Where did the baby name Isyss come from in 2002?

The group Isyss in the music video for "Single for the Rest of My Life" (2002)
Isyss in a music video

The name Isyss first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 2002. It saw peak usage just one year later:

  • 2005: 50 baby girls named Isyss
  • 2004: 56 baby girls named Isyss
  • 2003: 133 baby girls named Isyss [peak]
  • 2002: 57 baby girls named Isyss [debut]
  • 2001: unlisted
  • 2000: unlisted

Where did it come from?

A short-lived R&B girl group called Isyss. The group’s name was an acronym for “Intelligent Sexy Young Soul Sisters.”

The Los Angeles-based quartet was made up of members Ardena Clark, La’Myia Good, LeTecia Harrison, and Quierra Davis-Martin.

Their two biggest singles, “Day + Night” (featuring Jadakiss) and “Single For The Rest Of My Life” [vid], both reached Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in mid-to-late 2002. The songs peaked at 98th and 71st, respectively.

What are your thoughts on the name Isyss?

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of the music video for “Single For The Rest Of My Life”

What gave the baby name Caeleb a boost in 2021?

Olympic swimmer Caeleb Dressel
Caeleb Dressel

The baby name Caleb reached peak usage during the early 2000s.

Years later, in 2021 — amid the decline of Caleb — the usage of the rare spelling variant Caeleb suddenly tripled:

  • 2023: 6 baby boys named Caeleb
  • 2022: 11 baby boys named Caeleb
  • 2021: 15 baby boys named Caeleb
  • 2020: 5 baby boys named Caeleb
  • 2019: 6 baby boys named Caeleb

Why?

I think the uptick corresponds to the success of swimmer Caeleb Dressel at the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were held in the summer of 2021 (after being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Dressel won a whopping five gold medals in Tokyo. He obtained three of them in individual events (the 50-meter freestyle, the 100-meter freestyle, and the 100-meter butterfly) and two more in a pair of 100-meter relays.

As one sports reporter put it, “There will never be another Michael Phelps, but if there’s such a thing as the next-best thing, Caeleb Dressel is absolutely it.”

Dressel has already won one gold medal in Paris. If he continues to do well, do you think he’ll influence U.S. baby names again?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Caeleb Dressel is congratulated by Tripp Cooper after winning 100 fly by JD Lasica under CC BY 2.0.

Where did the baby name Denilson come from in 1997?

Brazilian soccer player Denílson de Oliveira Araújo
Denílson de Oliveira Araújo

The name Denilson emerged in the U.S. baby name data in 1997, saw a steep rise in usage in 1998, and reached peak popularity in 2002:

  • 2003: 44 baby boys named Denilson
  • 2002: 64 baby boys named Denilson (peak)
  • 2001: 43 baby boys named Denilson
  • 2000: 25 baby boys named Denilson
  • 1999: 40 baby boys named Denilson
  • 1998: 60 baby boys named Denilson
  • 1997: 6 baby boys named Denilson (debut)
  • 1996: unlisted
  • 1995: unlisted

What was influencing this name?

Brazilian soccer player Denílson de Oliveira Araújo, commonly known as Denílson.

He was a member of the Brazil national football team in 1997, the year Brazil won both the Copa América and the FIFA Confederations Cup. (His performance in the latter earned him the Golden Ball Award as the best player of the tournament, in fact.) Brazil went on to place runner-up in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Soon after the World Cup, 20-year-old Denílson — “a hot prospect who enthused fans and media alike” — was transferred from the Brazilian professional football club São Paulo to the Spanish club Real Betis for a world-record fee of £21.5 million.

His ensuing career didn’t quite live up to the hype, however.

Four years later, for instance, Denílson was a member of the Brazilian team that won the 2002 FIFA World Cup — but he didn’t play a major role in the tournament. (The winner of the Golden Boot that year was teammate Ronaldo.)

What are your thoughts on the name Denilson?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Túlio e Denílson no treino do Itumbiara by Mengo under CC BY-SA 3.0.

What gave the baby name Chelsi a boost in 1995?

Chelsi Smith, Miss Universe 1995
Chelsi Smith (at Miss Universe)

The name Chelsea and its many spelling variants (including Chelsey, Chelsie, and Chelsy) saw peak usage in the early 1990s. They’ve been on the decline ever since.

But Chelsi-with-an-i saw a noticeable (if brief) turnaround in 1995:

  • 1998: 76 baby girls named Chelsi
  • 1997: 111 baby girls named Chelsi
  • 1996: 180 baby girls named Chelsi
  • 1995: 303 baby girls named Chelsi [rank: 697th]
  • 1994: 170 baby girls named Chelsi
  • 1993: 267 baby girls named Chelsi [rank: 773rd]
  • 1992: 324 baby girls named Chelsi [rank: 677th]

Why?

Because of beauty queen Chelsi Smith.

She won the Miss Texas USA pageant in mid-1994, then the Miss USA pageant in early 1995. (Notably, she was also voted Miss Congeniality by the other delegates in both contests.)

Finally, in May of 1995, Chelsi traveled to Windhoek, Namibia, to compete in the Miss Universe pageant (which was “broadcast to more than 600 million viewers worldwide”). She won this one as well, becoming the sixth U.S. woman to wear the Miss Universe crown.

Chelsi Smith, Miss USA 1995
Chelsi Smith (at Miss USA)

The Miss Universe pageant has never included a talent competition, but it did introduce a national costume competition in the early 1960s. The costumes are often ostentatious (“sequins, feathers, fringe and of course, gigantic headpieces”), but Chelsi opted for something more modest:

Smith chose a 75-year-old ankle-length, silk-trimmed cotton lace dress as her national costume to commemorate the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave women the right to vote, passed in 1920.

What are your thoughts on the name Chelsi?

Sources:

Images: Screenshots of the TV broadcasts of the 44th Miss Universe pageant and the 44th Miss USA pageant