The Meteoric Rise and Fall of Tammy

Social Security Administration Popular Baby Names

Tammy made her first appearance on the top 1000 in 1947, at #958, and struggled to remain on the chart for the next four years.   According to Think Baby Names, Tammy is a shortened form of Thomasina, which made only one appearance on the Popular Baby Names chart -- in 1932 at #969.

From a Turner Classic Movies description.    In a perhaps ironic twist of fate, Debbie Reynolds was 25, married to singer Eddie Fisher, and pregnant with her daughter Carrie when she played the innocent, backwoods 17-year-old Tambley "Tammy" Tyree in Tammy and the Bachelor (1957). It was a Cinderella story with a dash of hokum and more than a dash of the "bright as a new copper penny" personality of Debbie Reynolds. The combination added up to a gold record for Reynolds, a box office hit, and a franchise for Universal.

Not to mention a 476-point boost for Tammy on the 1957 list of popular baby names.



Tammy went on to spend 11 years among the top 15 names (1963-1973) before beginning her abrupt fall from grace.  By 1991, she had slid past 500, falling off the chart after 1998.



"Tammy", the single, made her debut on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending July 22, 1957.  She held the #1 spot for 5 weeks.  All told, she spent an incredible 31 weeks on the chart.

"That cute little Debbie Reynolds" did quite the baby name sales job with Tammy.

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