The cosmetics store Sephora — founded as “Shop 8” in France in 1970 — changed its name to Sephora in 1993 “by blending the Biblical name of Zipporah (Moses’ exceptionally beautiful wife) with the ancient Greek term for “pretty,” sephos.”
Never mind that the ancient Greek word sephos doesn’t seem to exist, and forget that the Bible makes no mention of Zipporah’s physical appearance.
But do note that Sephora opened its first U.S. location in New York’s SoHo neighborhood in 1998, then opened close to 40 more stores “from Seattle to Atlanta” before opening a flagship store in Manhattan in October of 1999.
Because the baby name Sephora — which has been in the U.S. data since the mid-1970s — made its first appearance in a state-specific dataset in 1999. And the state it popped up in? New York:
- 2001: 20 baby girls named Sephora
- 2000: 11 baby girls named Sephora
- 1999: 11 baby girls named Sephora
- 5 (45%) born in New York
- 1998: 7 baby girls named Sephora
- 1997: 14 baby girls named Sephora
Close to half of the babies named Sephora in 1999 were born in New York, where Sephora seems to have had a particularly strong presence.
Coincidence? Let me know what you think below…
Sources:
- About Sephora (archived)
- Dam, Julie. “Looks Matter.” People 8 Nov. 1999.
- Uh, That’s Not the Etymology of “Sephora”