Babies Named Jinx?
| 29 March 2011 | Filed under Baby Names, Girl Names, Pop Culture Baby Names, Unique Baby Names |
Yup. The word jinx means “curse” or “hex,” but that hasn’t stopped parents from using the word as a baby name.
After the silent Western Galloping Jinx came out in 1925, at least 6 baby girls got the name in 1926.
It was back on the SSA’s baby name list for most of the 1940s and 1950s, even a couple years of the 1960s, thanks to model and actress Eugenia “Jinx” Falkenburg.
For Falkenburg, “Jinx” was a childhood nickname–one that she apparently really liked, as she tried to shrink her full legal name down to Jinx in early 1942. Her lawyer’s clever argument linked marquees to the war effort:
The name Falkenburg requires 150 light bulbs, which in one evening will use enough electrical power to aid in the production of 26,00 [sic] pounds of aluminum or illuminate a city of 105,000 population.
But Judge Emmet H. Wilson “ruled there is no legal precedent to such dramatic shortening” of a name. So she settled for dropping Eugenia and making her legal name Jinx Falkenburg a few months later.
Sources:
- “Short Name Asked To Help Defense.” St. Petersburg Times 13 Mar. 1942: 19.
- “Jinx Falkenburg Name Legal.” New York Times 15 Aug 1942.
There’s also Halle Berry’s character from Die Another Day. She was more Felix Lightener than Bond girl – a National Security Agent – and her given name was Giacinta. I love Jacinta/Jacinda/Giacinta.
Fascinating story about the light bulbs!
I always think “prank” more than “curse”, thanks to hijinks, when I hear this as a name.
My family used to have a black cat named Jinks. He was named after a the cat from the “Pixie, Dixie and Mr. Jinks” cartoon. The cat in the “Focker” movies is also named Mr. Jinx, so Jinks/Jinx has a feline quality (and male!) to me…
I went to elementary school in the 60′s with a girl whose name was Jinx Tease. I kid you not..:) It wasn’t until I was older and looking back that I felt sorry for her….