The curious name Maeby began appearing in the U.S. baby name data in the early 2000s:
- 2008: 7 baby girls named Maeby
- 2007: unlisted
- 2006: 6 baby girls named Maeby [debut]
- 2005: unlisted
- 2004: unlisted
It debuted the last year Arrested Development was on the air, which is notable because the sitcom featured a teenage character named Maeby Fünke (played by actress Alia Shawkat).
According to Wikipedia…
Creator Mitchell Hurwitz named the character after his daughters Maisy and Phoebe. Hurwitz acknowledged the peculiar result of this blending, saying “It just seemed like crazy extra fun to think of weird names. I don’t want us to become too self-conscious about it but, yes, we do have some strange names.” Incidentally, she is often described as George Michael’s “Cousin Maeby,” a play on words making reference to the fact that they may not be related.
Maeby’s teenage counterpart/cousin on the show, George Michael Bluth, didn’t have the same impact on baby names; the compound name Georgemichael hasn’t been in the data since pop singer George Michael was popular back in the ’90s.
What about you — would you name your baby Maeby?
