What gave the baby name Korben a boost in 1998?

The character Korben Dallas from the movie "The Fifth Element" (1997)
Korben Dallas from “The Fifth Element“

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Corbin saw a discernible increase in popularity in 1998. Other spellings (like Korbin and Corban) saw similar increases, but none were as steep as that of Korben, which more than tripled in usage:

  • 2000: 43 baby boys named Korben
  • 1999: 31 baby boys named Korben
  • 1998: 37 baby boys named Korben
  • 1997: 11 baby boys named Korben
  • 1996: 8 baby boys named Korben

What was influencing these names?

Korben Dallas, the main character of the “campy sci-fi extravaganza” The Fifth Element, which was released in theaters in May of 1997.

The movie was set in the 23rd century, and Korben (played by Bruce Willis) — who had recently retired from the elite Special Forces unit of the Federated Army — was now driving a a flying taxicab in New York City.

One day, an orange-haired woman wearing an outfit made of white bandages fell into Korben’s cab through the roof. (Leeloo, played by Milla Jovovich, had just jumped off the ledge of a building after escaping from a science lab.) This unlikely encounter led to Korben getting caught up in mission to save humanity from a “planet-sized sphere of supreme evil” that was swiftly approaching Earth.

The Fifth Element was the ninth-highest-grossing film of 1997, and went on to become a science-fiction cult classic. (The name Leeloo debuted in the U.S. baby name data about a decade after the movie came out.)

What are your thoughts on the baby name Korben? (Do you like it more or less than the traditional spelling, Corbin?)

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of The Fifth Element

What gave the baby name Ariel a boost in 1978?

Dean Friedman's self-titled debut album (1977)
Dean Friedman album

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Ariel was given more often to boys than to girls from the mid-1950s to the early 1980s.

Then, in 1982, the girls’ usage surged ahead of the boys’ usage. Less than a decade later, Ariel reached the girls’ top 100 — and stayed there for three years straight.

What caused this growing interest in Ariel as a girl name?

A series of pop-culture nudges, the first of which came along in the late 1970s:

Girls named ArielBoys named Ariel
1979154 [rank: 951st]216 [rank: 581st]
1978162 [rank: 895th]224 [rank: 559th]
1977105157 [rank: 675th]
197663177 [rank: 614th]
197560175 [rank: 616th]

This initial increase corresponds to the success of a pop song called “Ariel” [vid] by singer-songwriter Dean Friedman.

The quirky song — about the narrator’s date with “a free spirited, pot-smoking, vegetarian Jewish girl” named Ariel (pronounced AIR-ee-el) — was released in April of 1977 and peaked at #26 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in late June.

During a recent interview, Friedman was asked about the song’s many namesakes. He replied,

Well, you’re right, actually, there are definitely a lot of Ariels out there of a certain age that were not named after a mermaid. And so that’s always a nice surprise, when someone will come up and introduce themselves and say, “I was named after your song.”

The Hebrew name Ariel comprises two elements, the first of which means “lion” and the second of which means “god.” It’s pronounced ahr-ee-EL by Hebrew speakers.

Sources: Bio – Dean Friedman, Ariel (song) – Wikipedia, Billboard Hot 100 for the week of 25 Jun. 1977, From ‘Ariel’ to SongFest: Dean Friedman Discusses His Career, creativity and ’25 Tour! – Almost Famous Magazine [vid], Ariel – Wiktionary, SSA

What popularized Marlo as a girl name in the 1960s?

The character Ann Marie (played by Marlo Thomas) from the TV series "That Girl" (1966-1971)
Marlo Thomas in “That Girl“

In the mid-1960s, the unisex name Marlo saw a sudden surge in usage as a girl name:

Girls named MarloBoys named Marlo
1968545 [rank: 396th]28
1967353 [rank: 505th]28
196610127
19651625
19642220

The name went on to feature in the girls’ top 1,000 for more than a decade, from 1967 to 1977. (It also popped into the boys’ top 1,000 a few times during the ’70s, interestingly.)

What was drawing attention to the name Marlo around that time?

Actress Marlo Thomas, star of the sitcom That Girl, which began airing on television in September of 1966.

