How popular is the baby name Beulah 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 Beulah.

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Popularity of the baby name Beulah


Posts that mention the name Beulah

Where did the baby name Grantland come from in 1930?

Sportswriter Grantland Rice (1880-1954)
Grantland Rice

The surname name Grantland first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1930:

  • 1932: unlisted
  • 1931: unlisted
  • 1930: 6 baby boys named Grantland [debut]
  • 1929: unlisted
  • 1928: unlisted

Why?

I think the reason is famous sportswriter Grantland Rice, who was known for his “evocative, heroic writing style.”

He began covering sports during the first decade of the 1900s, initially working at various newspapers in the South (including the Nashville Tennessean and the Atlanta Journal).

In the 1910s, Rice moved to New York City and started a column called “The Sportlight” at the New York Tribune. His influential column would go on to become nationally syndicated in 1930 — which could be the reason the name Grantland debuted in the data that year specifically.

He was born Henry Grantland Rice in Tennessee in 1880. His middle name was his mother Beulah’s maiden name.

The surname Grantland comes from an English place name that may represent a combination of the Old English personal name Granta and the Old English word land, which (in this case) referred to owned or cultivated land.

What are your thoughts on Grantland as a first name?

P.S. Another sportswriter who influenced U.S. baby names was Perian Conerly

Sources:

Image (Grantland Rice on tel/mic) from Library of Congress

North Dakota towns with female names

Here’s a newspaper article from the 1930s that features a list of North Dakota towns with feminine names:

When a train conductor calls “Bessie” and “Josephine” in North Dakota he is not addressing passengers by their first names.

For these and other feminine names were given to towns and villages by rugged pioneers.

Prominent among the list is the cow town of Medora in Billings county, known as the ranching headquarters of Theodore Roosevelt.

Others are: Ines, Norma, Olga, Christine, Silvia, Hannah, Frances, Janet, Stella, Willa, Ella, Mary, Flora, Marion, Alice, Elizabeth, Sophia, Beulah, Kathryn, Jessie, Luverne, Juanita, Freda, Cherry and Mona.

(Only Ella is among the top 10 baby girl names in the state right now.)

Which of the above names do you like best?

Source: “Dakota Pioneers Gave Towns Feminine Names.” Miami Daily News-Record [Miami, OK] 2 Feb. 1936: 8.

Name change: Bernard McFadden to Bernarr Macfadden

Physical culture promoter Bernarr Macfadden, formerly named Bernard McFadden (1868-1955)
Bernarr Macfadden

Bernarr Macfadden (1868-1955) was an eccentric businessman and health crusader of the early 20th century.

His most successful business venture was his publishing empire, starting with Physical Culture magazine (1899-1955). This was followed by other magazines and over 100 books, including Virile Powers of Superb Manhood (1900) and Muscular Power and Beauty (1906).

He also organized bodybuilding competitions, opened health food restaurants, and even tried to found a community based on his beliefs called Physical Culture City. (It was in New Jersey.)

But he had plenty of detractors, including the editors of TIME magazine, who nicknamed him “Body-Love” Macfadden.

Speaking of names, Bernarr wasn’t born with the name Bernarr. His birth name was Bernard Adolphus McFadden. In his late 20s, while working in New York City as a personal trainer and physical therapist, he decided to rebrand himself. He ultimately settled on the distinctive “Bernarr Macfadden.” Here’s one version of the story:

Bernard Adolphus McFadden was a name that did not satisfy him. He had experimented with Bernard Adolphus, B. A. McFadden and B. Adolphus McFadden. Professor B. McFadden was not much of an improvement. Bernard sounded weak to him. If he accented the last syllable and substituted an R for the D, it would seem powerful, something like a lion’s roar — Bernarr, a unique name that people would remember. He dropped the Adolphus and, probably because there were so many McFaddens, he chose the name Macfadden, much to the resentment of his relatives scattered across the Midwest.

Bernarr Macfadden with wife and four of his children (Helen, Byrnece, Beulah, and Braunda)
Bernarr with family

Bernarr Macfadden married several times and had a total of nine children — first six girls, then three boys. Their names were Helen, Byrne, Byrnece, Beulah, Beverly, Braunda, Byron, Berwyn, and Brewster. The B-names were clearly inspired by the “B” of Bernarr, and I suspect that Braunda was named with the word “brawn” in mind.

Sources:

Images from the books Vitality Supreme (1915) and Manhood and Marriage (1916).

A baby named “Encyclopedia Britannica”?

Encyclopedia Britannica

Yup. A baby girl born in New York in 1814 was named Encyclopedia Britannica Dewey.

Her father was a minister named Timothy Dewey. With his first wife, Anne, he had a baby boy who got a traditional name (George Robert Dewey). But with his second wife, Beulah, he had at least 10 kids, all of whom got more distinctive names:

  1. Anna Diadama Dewey, b. 1802
  2. Philander Seabury Dewey, b. 1803
  3. Franklin Jefferson Dewey, b. 1804
  4. Armenius Philadelphus Dewey, b. 1805
  5. Almira Melphomenia Dewey, b. 1807
  6. Marcus Bonaparte Dewey, b. 1808
  7. Pleiades Arastarcus Dewey, b. 1810
  8. Victor Millenius Dewey, b. 1811
  9. Octavia Ammonia Dewey, b. 1812
  10. Encyclopedia Britannica Dewey, b. 1814

The most notable name of the bunch is certainly Encyclopedia Britannica. Like Prockie, she didn’t use her full name in everyday life but went by a modified form of her middle name: Britannia.

Would you consider giving any of these names to a child nowadays? If so, which one(s)?

Source: Rev Timothy Dewey (1771-1850) – Find A Grave Memorial
Image: Adapted from Old school knowledge by Joi Ito under CC BY 2.0.