How popular is the baby name Sheba 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 Sheba.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the baby name Sheba


Posts that mention the name Sheba

Why didn’t Cloris Leachman change her name?

Actress Cloris Leachman (1926-2021)
Cloris Leachman

While other mid-20th-century actors and actresses were swapping out their birth names for catchy stage names (like Rory Calhoun, Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Piper Laurie, Tab Hunter, and Rock Hudson), Cloris Leachman decided to go against the grain and stick with her legal name (which she’d inherited from her mother).

But she did consider changing her name for a time…thanks largely to Tallulah Bankhead.

In 1949, Cloris was in her early 20s and appearing on stage in Come Back, Little Sheba. Bankhead came to see the production, and, afterwards, when the two women met for the first time, Tallulah implored Cloris to change her name.

On a different occasion, Bankhead brought the topic up again:

“Cloris Leachman,” she crowed, “too long. Too many syllables. Too unknown. Clorox Bleachman would be better. You can’t even fit it on the marquee in front of a theater.”

During that second interaction, Cloris came up with the potential stage name “April Claiborne” by combining her birth month with her youngest sister’s first name. (“Claiborne” was their paternal grandmother’s maiden name.)

She still wasn’t sure about making the change, though.

When I went to the Actors Studio the next day, I talked about Madame Bankhead’s rant. They all agreed with her. “You have to change your name! You have to!,” they cried. It was a unanimous opinion. So right there we got out the New York phone book. It opened it up to the Ls, closed my eyes, and the name under my finger was Leavitt. It was miraculous. That translated to “Leave it!” This is no accident, I thought. The god of monikers is talking, and he says leave it. Okay, I’ll leave it.

When I got to Hollywood, the subject came up again. People said I should not only change my name, I should have my nose shortened. I emphatically didn’t want to do either, and that’s why I’m still Cloris Leachman with a big nose.

Cloris Leachman’s name may not have been as trendy-sounding as “Lana Turner” or “Piper Laurie,” but it certainly wasn’t an impediment to her career, which lasted more than seven decades. She appeared in nearly 100 films (like The Last Picture Show), dozens of TV movies (such as A Girl Named Sooner), and well over 100 TV shows (including Johnny Staccato, Rawhide, Outlaws, Shirley Temple’s Storybook, The Loretta Young Show, Gunsmoke, The Twilight Zone, Route 66, Wagon Train, Stoney Burke, 77 Sunset Strip, A Man Called Shenandoah, The Big Valley, Mannix, The Virginian, and Lancer).

Her first name, a variant spelling of the ancient Greek name Chloris (meaning “greenish-yellow, pale green”), is closely related to the name Chloe (meaning “green shoot”).

What are your thoughts on the name Cloris?

Sources:

Where did the baby name Durville come from in 1975?

Actor D'Urville Martin in the opening credits for the movie "Dolemite" (1975).
D’Urville Martin

The unique name Durville appeared in the U.S. baby name data for the first and only time in the mid-1970s:

  • 1977: unlisted
  • 1976: unlisted
  • 1975: 5 baby boys named Durville [debut]
  • 1974: unlisted
  • 1973: unlisted

What was the influence?

Actor D’Urville Martin, who’d been in movies (primarily in supporting roles) since the 1960s.

In the mid-1970s, he was appearing in various blaxploitation films such as The Get-Man (1974), Sheba, Baby (1975) and Dolemite (1975) — which he also directed.

D’Urville was born in New York City in 1939. So far I haven’t been able to track down the story behind his name, but I can tell you that it ultimately comes from a French surname that refers to any of several places in France called Urville.

What are your thoughts on D’Urville as a baby name?

What turned Shaft into a baby name in 1971?

The character John Shaft from the movie "Shaft" (1971)
John Shaft from “Shaft

The unusual name Shaft debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1971:

  • 1973: 16 baby boys named Shaft
  • 1972: 31 baby boys named Shaft
  • 1971: 22 baby boys named Shaft [debut]
  • 1970: unlisted
  • 1969: unlisted

Why?

Because of the 1971 movie Shaft, which introduced theatergoers to New York City-based private detective John Shaft (played by Richard Roundtree).

The film was based on a 1970 novel of the same name written by (white) journalist Ernest Tidyman:

[O]n April 27th, 1970, readers met John Shaft, a former thief and Vietnam veteran now working as a private detective — and soon to take on a case that would find him brushing up against the mob, the police, and a group of black militants. However unlikely its origins, Tidyman’s Shaft remains a brisk, convincing read. Deeply immersed in Shaft’s point of view, it’s filled with the protagonist’s conflicted, sometimes ugly…observations about early 70s New York.

Movie post for "Shaft" (1971)

The film’s memorable theme song, which could be heard during the opening credits, was written and performed by Isaac Hayes.

You see this cat Shaft is a bad mother- (Shut your mouth)
But I’m talkin’ about Shaft (Then we can dig it)

Later released as a single, the song reached #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in November of 1971 and won the Oscar for “Best Original Song” at the 44th Academy Awards (in April of ’72).

The first Shaft film was followed by a pair of sequels — Shaft’s Big Score! (1972) and Shaft in Africa (1973) — both of which also starred Roundtree.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Shaft?

P.S. I’ve found other ’70s baby names inspired by blaxploitation films, but none are as shocking as Shaft. They include Coffy, Foxy and Sheba, inspired by the Pam Grier movies Coffy (1973), Foxy Brown (1974) and Sheba, Baby (1975).

Sources: Shaft (1971 film) – Wikipedia, The Unlikely, Gritty Origins of John Shaft, Isaac Hayes – Theme from Shaft Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

Image: Screenshot of Shaft