Kay Kyser was a famous bandleader whose radio program, Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge, was broadcast from 1937 through 1949. Dozens of babies were named after Kyser during this era. And, according to a newspaper article from mid-1939, Kyser acknowledged at least one of his namesakes by sending a gift:
The 40th baby was named after Kay Kyser last week…The maestro sent the enthusiastic Brooklyn parents a rattle shaped like the four-cornered college professor cap he wears when he works.
I wonder how the baby-naming landscape would change if today’s top celebrities started sending gifts to the babies who received their names.
I also wonder what kinds of crazy gifts today’s celebs would send…
Source: Stevenson, L. L. “Lights of New York.” San Jose Evening News 26 May 1939: 26-27.
Here’s another famous person who gave a gift to a namesake:
Source: “Arab-born baby named for Golda” by Herb Rau, in The Miami News on 20 September 1971, page 8-B.
Pennsylvania family doctor John Beans Carrell, who died in mid-1950 at the age of 99, bequeathed $100 to each baby he delivered that was named after him.
This case doesn’t involve a national (or international) celebrity, so it’s not quite the same as the examples above, but it does involve giving gifts to namesakes.
Source: “Doctor Bequeaths $100 To Each Baby Named After Him.” The Hartford Courant 13 Oct. 1950: 5.