Where did the baby name Louden come from in 1986?

The character Louden Swain from the movie "Vision Quest" (1985)
Louden Swain from “Vision Quest“

The name Louden first appeared in the U.S. baby name data the mid-1980s:

  • 1988: unlisted
  • 1987: 9 baby boys named Louden
  • 1986: 8 baby boys named Louden [debut]
  • 1985: unlisted
  • 1984: unlisted

What put it there?

The coming-of-age movie Vision Quest (1985), which told the story of amateur wrestler Louden Swain.

Louden Swain (played by actor Matthew Modine) was a high school senior in Spokane. He had two goals: to quickly lose 23 pounds so that he could wrestle undefeated Washington state champion Brian Shute (played by Frank Jasper), and to win the affections of an older woman named Carla (played by Linda Fiorentino).

The title of the film is a reference to the Native American “vision quest” — a rite of passage undertaken by adolescent boys that involved (among other things) a period of fasting.

The movie was based on the 1979 novel of the same name by author Terry Davis.

What are your thoughts on the name Louden?

P.S. Did you know that pop singer Madonna made her first movie appearance in Vision Quest? She played a singer at a local bar. The music video for her song “Crazy for You” [vid] features clips of the film.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Vision Quest

How did John Lennon’s murder influence U.S. baby names in 1981?

Musician John Lennon and wife Yoko Ono in Amsterdam (Mar. 1969)
John Lennon and Yoko Ono (in 1969)

John Lennon — a founding member of the massively popular English rock band The Beatles, and the voice behind hits like “I Want To Hold Your Hand” (1963), “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964), “Strawberry Fields Forever” (1967), “Come Together” (1969), and, as a solo artist, “Imagine” (1971) — was shot and killed by a fan outside his New York City apartment building on December 8, 1980.

What followed was a worldwide outpouring of grief.

In lieu of holding a memorial service, Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, asked fans to remember him with a silent vigil on December 14 (the following Sunday).

Millions around the globe participated.

By far the biggest crowd gathered at Central Park in New York. More than 100,000 people … braved stinging cold to listen to recorded music and pray in silence at 2 p.m. EST.

[…]

Simultaneously, somber crowds in Philadelphia, Memphis, Tenn., Raleigh, N.C., Atlanta, Hartford, Conn., Concord, N.H., Cincinnati, Columbia, S.C., Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and numerous other communities across the nation fell silent for 10 minutes.

The following year, the baby names Lennon and Yoko both saw an uptick in usage:

Babies named LennonGirls named Yoko
198322 boys14
198222 boys14
198148 boys + 6 girls*24†
198015 boys11
19799 boys.
*Gender-specific debut, †Peak usage

So what do “Lennon” and “Yoko” mean?

John Lennon’s Irish surname can be traced back to either the Irish word lon, meaning “blackbird,” or the Irish word leann, meaning “cloak, mantle.”

And Yoko Ono’s Japanese forename is written using a pair of kanji characters meaning “ocean” and “child” — though the name can be written with other characters as well.

These days, the name Yoko remains rare among U.S. babies (though not as rare as Ringo).

The name Lennon, on the other hand, has become quite popular. It now ranks well inside the top 1,000 for both baby boys and baby girls. (Female usage surpassed male usage in 2014.)

P.S. Did you know that Yoko Ono, who was born into an affluent family, went to school with future Japanese emperor Akihito?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from John Lennon and Yoko Ono photo by Eric Koch via Nationaal Archief under CC0.

What gave the baby name Hanni a boost in 1980?

Olympic skier Hanni Wenzel
Hanni Wenzel

The name Hanni first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1976. When it popped up again four years later, it was given to nearly three dozen baby girls:

  • 1982: 10 baby girls named Hanni
  • 1981: 15 baby girls named Hanni
  • 1980: 34 baby girls named Hanni [peak usage]
  • 1979: unlisted
  • 1978: unlisted
  • 1977: unlisted
  • 1976: 8 baby girls named Hanni [debut]
  • 1975: unlisted
  • 1974: unlisted

What’s the influence here?

Alpine skier Hannelore “Hanni” Wenzel, who twice represented the tiny country of Liechtenstein at the Olympics.

At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, she won her country’s very first Olympic medal, a bronze in the slalom.

At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, she became her country’s first Olympic champion by winning gold in both the slalom and the giant slalom. She also won silver in the downhill.

Hanni’s four medals represent 40% of Liechtenstein’s total 10 Olympic medals — all of which were won in alpine skiing. Two more were won by her brother, Andreas “Andi” Wenzel, and the most recent was won by her daughter, Christina “Tina” Weirather, in 2018.

Hanni was born in West Germany, but relocated with her family to Liechtenstein when she was a child.

The German name Hannelore (pronounced ha-nuh-lo-ruh) is a combination of Hanne, a diminutive of Johanna, and Lore, a diminutive of Eleonore, the German spelling of Eleanor.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Hanni? (Do you like it more or less than Hannelore?)

Sources:

Image: Hanni Wenzel trading card

Where did the baby name Tiffaniamber come from in 1993?

Actress Tiffani-Amber Thiessen in the TV series "Saved by the Bell" (1989-1993)
Tiffani-Amber Thiessen in “Saved by the Bell“

The curious compound name Tiffaniamber has appeared in the U.S. baby name data a total of four times, all during the 1990s:

  • 1998: unlisted
  • 1997: 9 baby girls named Tiffaniamber
  • 1996: unlisted
  • 1995: 7 baby girls named Tiffaniamber
  • 1994: 6 baby girls named Tiffaniamber
  • 1993: 6 baby girls named Tiffaniamber [debut]
  • 1992: unlisted
  • 1991: unlisted

Why?

Because of ’90s teen idol Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, who had starring roles on two different TV shows during the 1990s.

First, the actress played popular cheerleader Kelly Kapowski on the Saturday morning sitcom Saved by the Bell (1989–1993).

Second, she played manipulative Valerie Malone on the teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210. She joined the cast in 1994 (following the sudden departure of actress Shannen Doherty) and remained on the show until 1998.

Tiffani-Amber Thiessen was born in California in 1974. According to one source, her “filigreed first name” was created because “her parents liked Tiffani; her grandparents liked Amber.”

Saved by the Bell producer Peter Engel noted that the Los Angeles Times “made fun of Tiffani-Amber Thiessen’s name” in a negative review of the show’s very first episode.

In 2000, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen decided to drop the hyphen and shorten her professional name to Tiffani Thiessen. (Incidentally, her Saved by the Bell co-star Mark-Paul Gosselaar retains his hyphen to this day.)

What are your thoughts on the name Tiffani-Amber?

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Saved by the Bell