How popular is the baby name Sylvia in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out all the blog posts that mention the name Sylvia.
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Millette Alexander was an American actress who had the most success on TV soap operas. She started with small parts on The Edge of Night in the ’50s and ’60s, moved on to a nurse character on As the World Turns from 1964 to 1966, and finally played a doctor on The Guiding Light from 1969 to 1983.
It was while she was on As the World Turns playing nurse Sylvia Hill (who suffered from lupus) that the usage of the baby name Millette was nudged upward just enough to debut in the U.S. baby name data:
1969: unlisted
1968: 8 baby girls named Millette
1967: 68 baby girls named Millette [peak]
1966: unlisted
1965: 5 baby girls named Millette [debut]
1964: unlisted
So…what the heck happened in 1967?
I’m still trying to figure that out. It was definitely something audio, because a bunch of variant spellings also popped up that year (and only that year, notably):
Soava GalloneOn the hunt for a rare girl name with a retro feel?
Here’s a big batch of uncommon female S-names that are associated in some way with early cinema (i.e., each is either a character name or an actress name).
For those that have had enough usage to appear in the national data, I’ve included links to popularity graphs.
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Saba
Saba Raleigh was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1920s. She was born in England in 1867. Her birth name was Isabel Pauline Ellissen. Saba was also a character played by actress Myrta Bonillas in the film The Claw (1927).
Sabra Sabra de Shon was an actress who appeared in one film in 1915. She was born in Massachusetts in 1850. Sabra was also a character name in multiple films, including Cimarron (1931) and A Man Betrayed (1941).
Salka
Salka Steuermann was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1920s. She was born in Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine) in 1889. Her birth name was Salomea Steuermann.
Sallie
Sallie McPherson was a character played by actress Wanda Hawley in the film Double Speed (1920).
Salomy
Salomy was a character name in multiple films, including Salomy Jane (1914) and Wild Girl (1932).
Salti
Salti was a character played by actress Beatie Olna Travers in the film A Romance of Old Baghdad (1922).
Samanthy
Samanthy was a character name in multiple films, including The Uneven Balance (short, 1914) and The Lonesome Heart (1915).
Samaran
Samaran was a character played by actress Julia Faye in the film Fool’s Paradise (1921).
Sanchia
Sanchia Percival was a character played by actress Dorinea Shirley in the film Open Country (1922).
Sari
Sari Maritza (SHA-ree MAR-ee-tsa) was an actress who appeared in films in the 1930s. She was born in China in 1910. Her birth name was Patricia Detering-Nathan. Sari was also a character name in multiple films, including The Virgin of Stamboul (1920) and The Stolen Bride (1927).
Shireen
Shireen was the name two characters — a mother and a daughter played by actresses Virginia Brown Faire and Patsy Ruth Miller, respectively — in the film Omar the Tentmaker (1922).
Usage of the baby name Shireen (which debuted in the data the year after Omar the Tentmaker came out).
Shirlene
Shirlene May was a character played by actress Gale Robbins in the film The Barkleys of Broadway (1949).
Sigrid
Sigrid Holmquist was an actress who appeared in films in the 1920s. She was born in Sweden in 1899. Sigrid was also a character name in multiple films, including Transatlantic (1931) and I Remember Mama (1948).
Soava
Soava Gallone was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1930s. She was born in Poland in 1880. Her birth name was Stanislawa Winawerowna.
Sofonisba
Sofonisba was a character played by actress Italia Almirante-Manzini in the film Cabiria (1914).
Soledad
Soledad Jiménez was an actress who appeared in films from the 1920s to the 1950s. She was born in Spain in 1874.
Sookey
Sookey was a character played by actress Heather Angel in the film Self Made Lady (1932).
Sophronia
Sophronia was a character played by actress Bessie Eyton in the film Lend Me Your Name (1918). It was also a character (nicknamed Phronsie) in the Little Peppers films of the early ’40s.
