Rastus

Where Rastus comes from

Thought to be derived from Erastus. Despite paucity of actual usage, the name became associated with African-American men because of a character in the first Uncle Remus book by Joel Chandler Harris.
— Wiktionary's entry for Rastus
Along the way
  1. 1887
    Debut at its peak, #921
    #921 among boys with 5 babies — the first year it was published, and still its best.
  2. 1888
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name of American usage.
Namesakes

No widely known Rastus turns up in the encyclopedias yet — the name is still all theirs to make famous.

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.