine, Sunday, and Summer are word-names that could work, though they seem like a stretch because the vowel-sounds don’t match up.

So, as you can see, I had a pretty tough time coming up with suitable “su” names.

Of course, I’m avoiding the obvious — the many Susan-related names (e.g. Susanna, Suzette, Suellen) out there. It seems Kristina wants to avoid “Susan” specifically, but maybe some other name from this family would work?

Another idea would be get a bit abstract about the nicknaming. For instance, Alexandra, Alessandra and Anastasia include S- and Z-sounds…instead of the typical nicknames like Alex and Ana, what about Susie for these?

What other ideas would you offer to Kristina?