Where did the baby name Drexler come from in 1991?

Basketball player Clyde Drexler
Clyde Drexler

The surname-name Drexler first appeared in the U.S. baby name data 1991. It reached peak usage the very next year.

  • 1993: 6 baby boys named Drexler
  • 1992: 16 baby boys named Drexler [peak]
  • 1991: 6 baby boys named Drexler [debut]
  • 1990: unlisted
  • 1989: unlisted

Where did it come from?

Professional basketball player Clyde Drexler, who was named an All-Star ten times during his fifteen-year NBA career (from 1983 to 1998).

He spent most of those years with the Portland Trail Blazers, leading them to the NBA Finals twice: in 1990 (vs. Isiah Thomas’ Detroit Pistons) and again in 1992 (vs. Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls).

Following the 1991-92 season, Drexler finished second to Jordan in the vote for the league’s Most Valuable Player.

Drexler was the Blazers’ all-time scoring leader (with over 18,000 points) when he was traded to the Houston Rockets in early 1995. Months later — reunited with former University of Houston teammate Hakeem Olajuwon — he finally won an NBA Championship.

The surname Drexler is derived from the German occupational surname Drechsler, which originally referred to a wood turner.

What are your thoughts on Drexler as a first name?

P.S. “Clyde the Glide” may have also affected the usage of the baby name Clyde during his career, but it’s hard to tell.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Clyde Drexler during the 1992 NBA Playoffs (Western Conference, first round)

What gave the baby name Iesha a boost in 1991?

Scene from the music video for "Iesha" (1990) by Another Bad Creation
Scene from the music video for “Iesha”

The name Iesha, which first surfaced in the U.S. baby name data in the late 1960s, saw a distinct spike in usage in 1991:

  • 1993: 384 baby girls named Iesha [rank: 604th]
  • 1992: 581 baby girls named Iesha [rank: 432nd]
  • 1991: 1,896 baby girls named Iesha [rank: 157th]
  • 1990: 285 baby girls named Iesha [rank: 732nd]
  • 1989: 161 baby girls named Iesha

Why?

Because of the song “Iesha” by Another Bad Creation (ABC), an Atlanta-based hip-hop group made up of five young boys: Romell Chapman, Chris Sellers, David Shelton, and brothers Marliss and Demetrius Pugh.

“Iesha,” which was ABC’s debut single and biggest hit, “told the story of a playground attraction that turned into a Nintendo-and-cereal date.” The song was released in October of 1990 and peaked at #9 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in April of 1991.

Here’s what it sounds like:

The song was written (in new jack swing style) by record producer Dallas Austin and ABC’s manager Michael Bivins (a member of Bell Biv DeVoe).

What are your thoughts on the name Iesha?

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of the music video for “Iesha”

Where did the baby name Syriana come from in 2005?

Movie poster for "Syriana" (2005)
“Syriana” poster

The name Syriana first appeared in the U.S. baby named data in 2005:

  • 2007 62 baby girls named Syriana
  • 2006 119 baby girls named Syriana [peak usage]
  • 2005 16 baby girls named Syriana [debut]
  • 2004: unlisted
  • 2003: unlisted

A year later, Syriana reach peak usage and the spellings Syrianna and Cyriana both debuted in the data.

What was inspiring parents to name their daughters Syriana in the mid-aughts?

The geopolitical thriller Syriana, which came out in theaters in November of 2005.

The movie’s complicated plot wove together numerous storylines and characters, “from the players brokering back-room deals in Washington to the men toiling in the oil fields of the Persian Gulf.” Film critic Roger Ebert described Syriana as being “about oil and money, America and China, traders and spies, the Gulf States and Texas, reform and revenge, bribery and betrayal.”

The ensemble cast included actors George Clooney (who played a veteran CIA officer) and Matt Damon (who played an energy analyst based in Switzerland).

How did the movie come to be named Syriana? Here’s how writer and director Stephen Gaghan explained it:

While ‘Syriana’ is a very real term used by Washington think-tanks to describe a hypothetical reshaping of the Middle East, as our title it is used more abstractly. ‘Syriana,’ the concept – the fallacious dream that you can successfully remake nation-states in your own image – is a mirage. Syriana is a fitting title for a film that could exist at any time and be about any set of circumstances that deal with man’s unchecked ambition, hubris, and the fantasy of empire.

What are your thoughts on Syriana as a baby name?

Sources:

Image: Movie poster for Syriana

Where did the baby name Trindon come from in 2008?

Football player Trindon Holliday
Trindon Holliday

The uncommon name Trindon first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 2008. It remained in the data for exactly one decade, then dropped back below the SSA’s 5-baby threshold.

  • 2010: 15 baby boys named Trindon
  • 2009: 10 baby boys named Trindon
  • 2008: 11 baby boys named Trindon [debut]
    • 5 born in Louisiana
  • 2007: unlisted
  • 2006: unlisted

What was influencing this name?

Diminutive football player Trindon Holliday, who was a wide receiver and kick returner in the NFL during the first half of the 2010s. At 5’5″, he was one of the shortest players in NFL history.

His name debuted in the data the year his college football team, the Louisiana State University Tigers, won the national championship.*

He was selected by the Houston Texans in the 2010 NFL draft, and played with the Texans until being claimed off waivers by the Denver Broncos in October of 2012.

Described as “tiny and speedy” by the Denver Post, Trindon played his two most successful professional seasons, 2012 and 2013, with the Broncos (and quarterback Peyton Manning). Correspondingly, the usage of his name peaked at 20 baby boys in both 2013 and 2014. Five of the babies named Trindon in 2013 were born in Colorado specifically.

What are your thoughts on the name Trindon?

*Among the various awards won by the LSU Tigers that season was the Grantland Rice Trophy…

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Trindon Holliday Broncos 2013 by Jeffrey Beall under CC BY-SA 3.0.