Marlo played Ann Marie, an aspiring actress living in New York City. (“Marie” was her surname.) Ann was a young unmarried woman living on her own terms — something rarely seen on TV in those days. As Marlo recently said,

All the girls and moms at home wanted to be That Girl: [to] have her own apartment, have fabulous clothes, be getting a job, have a boyfriend, [be] living away from her parents. It was like every girl’s dream.

The compound name Annmarie also saw its highest-ever usage during the five seasons That Girl was on the air.

Marlo Thomas was born Margaret Julia Jacobs in 1937. Her father was entertainer (and St. Jude founder) Danny Thomas, whose legal name was Amos Jacobs — an anglicized form of his Lebanese birth name, Muzyad Yakhoob. She was named after Danny’s mother (Margaret) and aunt (Julia).

How did she come to be called “Marlo”? Here’s how Danny explained it:

So we began to call the infant Margaret, then “Margo,” which we thought would be easier for her to say as she began to speak. It wasn’t easier. The closest she could come to Margo was “Marlo,” as in “Me Marlo.” And that’s how another soon-to-be-well-known stage name was created.

(His own stage name had been created from the names of his youngest brother Daniel and his eldest brother Thomas.)

What are your thoughts on the name Marlo?

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of That Girl

Babies named for Horatio Nelson

Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758-1805)
Horatio Nelson

During his 37-year military career, British naval commander Horatio Nelson was directly responsible for several major victories.

One of them was the Battle of the Nile, in which the Royal Navy defeated Napoleon Bonaparte‘s French Mediterranean fleet off the coast of Egypt in August of 1798.

The destruction of the French fleet not only changed the balance of power in the Mediterranean, but also inspired expectant parents (both in the UK and elsewhere) to name several hundred baby boys after Nelson. Some examples…

  • Horatio Nelson Bakewell, b. 1798 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Davison, b. 1799 in Canada
  • Horatio Nelson Freeman, b. 1799 in the U.S. (Vermont)
  • Horatio Nelson Mallalieu, b. 1799 in England
  • John Horatio Nelson Merryweather, b. 1799 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Thompson, b. 1798 in England

A handful of the names even featured Nelson’s rank:

Nelson’s most famous (and final) engagement was the Battle of Trafalgar, in which the Royal Navy defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet off the coast of Spain in October of 1805.

News of the victory — which ensured Britain’s safety from Napoleonic invasion — and of Nelson’s death by enemy fire brought about a second (and larger) wave of namesakes, including…

  • Horatio Nelson Abbott, b. 1805 in the U.S. (Connecticut)
  • Horatio Nelson Andrews, b. 1806 in Canada
  • Horatio Nelson Chandler, b. 1806 in the U.S. (New Hampshire)
  • Horatio Nelson Crosby, b. 1806 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Dallas, b. 1805 in Scotland
  • Horatio Nelson Edmond, b. 1806 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Gardner, b. 1805 in Canada
  • Horatio Nelson Goddard, b. 1806 in England
  • John Horatio Nelson Houghton, b. 1805 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Hurlbut, b. 1806 in the U.S. (New York)
  • Horatio Nelson Scot, b. 1806 in Scotland
  • Joseph Horatio Nelson Strickland, b. 1806 in England

Again, some of the names featured Nelson’s rank, as well as various titles:

  • Viscount Nelson Ball, b. 1805 in the U.S. (Vermont)
  • Lord Nelson Holt, b. 1807 in England
  • Admiral Nelson Lumbard, b. 1807 in the U.S. (Massachusetts)

Dozens of the second-wave names also commemorated Nelson’s last battle:

  • Nelson Trafalgar McPherson, b. 1805 in Scotland
  • Horatio Trafalgar James Sidaway, b. 1805 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Trafalgar Hope, b. 1806 in Scotland
  • Trafalgar Nelson Francis, b. circa 1807 in England
  • Horatio Trafalgar Beck, b. 1807 in England

Impressively, Horatio Nelson fought the battles of the Nile and Trafalgar after having already lost sight in his right eye (in 1793) and most of his right arm (in 1797).

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson (1799) by Lemuel Francis Abbott