Axel's Popularity

[Fog-struck]

Can you think of anything that would account for Axel's recent surge in popularity? It seems like a surprising choice to me.

[KohlOwenPark]

Good question? At 1st I was thinking it is not that popular and it isn't but compared to being out of the top 1000 in the 80s and forever, to the mid 200s almost I am stumped :shrug:

There was Axel Foley in the Beverly Hills Cop series of movies? There also seem to be quite the use of Axel in video gaming: Twisted Metal, Kingdom Hearts, Suikoden, Disgaea 2, Fatal Furry, Guitar Hero, Streets or Rage etc...

[ckevans]

The reason you all have a hard time thinking of the media forces behind Axel's rise is because they are in the Latino media.

In 1999 and 2000 there was a very popular telenovela produced in Mexico called DKDA. It was about a group of teenagers who started a rock band. One of them was given the very un-Spanish name of Axel Harris, even though this was a Spanish language story. The character was played by the actor Patricio Borghetti, who already had had a minor career as a singer and model in his native Argentina. DKDA made him a major star in Mexico and much of the rest of the Spanish speaking world. Put "Patricio Borghetti" into Google images and see how many photos of him come up.

http://www.alma-latina.net/01actors/p/patricio_borghetti.shtml

Meanwhile another Argentinian singer and guitarist, Axel Fernando, was becoming popular across Latin America, and he decided, like many Latin celebrities, that it would help his career to just go by his first name, so his website now just calls him "Axel". So he's a sort of male version of Shakira or Cher, name-wise.

http://www.axelweb.com.ar/

The name Axel may have been popular in Argentina before the DKDA character and "Axel" became famous throughout Latin America. But if the average young Hispanic woman has an image of the name Axel that's a combination of Patricio Borghetti with Axel Fernando, you can see why that name has boomed in the Hispanic community in the USA as well. :)

One in four kids under the age of five in the USA today is Hispanic. I've learned the last decade that the majority of names which suddenly get popular and I initially have no idea why turn out to be names which are influenced by some pop culture factor within the Hispanic community.

[Fog-struck]

Thanks, CKE!

[Jennifer]

Great info! I've been tracking the popularity of names as well.. will discuss w/you at conference!