The name Teala got its start on the U.S. baby name charts during second half of the 1940s:
- 1948: unlisted
- 1947: 13 baby girls named Teala
- 1946: 7 baby girls named Teala [debut]
- 1945: unlisted
- 1944: unlisted
What put it there?
Movie actress Teala Loring, who appeared in various low-budget movies during the mid-to-late 1940s.
She was born Marcia Griffin in Colorado in 1922.
The “Teala” part of Loring’s stage name was suggested by Paramount producer Irwin Allen:
“He asked, “What do you think of Teala?” I said, “I don’t know who she is.” [Laughs] He said, “Well that’s you if you like the name!” He said Teala was an old Irish name that hadn’t been used in many, many years.
I’m not sure what old Irish name he was thinking of — maybe Talulla?
In any case, I believe her new stage name was pronounced TEE-la, as she mentioned in the same interview that people would often mistake the name for Sheila. (Incidentally, the spelling Teela popped up in the data in 1948.)
Teala was the older sister of actress Debra Paget (born Debralee Griffin in 1933), but was married and retired by the time Debra gained fame in the early 1950s.
Do you like the name Teala? (Do you like it more or less than Marcia?)
Sources:
- Teala Loring – Wikipedia
- Weaver, Tom. Eye on Science Fiction: 20 Interviews with Classic SF and Horror Filmmakers. Jefferson, NC: 2003.
- SSA
Image: Screenshot of The Arizona Cowboy