How popular is the baby name Airlene in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Airlene.

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Popularity of the baby name Airlene


Posts that mention the name Airlene

How did Swoosie Kurtz get her name?

The Swoose
The Swoose

I don’t know much about actress Swoosie Kurtz (b. 1944), but I recently learned that her name was inspired by a B-17.

Her father, decorated WWII bomber pilot Frank Kurtz, Jr., named her after The Swoose, a famous B-17 now on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

The plane was originally nicknamed Ole Betsy, but after being damaged and repaired using parts from other planes, it was re-nicknamed The Swoose after “Alexander the Swoose,” the half-swan, half-goose character mentioned in a popular song of the time. (The song was performed by bandleader Kay Kyser, who also inspired a few baby names in his day.)

Whether or not Swoosie is Swoosie Kurtz’s official birth name remains unclear. One news article, from 1949, says this:

Their four-year-old daughter, Margo, Jr., is nicknamed “Swoosey.”

Another, from 1962, says this:

When Kurtz returned to his country at war’s end a daughter was born at Omaha, Neb., and newsmen suggested he name her “Swoosie.”

A nurse, amused at the idea, wrote “Swoosie” on the hospital records–and the parents decided to let the name become official.

In any case, Swoosie certainly wasn’t the first person named (or nicknamed) in honor of an airplane. Earlier plane-inspired baby names include Airlene and Linda Ann.

UPDATE: Since writing this, I’ve found several sources that suggest Swoosie is indeed Swoosie Kurtz’s birth name.

From a 1982 article in People:

When his daughter was born in 1944, Col. Frank Kurtz was already well-known for piloting the famous Flying Fortress nicknamed “The Swoose” (half swan, half goose). A patriotic nurse wrote the name on the birth certificate, Mom said okay, and the baby forever after became Swoosie Kurtz.

And from a 2012 PopEater.com interview:

Okay, tell the readers of PopEater how you got your unusual name.
Oh God, I was named after a B17 that my father flew in the war. It was called the Swoos after a strange looking bird. There was a song that I think Doris Day sang about a half-swan, half-goose bird. It’s because the plane was kind of a hybrid, made up of parts from different planes.

Did you get teased?
Oh God, yes, constantly. I still do. People still mangle it and want to put a Z in there. I don’t blame them.

Your dad was an amazing man.
Yes, he was the most decorated Air Force pilot of World War II and a diving champion.

Sources:

First U.S. baby born in an airplane named Airlene

Fokker Trimotor
Fokker Trimotor

On October 26, 1929, a baby girl was born in an airplane flying above Miami, Florida.

It was no accident. Dr. Thomas W. Evans and his wife Margaret D. Evans had chartered a Fokker trimotor for the very purpose of having the first air-born baby.

They took off from the 1-year-old Pan American Field (now Miami International Airport). The pilot was C. W. Swinson. Also on board were doctors, nurses, a co-pilot and the baby’s maternal grandmother.

The plane circled the Dade County Courthouse at 1,200 feet during the birth, which occurred 20 minutes after takeoff. The plane then flew over Biscayne Bay for several minutes before landing. Mother and baby were transported to the hospital.

The story of the first airplane baby made headlines across the country. The parents received dozens of baby name suggestions, including “Airogene, Airlene, Biscayne, Pan Skymiss, Skylove, Sephrine and countless others.”

What name did they pick?

Aerogene, according to the first two sources I found. One source was an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics publication from three decades ago; the other was a book on aviation history from 1983. But I couldn’t find any vital records or other documents to confirm it.

Then I spotted the name Airlene Evans in a December 1946 issue of the Miami Daily News. It belonged to a student at Miami Senior High. The airplane baby would have been 17 at the end of 1946…could this be her?

Yes, I think so. A document I discovered via the Miami-Dade County Clerk’s website suggests that Thomas W. and Margaret D. Evans had two children named Airlene and Thomas:

Airlene and Thomas Falconer mentioned in a 1973 indenture.
“Airlene E. Falconer” (click to expand)

I also found Airlene’s family a couple of times on the U.S. Census:

Airlene Evans on 1930 U.S. Census
Airlene Evans on 1940 U.S. Census

So it looks like the first airplane baby was indeed named Airlene, not Aerogene.

(Now I’m wondering where Tom Jr. was born. Seems to me that the parents of the first airplane baby wouldn’t be satisfied with a mere hospital room the second time around. Too bad his name doesn’t offer any clues…)

UPDATE: Airlene ousted?

Sources:

  • Corn, Joseph J. The Winged Gospel: America’s Romance with Aviation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983.
  • FamilySearch.com
  • “First Baby Born in Plane a Girl Up Above Miami.” Sarasota Herald 27 Oct. 1929: 1.
  • “Names for Baby, Born in Plane, Sent to Parents.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 28 Oct. 1929: 5.
  • Salty. “Fishing – Hunting.” Miami Daily News 12 Dec. 1946: 4-B.

Top image: LOC (that particular Fokker Tri-motor was the one flown by Lester Maitland in 1927.)