Stacia
Stacia de Napierkowska was an actress who appeared in films from the 1900s to the 1920s. She was born in France in 1886. Her birth name was Renée Claire Angèle Élisabeth Napierkowski.
Stascha
Stascha was a character played by actress Marlene Dietrich in the film Three Loves (1929).
Steena
Steena Iverson was a character played by actress Dot Farley in the short film Mrs. Gay Life’s Visitors (1911).
Steenie
Steenie was a character played by actress Dorothy Kelly in the short film Rip Van Winkle (1912).
Steffi
Steffi Duna was an actress who appeared in films from the 1930s to the 1940s. She was born in Hungary in 1910. Her birth name was Stephanie Berindy.
Sul-Te-Wan
Madame Sul-Te-Wan was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1950s. She was born in Kentucky in 1873. Her birth name was Nellie Conley.
Sumurun
Sumurun was a character played by actress Jenny Hasselquist in the film Sumurun (1920).
Sunbeam
Sunbeam was a character played in multiple films, including The Sunbeam (short, 1912) and The Coming of Sunbeam (short, 1913).
Sunday
Sunday Wilshin was an actress who appeared in films from the 1920s to the 1930s. She was born in England in 1905. Her birth name was Sundae Mary Aline Horne-Wilshin.
Sunnie
Sunnie O’Dea was an actress who appeared in films from the 1930s to the 1940s. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1918. Her birth name was Martha Bonini.
Valeska
Valeska Suratt was an actress who appeared in films in the 1910s. She was born in Indiana in 1882. Valeska was also a character name in multiple films, including For a Woman’s Honor (1919) and Broadway Scandals (1929).
Valli
Valli Valli was an actress who appeared in films in the 1910s. She was born in Germany in 1882. Her birth name was Valli Knust. Alida Valli, often credited simply as Valli, was an actress who appeared in films from the 1930s to the 2000s. She was born in Italy (now Croatia) in 1921. Valli was also a character played by actress Margaret Livingston in the film What a Widow! (1930).
Vedah
Vedah Bertram was an actress who appeared in films in the early 1910s. She was born in Massachusetts in 1891. Her birth name was Adele Buck.
Vedah, who died of appendicitis at the age of 20 in 1912, “became the first noted film player to be mourned by the movie-going public.” According to the San Francisco Call, her East Coast family had not been aware of her film career. “Hoping to keep her actions from her friends and relatives, she assumed the name under which she has been acting.”
Vee
Vee Newell was a character played by actress Olive Borden in the film Hello Sister (1930).
Velma
Velma Whitman was an actress who appeared in films in the 1910s. She was born in Ohio in 1885. Velma was also a character name in multiple films, including The Greatest Menace (1923) and The Lone Wolf’s Daughter (1929).
Vermuda
Vermuda was a character played by actress Martha Sleeper in the short film Sure-Mike! (1925).
Verna
Verna Mersereau was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1920s. She was born in 1894. Verna was also a character name in multiple films, including His Temporary Wife (1920) and Here Comes Carter (1936).
Vesta
Vesta Tilley was an actress who appeared in films from the 1900s to the 1910s. She was born in England in 1864. Her birth name was Matilda Alice Powles. Vesta was also a character name in multiple films, including The House in Suburbia (short, 1913) and The Duke of Chimney Butte (1921).
Vilma
Vilma Banky was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1930s. She was born in Austria-Hungary (now Hungary) in 1898. Vilma was also a character name in multiple films, including Federal Agent (1936) and Meet the Boy Friend (1937).
Voine
Voine was a character played by actress Greta Nissen in the film Rackety Rax (1932).
Vola
Vola Vale was an actress who appeared in films from the 1910s to the 1930s. She was born in New York in 1897. Her birth name was Violet Irene Smith.
Vroni
Vroni was a character played by actress Esther Ralston in the film Betrayal (1929).
Vultura
Vultura was a character played by actress Lorna Gray in the film Perils of Nyoka (1942).
