The baby name Vint debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1958:
- 1960: 15 baby boys named Vint
- 1959: 35 baby boys named Vint
- 1958: 21 baby boys named Vint [debut]
- 1957: unlisted
- 1956: unlisted
The influence?
Vint Bonner, the main character of the TV Western The Restless Gun (1957-1959).
Vint was a “freelance cowpoke” who traveled alone through the post-Civil War West. The character was played by John Payne, who had starred in Miracle on 34th Street a decade earlier. Payne say of the character: “If there’s such a thing as a next-door neighbor in a Western that’s Vint Bonner.”
The series was based on a radio show (The Six Shooter, 1953-1954) in which the main character was named Britt Ponset. For TV, the character’s personality was altered slightly and his name was changed from “Britt” to “Vint” (…perhaps to make it sound more like Clint?).
Do you like the name Vint?
Sources:
- Marill, Alvin H. Television Westerns: Six Decades of Sagebrush Sheriffs, Scalawags, and Sidewinders.. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2011.
- “TV Goes Wild Over Westerns.” LIFE 28 Oct. 1957: 99-106.