I haven’t blogged about a mystery name in a while, so let’s try this one…
The baby name Toshiba debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1974 with 58 baby girls:
- 1978: 40 baby girls named Toshiba
- 1977: 38 baby girls named Toshiba
- 1976: 26 baby girls named Toshiba
- 1975: 35 baby girls named Toshiba
- 1974: 58 baby girls named Toshiba [debut]
- 1973: unlisted
In terms of the biggest girl-name debuts of all time, Toshiba landed just outside the top 50, tied with Siobhan for 53rd.
The variants Tashiba and Tosheba also debuted in 1974, while Tasheba debuted a year earlier.
Now, Toshiba is a brand name. We all know that.
But something tells me that the company/brand didn’t have anything to do with the baby name. The Japanese company Toshiba has been around for well over a century, it’s been exporting goods (transistors, TVs, ovens, etc.) to the U.S. since long before ’70s, and there wasn’t some big advertising push in 1973/1974.
The brand is so well-established, though, that my internet searches aren’t letting me see anything but the brand. So I can’t get past it to see what the real answer might be.
Was Toshiba a character in a ’70s TV show (like Ibe/Ebay)? Maybe a long-forgotten musician or actor?
Do you have any ideas?