How popular is the baby name Wanya 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 Wanya.

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Popularity of the baby name Wanya


Posts that mention the name Wanya

What brought the baby name Devoe back in 1990?

American singer/rapper Ronnie DeVoe
Ronnie DeVoe of Bell Biv DeVoe

The rare name Devoe re-emerged in the U.S. baby name data in 1990:

  • 1992: unlisted
  • 1991: unlisted
  • 1990: 9 baby boys named Devoe
  • 1989: unlisted
  • 1988: unlisted

What brought it back that year?

The R&B/hip hop trio Bell Biv DeVoe, made up of Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Ronnie DeVoe — three former members of the ’80s boy band New Edition.

BBD’s two most successful singles, “Poison” and “Do Me,” both peaked at #3 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in 1990 (in June and September, respectively).

The group described its sound — and, in a sense, new jack swing itself — in the music video for “Poison”:

Our music is mentally hip-hop smoothed out on the R&B tip with a pop appeal to it.

The surname DeVoe has several possible derivations. In many cases, it can be traced back to the French surname DeVaux, which originally referred to someone from one of the various locations in France called Vaux, meaning “valleys.”

What are your thoughts on Devoe as a first name?

P.S. Michael Bivins went on to discover and manage both Boyz II Men (which included Wanyá Morris) and Another Bad Creation (whose biggest hit was “Iesha“).

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of the music video for “Poison”

What popularized the baby name Wanya in the 1990s?

Singer Wanyá Morris
Wanyá Morris

The name Wanya first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1992. It reached peak usage four years later:

  • 1997: 24 baby boys named Wanya
  • 1996: 95 baby boys named Wanya [peak]
  • 1995: 77 baby boys named Wanya
  • 1994: 10 baby boys named Wanya
  • 1993: 7 baby boys named Wanya
  • 1992: 7 baby boys named Wanya [debut]
  • 1991: unlisted
  • 1990: unlisted

Other spellings that popped up in the mid-1990s include Wanye, Wanyae, Wonya, Juanya, Juanye, and Juanyae.

So, what was influencing the name Wanya?

Singer Wanyá (pronounced wahn-yay) Morris, who was born in Philadelphia in 1973.

Wanyá is a founding member of the Philly-based vocal harmony group Boyz II Men — one of the most successful musical acts of the 1990s.

The group’s first two singles, “Motownphilly” and “It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday,” both became top-5 hits on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart during the latter months of 1991.

Among Boyz II Men’s other hits were…

  • “End Of The Road” (1992), which became the first song to rank #1 for 13 weeks straight,
  • “I’ll Make Love To You” (1994), which ranked #1 for 14 weeks straight, and,
  • with Mariah Carey, “One Sweet Day” (1995), which became the first song to rank #1 for 16 weeks straight.

Both “End of the Road” and “I’ll Make Love To You” also won Grammy Awards for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (in 1993 and 1995, respectively).

Singer Wanyá Morris in the "Brokenhearted" music video
Wanyá Morris in the “Brokenhearted” video

Another song that would have drawn particular attention to Wanyá Morris’ first name in the mid-’90s was “Brokenhearted,” a duet with Brandy that peaked at #9 on the Hot 100 in October of 1995.

What are your thoughts on the name Wanya? (How would you spell it?)

P.S. Wanyá’s middle name is Jermaine…

Sources: Wanya Morris – Wikipedia, Boyz II Men – Wikipedia, Boyz II Men – Billboard, List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones – Wikipedia, SSA

Images: Screenshots of the music videos for “Water Runs Dry” and “Brokenhearted”

Where did the baby name Moesha come from in 1996?

The character Moesha Mitchell (played by Brandy Norwood) from the TV series "Moesha" (1996-2001)
Moesha from “Moesha”

The name Moesha first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1996 with a whopping 426 baby girls:

  • 1998: 122 baby girls named Moesha
  • 1997: 211 baby girls named Moesha [rank: 945th]
  • 1996: 426 baby girls named Moesha [rank: 548th] – debut & peak usage
  • 1995: unlisted
  • 1994: unlisted

It was easily the highest-debuting name of the year. In fact, it currently ranks third on the list of highest-debuting girl names of all time!

The spelling Moeisha also debuted in 1996, as did the variant forms Moeshia and Oesha.

What made the name Moesha so trendy in the mid-1990s?

The TV sitcom Moesha (pronounced moh-EE-shah), which began airing in January of 1996.

The show’s protagonist was “hip, smart and opinionated” African-American teenager Moesha Mitchell.

At the start of the series, Moesha lived in a middle-class Los Angeles neighborhood with her dad, her little brother Myles, and her new stepmom — who also happened to be a teacher at her high school. Her friends included Kim and Hakeem, and she was secretly dating a boy named Ohagi. (Ohagi, pronounced oh-HAH-jee, was a one-hit wonder in the data in 1996.)

The name of the sitcom’s main character was chosen by Sara Finney, one of Moesha‘s three co-creators. Finney, who was inspired in part by name of her niece Tiesha, explained:

We wanted a name that reflected the fact [that] a lot of African-American girls born in the 1970s and 1980s have this ‘esha’ sound at the end of their names.

The actress who portrayed Moesha was none other than Brandy Norwood — better known as mononymous R&B singer Brandy. She also sang the show’s theme song, of course.

By the time the sitcom premiered, Brandy had already scored three top-ten hits: “I Wanna Be Down,” “Baby,” and “Brokenhearted” (a duet with Wanyá Morris of Boyz II Men). Her early success on the charts accounts for the uptick in usage of the baby name Brandy in 1995.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Moesha?

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Moesha