Roxanne

Derived from the Persian name Roxana, meaning dawn or bright. The name entered Western literature through Alexander the Great's first wife and Edmond Rostand's 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac. American parents adopted it gradually across the early twentieth century before giving it a distinct midcentury run.

The name reads as dramatic and sharp-edged, carrying the unmistakable energy of a woman who knows how to make an entrance. Most people picture someone born during the mid-twentieth-century baby boom, though pop radio gave it a second life in 1978. It carries a heavy dose of theatrical confidence. It has spent decades fielding jokes about red lights.