On: The Most Gender-Switched Names in the U.S.

[magduf]

I don't think Angel has anything to do with Buffy. Angel is a traditional Hispanic male name. It's become more poopular because there's a lot more Hispanics in the US now, and they have a lot of kids. Other Hispanic names have also been rising in the name-popularity lists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_(given_name)

Now if you want to see some interesting effects in name popularity due to popular culture, look at the quick demise of "Jude" after The Beatles' song, and the quick demise of "Jeremy" after Pearl Jam's song.

[maxerickson → magduf]

If you look at the graph, there is a notable change in the growth slope a couple years before 2000, which coincides with the introduction of the character.

There's also a decline a few years later.