Names that Peaked in 1977

For a few seconds there in the late '70s, Farrah Fawcett's name was as frequently copied as her hairstyle; the name was Number 177 in 1977. Now, after many years off the charts and out of style, it's back, mostly thanks to a TV Teen Mom who bears the name.

Seneca's distinguished heritage as the name of the ancient Roman philosopher-playwright who tutored Nero, and of an Iroquois tribe makes this an interesting choice for either sex.

This courtly old Southern name has several cool male bearers: NFL player Courtney Brown, British jazz musician Courtney Pine, and Barbados-born economist Courtney Blackman, to name but a few.

At the height of the Jennifer craze, many parents were cutting straight to the nickname and putting Jenny on the birth certificate. But now that Jennifer is the mom rather than the daughter, Jenny, which has been somewhat replaced by Jenna, has faded as well.

The Play Misty for Me jokes will get old really fast.

Kareem is the more popular form in the US, thanks to basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but Karim is right on his heels after being among the fastest-rising names of 2022. French soccer player Karim Benzema's recent success on the elite team Real Madrid may play in a part in the name's upswing.

This poor lad will spend his life saying, "No, it's Aric, not Eric. Aaric, Arick, Arik Arric, Arrick.

Kizzy was a character in Alex Haley's Roots; this and other Keziah variations were widely used among enslaved people. In Roots the name is explained by the hero Kunta as 'you sit down' or 'you stay put' in the Mandinka language meaning that 'this child would never get sold away'.

Amin is a simple but strong name with a solid meaning. It was borne by the sixth Abbasid caliph, a ruler of the Abbasid Muslim Empire in the 9th century, a descendant of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.

A favorite Muslim name, Kareem first appeared on the US Top 1000 list in 1972 (jumping in at Number 405!), coinciding with the early career of basketball great turned writer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Lewis Alcindor). It has continued to chart every year since.

You occasionally see the German and Danish word for "summer" pop up as a first name -- 16 girls were given it in 2016 -- and that trend may continue, now that the original has risen to Number 202 on the American popularity list.

A pretty and little-known Spanish smoosh name, combining Maria with Celia.

Soft and appealing, with a whiff of vanilla.

In Japanese folklore, Jami is an evil mountain spirit. Jami might also be a generic name for these deomons.

Kunta Kinte is the hero of the Roots series of books and TV series, which stem from a novel by Alex Haley. The character -- a Gambian man captured and sold into slavery in America -- is a model of strength in the face of terrible cruelty, and an icon of modern American fiction. Though some may find him too iconic to use his name for a child, others will be drawn to the name's strength and cultural ties. The origins of the name Kunta and the character who bears it are shrouded in controversy. Haley claimed to have based him on a historical account, but others have said that he is mostly invented.