What gave the baby name Ezekiel a boost in 2017?

Football player Ezekiel Elliott
Ezekiel Elliott

The baby name Ezekiel, which has been on the rise since the late 1980s, saw higher-than-expected usage in 2017 specifically:

Boys named Ezekiel (USA)Boys named Ezekiel (Texas)
20194,932 [rank: 71st]697 (14.1%)
20184,363 [rank: 87th]594 (13.6%)
20174,773 [rank: 82nd]754 (15.8%)
20163,401 [rank: 121st]444 (13.1%)
20152,811 [rank: 146th]287 (10.2%)

What caused the uptick?

My guess is football player Ezekiel “Zeke” Elliott, who was chosen fourth overall by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2016 NFL draft.

During his rookie season (2016-17), the running back was the top rusher in the league with 1,631 yards. (Before this, the only Cowboy to rush for more than 1,000 yards as a rookie was Tony Dorsett in the late 1970s.) He also scored 15 touchdowns.

In January of 2017, Elliott was selected to participate in his first Pro Bowl alongside teammate (and fellow rookie) Dak Prescott.

Ezekiel Elijah Elliott was born in Illinois in 1995. How did he come to have his name? Here’s how his father, Stacy Elliott, told the story:

[Ezekiel’s mother Dawn] had a vision of the Mother Plane, and when she described what she saw I went to the Book of Ezekiel and what she described fit what the book said. So she named him Ezekiel after that great prophet and Elijah after Elijah Muhammad.

What are your thoughts on the name Ezekiel?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Ezekiel Elliott 2016 by Keith Allison under CC BY-SA 2.0.

What gave the baby name Dayana a boost in 2008?

Dayana Mendoza, Miss Universe 2008
Dayana Mendoza

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Dayana reached peak usage in 2008:

  • 2010: 624 baby girls named Dayana [rank: 484th]
  • 2009: 760 baby girls named Dayana [rank: 421st]
  • 2008: 777 baby girls named Dayana [rank: 412th]
  • 2007: 576 baby girls named Dayana [rank: 541st]
  • 2006: 529 baby girls named Dayana [rank: 557th]

More than 25% of the 2008 babies named Dayana were born in California, and more than 14% were born in Texas.

What gave the name a boost that year?

Venezuelan beauty queen Dayana (pronounced dah-YAH-nah) Mendoza, who won the title of Miss Universe in Nha Trang, Vietnam, in July of 2008.

Dayana Mendoza, Miss Universe 2008
Dayana Mendoza

The Latin American name Dayana is based on (and sounds a lot like) the English pronunciation of the name Diana. It also happens to be the name of several different South American orchids, all of which were named in honor of 19th-century English botanist John Day.

In 2012, usage of the name was nudged above 700 babies for a third time — likely because of Dayana Mendoza’s participation in the reality TV competition series Celebrity Apprentice. She placed sixth out of 18 contestants. (The winner that season was Arsenio Hall.)

What are your thoughts on the name Dayana?

Sources: Miss Universe 2008 – Wikipedia, Dayana Mendoza – Wikipedia, Dayana – Behind the Name, SSA

Images: Screenshots of the TV broadcast of the 57th Miss Universe pageant

What popularized the baby name Lugene in the 1950s?

Actress Lugene Sanders in the TV series "The Life of Riley" (1953-1958)
Lugene Sanders in “The Life of Riley“

After re-emerging in the U.S. baby name data in 1953, the dual-gender name Lugene saw its highest usage (as a girl name) in the mid-1950s:

  • 1958: 26 baby girls named Lugene
  • 1957: 42 baby girls named Lugene
  • 1956: 73 baby girls named Lugene [peak usage]
  • 1955: 66 baby girls named Lugene
  • 1954: 62 baby girls named Lugene
  • 1953: 30 baby girls named Lugene
  • 1952: unlisted

Why?

Because of actress Lugene Sanders (born Trevalene Lugene Sanders in Oklahoma in 1934).

Lugene was a regular on the popular TV show The Life of Riley, which aired on NBC from early 1953 until mid-1958. She played the role of Barbara “Babs” Riley, the older of Chester A. Riley’s two children.

At the start of the series, Babs Riley was a college freshman. By the end of the series, Babs was a married college graduate with a baby boy (also named Chester).

In November of 1953, Lugene Sanders was featured (as Babs) on the cover of TV Guide magazine, which had launched earlier the same year.

Lugene Sanders on the cover of TV Guide (Nov. 1953)
Lugene Sanders on the cover of TV Guide

Prior to Riley, Lugene’s biggest role had been that of the title character in the live TV series Meet Corliss Archer (1951-1952). She retired from acting in the early 1960s.

What are your thoughts on the name Lugene?

P.S. Earlier adaptations of the 1940s radio show The Life of Riley had an influence on the baby name Lanny…

Sources: Lugene Sanders – Wikipedia, The Life of Riley (TV series 1953-1958) – IMDb, SSA

Images:

Where did the baby name Anansa come from in 1979?

The character Dr. Anansa Linderby (played by Beverly Johnson) from the movie "Ashanti" (1979)
Dr. Anansa Linderby from “Ashanti“

The rare name Anansa first popped up in the U.S. baby name data in 1979:

  • 1981: unlisted
  • 1980: unlisted
  • 1979: 5 baby girls named Anansa [debut]
  • 1978: unlisted
  • 1977: unlisted

Why?

Because of a celebrity baby, or a movie character, or both.

Fashion model Beverly Johnson made her acting debut in the late ’70s adventure film Ashanti, in which she and Michael Caine portrayed married medical doctors named Anansa and David Linderby. Ashanti was shot largely in Africa during 1978.

The same year, in late December, Johnson gave birth to a baby girl — her first and only child.

In January of 1979, Jet magazine published a photo of Johnson and her newborn daughter, who’d been named Anansa.

“I loved the name,” she beamed, “and I was pregnant with her during [filming]. I even told the producers that if I had a girl I would name her Anansa.”

Model Beverly Johnson with baby Anansa
Beverly Johnson holding baby Anansa

Several months later, in April, Ashanti finally came out in theaters.

The movie clearly gave the baby name Ashanti a boost in 1979:

  • 1981: 89 baby girls named Ashanti
  • 1980: 191 baby girls named Ashanti
  • 1979: 175 baby girls named Ashanti
  • 1978: 53 baby girls named Ashanti
  • 1977: 44 baby girls named Ashanti

But I’m not sure if it was the primary reason for the debut of Anansa, considering that Jet magazine has a long history of influencing U.S. baby names (e.g., Nasiya, Kushana, Nkenge, Charlayne, Tondalaya).

Ashanti was based on the Spanish-language novel Ébano (1974) by Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa. In the book, the protagonists were named David and Nadia Alexander (and neither one was a doctor).

I don’t know how the screenwriters came up with the name Anansa, but it does remind me of Anansi — the name of a spider character in the folktales of the Ashanti (and other Akan peoples).

What are your thoughts on the name Anansa?

P.S. Beverly Johnson became the first African-American model featured on the cover of American Vogue in 1974 — eight years after Donyale Luna appeared on the cover of British Vogue, in 1966.

Sources:

Images: Screenshot of Ashanti; clipping from Jet magazine (18 Jan. 1979).