How popular is the baby name Thembekile 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 Thembekile.

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Popularity of the baby name Thembekile


Posts that mention the name Thembekile

Where did the baby name Tandeka come from in 1967?

Tandeka and Zoleka Tukutese at 6 months old.
Tandeka and Zoleka Tukutese

The baby name Tandeka was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data in 1967:

  • 1969: unlisted
  • 1968: unlisted
  • 1967: 7 baby girls named Tandeka [debut]
  • 1966: unlisted
  • 1965: unlisted

Where did it come from?

A quintuplet!

Tandeka was the name of one of the famous Tukutese quintuplets born to Xhosa parents Nogesi Gquzulu (mom) and Tafeni Tukutese (dad) in South Africa in February of 1966.

The Tukutese quintuplets (b. 1966)
The Tukutese quintuplets

U.S. newspapers and periodicals spelled (and defined) the quints’ names in various ways…

  1. Kululekile or Kolekile (boy), “happy” or “happiness” (5 lbs., 2 oz.)
  2. Tembekile (boy), “trusted” (4 lbs. 12 oz.)
  3. Mbambile (boy), “devoted” or “I’ve got it” or “he’s got it” (4 lbs. 12 oz.)
  4. Zoleka (girl), “serenity” (4 lbs. 12 oz.)
  5. Tandeka (girl), “beloved” or “loved one” (4 lbs. 2 oz.)

And, interestingly, the name of quint #3 was later changed. The quints’ mother had “defied an age-old tribal custom” by choosing the names herself while at the hospital. According to tradition, it was “the prerogative of the grandfather or great grandfather to name children.”

One of the baby boys was named Mbambile, meaning “He’s Got It” by the mother, but he had his name changed by his great grandfather, 89-year-old Mr. Gqusungu Zenzile, who came from the Transkei to see his great grandchildren. Mr. Zenzile changed his name to Gilindoda, meaning “Giant.”

This change was never mentioned by the U.S. media, though. Even when Ebony magazine published an article about the quints in December of 1966 — an extra round of exposure that no doubt contributed to Tandeka appearing in the SSA data in 1967 — quint #3 was still being called Mbambile.

What are your thoughts on the name Tandeka?

P.S. These days, the names Tandeka and Tembekile are more commonly rendered “Thandeka” and “Thembekile.” In Xhosa, th is pronounced like t, but with more aspiration.

Sources:

Images: Clippings from Ebony magazine (Dec. 1966)

Where did the baby name Thembi come from in 1971?

The Pharoah Sanders album "Thembi" (1971)
Pharoah Sanders album

The name Thembi first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1971:

  • 1973: 6 baby girls named Thembi
  • 1972: 7 baby girls named Thembi
  • 1971: 10 baby girls named Thembi [debut]
  • 1970: unlisted
  • 1969: unlisted

Why?

Because, in mid-1971, free-jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders released a song called “Thembi” on an album also called Thembi. The title track was “named in honor of his South African wife.”

The name Thembi (pronounced TEM-bee) is typically short for Zulu and Xhosa names like Thembisa, Thembisile and Thembekile.

Thembi came out several albums after Pharoah Sanders’ most successful album, Karma (1969), which was likely the thing that gave the baby name Karma a boost in 1970.

Pharoah Sanders himself was born in Arkansas in 1940 with the name Farrell Sanders:

Mr. Sanders assures me that the myths about his nickname “Pharoah” […] are false — it didn’t come from space traveler Sun Ra or from the music criticism of poet/playwright Amiri Baraka. “It was just a matter of paperwork. When I joined the union in New York City, they had a space for the artist’s name, so I just put [Pharoah] down.”

Because he altered the spelling of the Egyptian word pharaoh, it’s pretty easy to attribute the 1970s usage of the baby name Pharoah to him. (The traditional spelling, Pharaoh, didn’t emerge in the data until the end of the decade.)

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