What gave the baby name Sonji a boost in the 1960s?

Sonji Clay (1945-2005)
Sonji Clay

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Sonji saw a steep rise in usage during the mid-1960s:

  • 1968: 69 baby girls named Sonji
  • 1967: 98 baby girls named Sonji
  • 1966: 225 baby girls named Sonji [rank: 639th]
  • 1965 96 baby girls named Sonji
  • 1964: 35 baby girls named Sonji
  • 1963: 8 baby girls named Sonji
  • 1962: 8 baby girls named Sonji

The name reached peak usage in 1966 — the single year it ranked as one of the top 1,000 girl names in the nation.

Here’s a visual:

What made the name so trendy?

Sonji (pronounced sahn-jee) Clay, the first wife of Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Clay).

She met the legendary boxer as an 18-year-old cocktail waitress named Sonji Roi in July of 1964. (Earlier the same year, Ali had not only become the world heavyweight champion, but also announced that he’d joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name.) They married a month later.

Though Sonji had agreed to follow all the tenets of her husband’s religion, she refused to abide by the Muslim dress code. She told reporters:

Cassius said that Elijah Muhammad told him I was embarrassing the entire Muslim nation by not wearing the long white dresses the Muslim women are supposed to wear. […] I am not accustomed to wearing stuff like that. I’m normal, like other women.

The couple ended up divorcing in January of 1966.

The very next month, Sonji embarked upon a short-lived singing career, ultimately releasing three singles. (The second two were put out on her own label, Songee.)

According to dialogue from the 2001 biopic Ali, Sonji’s first name was inspired by that of figure skater Sonja Henie:

Ali: What kind of name is that?
Roi: My father named me after Sonja Henie.

What are your thoughts on the name Sonji?

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the cover of Jet magazine (10 Feb. 1966)

Where did the baby name Anavrin come from in 2020?

The grocery store Anavrin from the Netflix series "You" (2018-).
Anavrin from “You“

The curious word Anavrin — which is Nirvana, spelled backwards — debuted as a girl name in the U.S. baby name data in 2020:

  • 2022 7 baby girls named Anavrin
  • 2021 5 baby girls named Anavrin
  • 2020 6 baby girls named Anavrin [debut]
  • 2019: unlisted
  • 2018: unlisted

Why?

My guess is the Netflix series You, a psychological thriller that began airing in late 2018.

At the start of the show’s second season — which was released in its entirety on December 26, 2019 — the main character moved to Los Angeles and began working at an upscale organic grocery store called Anavrin.

Season two of You proved so popular that, just a few days later (on Dec. 30), it was declared the fifth-most-popular Netflix series of 2019.

Around the same time, articles at various media outlets (including Cosmopolitan, Oprah Daily, and The Hollywood Reporter) drew even more attention to the word Anavrin with articles positing that the fictional grocery store had been inspired by a real one: L.A.’s trendy Erewhon Market. (Erewhon is an anagram of “nowhere.”)

What are your thoughts on Anavrin as a baby name? (Do you like it more or less than Nevaeh?)

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of You

Where did the baby name Kashonna come from in 1984?

Cleveland murder victims Kashona and Myrio Davis (circa 1984)
Kashona and Myrio Davis

The name Kashonna appeared for the first time in the U.S. baby name data in 1984:

  • 1986: unlisted
  • 1985: 8 baby girls named Kashonna
  • 1984: 15 baby girls named Kashonna [debut]
  • 1983: unlisted
  • 1982: unlisted

Where did it come from?

A gruesome news story.

In October of 1984, a mentally ill man in Cleveland named Darnell Parker tortured his family over an 18-hour period. He was trying to “[drive] the devil out of their bodies.”

His common-law wife, Linda Davis, managed to escape and notify authorities. When the police arrived, they found one of Linda’s three children was already dead. Another died hours later at the hospital.

According to the initial news reports, the first victim was 2-year-old Kashonna, who had been decapitated. The second was 8-year-old Myril, who’d been “stabbed in the chest and back” and “also suffered burns on his face.” The third child, 4-year-old Natalia, “was in critical condition with multiple stab wounds and burns.”

By the time of Parker’s indictment a week later, doctors had figured out that the first victim was actually Natalia, not Kashonna, and reporters had figured out that Darnell Parker’s last name was actually Donnell, and that Myril’s first name was actually Myrio.

Though Kashonna survived for several more weeks, she ended up passing away later the same month. (Incidentally, her name is spelled Kashona on the children’s shared gravestone.)

Sources:

Image: Clipping from Jet magazine (22 Oct. 1984)

How did Jaromír Jágr influence U.S. baby names?

Hockey player Jaromír Jágr
Jaromír Jágr

Earlier this week, the Pittsburgh Penguins retired the jersey of former star player Jaromír Jágr (pronounced YAH-roh-meer YAH-gur).

Jágr, who was born in 1972 and grew up in Communist-controlled Czechoslovakia, was selected fifth overall by the Penguins in the 1990 NHL Draft.

During the 11 years he played in Pittsburgh, Jágr led the league in points for 5 seasons (1995, 1998-2001), led the league in assists for 3 seasons (1998-1999, 2001), and won the Stanley Cup twice (in 1991 and 1992).

So did Jaromír Jágr have an influence U.S. baby names?

Yes — both his first name and his last name debuted in the U.S. baby name data in the 1990s:

Boys named JagrBoys named Jaromir
2003.
20026.
20017.
2000..
19996.
1998.6*
1997..
19966*.
1995..
*Debut

The name Jagr has appeared in the data a total of four times, while the name Jaromir remains a one-hit wonder to this day.

The Czech surname Jágr is derived from the German surname Jäger, which means “hunter.”

The first name Jaromír — which was also the name of Jaromír Jágr’s father, and grandfather — can be traced back to proto-Slavic elements meaning “furious” and “peace.”

(And Jaromír Jágr’s now-retired jersey number, 68, was symbolic of 1968 — the year of the Prague Spring, and also the year that his grandfather died.)

Jágr went on to have a long and successful career in the NHL. He’s currently ranked 4th on the league’s list of most career goals and 5th on the list of most career assists. He finally left the NHL in 2017, but he didn’t retire — he still plays professional hockey in Czechia at the age of 52 (!).

What are your thoughts on the baby names Jaromir and Jagr?

P.S. The cash-strapped Penguins ended up trading Jaromír Jágr to the Washington Capitals in 2001 — several years before drafting future star Sidney Crosby.

Sources:

Image: Jaromír Jágr trading card