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Which of the above names do you like best?
Sources:
Doyle, Billy H. The Ultimate Directory of the Silent Screen Performers: A Necrology of Births and Deaths and Essays on 50 Lost Players. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1995.
Gloria Swanson as Zaza (1923)Looking for an under-the-radar girl name with a retro feel?
A few years ago I combed though a bunch of IMDb pages looking for interesting female names associated with old films (1910s-1940s).
Most of the names I spotted — names like Mabel, Maisie, Hazel, Hattie, Elsie, Selma, Bessie, and Betty — were ones I expected to see. But I did manage to collect thousands of rarities, many of which have never appeared in the SSA data before.
Want to check out all these unusual names? I thought so! To make things interesting I’ll post the Z-names first and go backwards, letter by letter.
Enjoy!
Zabette
Zabette de Chavalons was a character played by actress Bebe Daniels in the film Volcano! (1926).
Zabie
Zabie Elliot was a character played by actress Mary Alden in the film The Broken Butterfly (1919).
Zada
Zada L’Etoile was a character played by actress Sylvia Breamer in the Cecil B. DeMille-directed film We Can’t Have Everything (1918).
Zadee
Zadee Burbank was an actress who appeared in films during the 1910s and 1920s. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1867 with the name Sarah Pyle Watt.
Zarmi
Zarmi was a character played by actress Julie Suedo in the three short films The Queen of Hearts (1923), The Man with the Limp (1923), and The Golden Pomegranates (1924).
Zarrah
Zarrah was a character played by actress Violet Horner in the film A Daughter of the Gods (1916).
Zena
Zena Dare was an actress who appeared in films during the 1920s and 1930s. She was born in England in 1887. Zena Keefe was an actress who appeared in films during the 1910s and 1920s. She was born in California in 1898. Zena was also a character name in multiple films, including The Code of Honor (short, 1916) and The New York Peacock (1917).
Zorina Vera Zorina, often credited simply as Zorina, was an actress who appeared in films during the 1930s and 1940s. She was born in Germany in 1917 with the name Eva Brigitta Hartwig.
Zuletta
Zuletta was a character played by actress Lucille Young in the film The Spell of the Poppy (1915).
Zulika
Zulika was a character name used in multiple films, including The Greed of Osman Bey (short, 1913) and How the Earth Was Carpeted (short, 1914).
Zulima
Zulima was a character played by actress Blanche Cornwall in the film Fra Diavolo (1912).
You’re sitting alone at a table in a restaurant, waiting for the rest of your friends to arrive. To fend off boredom, you strike up a conversation with a woman similarly stranded at a nearby table (her friends have all left to use the restroom). She mentions that she’s pregnant and on the hunt for a baby name. Here’s the gist of what she’s looking for:
I want my daughter’s name to have a V in it, but not start with the letter V. So I’m looking for names like Sylvia, not like Victoria.
“Do you have any suggestions?”
You’re a name lover, and you could potentially give her dozens of suggestions on the spot. But her friends will be back soon, and yours will show up eventually, so you only have time to give her five baby name suggestions.
But here’s the fun part: Instead of blurting out the first five names you come up with (which is what you’d be forced to do in real life) you get to press a magical “pause” button, brainstorm for a bit, and then “unpause” the scenario to offer her the best five names you can think of.
Here are a few things to keep in mind as you brainstorm:
Be independent. Decide on your five names before looking at anyone else’s five names.
Be sincere. Would you honestly suggest these particular baby names out loud to a stranger in public?
Five names only! All names beyond the first five in your comment will be either deleted or replaced with nonsense words.
Finally, here’s the request again:
I want my daughter’s name to have a V in it, but not start with the letter V. So I’m looking for names like Sylvia, not like Victoria.
Which five baby names are you going to suggest?
[To send in your own 2-sentence baby name request, here are the directions, and here’s the contact form.]
So here’s an interesting semi-mystery.
