The brief Spanish-American War, fought between the United States and Spain, began in April of 1898 and ended in December of the same year.
It inspired hundreds of patriotic parents in the U.S. to choose war-inspired baby names.
Maine & Havana
One of the events that led to war was the explosion of the USS Maine in Cuba’s Havana Harbor on February 15. The explosion killed more than 260 men. Many people in the U.S. blamed the explosion on Spain.
The baby names Maine and Havana both debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1898.
- 1900: unlisted
- 1899: unlisted
- 1898: 9 baby girls named Maine [debut] (plus 5 more named Mayne)
- 1897: unlisted
- 1896: unlisted
Maine was a one-hit wonder in the data — a rarity that never returned — but Havana returned to the data dozens of times since.
- 1900: unlisted
- 1899: unlisted
- 1898: 8 baby girls named Havana [debut]
- 1897: unlisted
- 1896: unlisted
The baby name Cuba also saw a spike in usage that year:
- 1900: 8 baby girls named Cuba
- 1899: 14 baby girls named Cuba (rank: 884th)
- 1898: 29 baby girls named Cuba (rank: 597th)
- 1897: 9 baby girls named Cuba
- 1896: unlisted
According to U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI) data — which is more comprehensive than the SSA data for this time period — 25 babies were named Maine, 12 were named Havana, and 79 were named Cuba in 1898.
Dewey & Manila
War was formally declared on April 25. On May 1, the Battle of Manila Bay took place in the Philippines. The U.S. fleet, under the command of Commodore George Dewey, defeated Spain.
Usage of the name Dewey spiked in 1898 for both genders. (On the boys’ list, the name reached the top 20, impressively.) The spelling variants Dewie and Dewy also debuted that year.
| Boys named Dewey | Girls named Dewey | |
| 1900 | 345 (rank: 75th) | 9 |
| 1899 | 499 (rank: 39th) | 24 (rank: 632nd) |
| 1898 | 1,115 (rank: 19th) | 104 (rank: 305th) |
| 1897 | 158 (rank: 111th) | 13* (rank: 904th) |
| 1896 | 63 (rank: 224th) | . |
| 1895 | 28 |
Note that, during this time period, many children were not given names right away. That’s why it seems as though the name Dewey began rising in usage ahead of schedule — because dozens of children born in 1897 and 1896 weren’t named until 1898.
This likewise explains the 1897 debut of the baby name Olympia, which corresponds to the name of Dewey’s flagship, the USS Olympia.
Getting back to Dewey…we see even higher numbers in the SSDI data: 6,708 babies named Dewey, 36 named Dewie, and 1 named Dewy in 1898.
We even see evidence of Dewey’s spike on the U.S. Census of 1920:
- 1910s: over 4,300 people named Dewey were born
- 1900s: over 11,000 people named Dewey were born
- 1890s: over 12,100 people named Dewey were born
- 1880s: over 200 people named Dewey were born
- 1870s: over 100 people named Dewey were born
An article in the Reading Eagle in 1899 listed ten local babies named for George Dewey, and another article I spotted from decades later joked about starting a George Dewey namesake club.
We see a similar (though less pronounced) spike of in the usage of Manila for baby girls:
- 1900: 10 baby girls named Manila
- 1899: 34 baby girls named Manila (rank: 512th)
- 1898: 104 baby girls named Manila (rank: 306th) [peak usage]
- 1897: 7 baby girls named Manila [debut]
- 1896: unlisted
The spelling variant Manilla was the top girl-name debut of 1898, with 35 baby girls (rank: 536th).
Again, the SSDI’s numbers are even higher — 195 babies were named Manila and 118 were named Manilla in 1898.
Hobson, Admiral, Shafter, Maceo, Schley & Philippina
Here are six more war-related names that debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1898.
The baby name Hobson was inspired by Richmond Pearson Hobson, prisoner of war in Cuba. Hobson was the top boy-name debut of 1898, in fact.
- 1900: 13 baby boys named Hobson (rank: 713th)
- 1899: 15 baby boys named Hobson (rank: 511th)
- 1898: 38 baby boys named Hobson (rank: 311th) [debut]
- 1897: unlisted
- 1896: unlisted
According to the SSDI, at least 161 babies were named Hobson that year.
(Hobson was a handsome Southerner who became a national celebrity following his month-long imprisonment. He became well known for kissing pretty young women as he toured the country. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch jokingly called him “the champion kisser of the universe.”)
The baby name Admiral was the rank of many of the men (e.g. Admiral Dewey, Admiral Sampson, Admiral Schley) who played a part in the war — Dewey especially.
- 1900: 18 baby boys named Admiral (rank: 579th)
- 1899: 13 baby boys named Admiral (rank: 549th)
- 1898: 25 baby boys named Admiral (rank: 394th) [debut]
- 1897: unlisted
- 1896: unlisted
According to the SSDI, at least 154 babies were named Admiral.
The baby name Shafter was inspired by army general William Rufus Shafter, who had command of the U.S. forces in Cuba during the war.
- 1900: 8 baby boys named Shafter
- 1899: unlisted
- 1898: 14 baby boys named Shafter (rank: 604th) [debut]
- 1897: unlisted
- 1896: unlisted
This was the first and only time the name Shafter landed in the U.S. top 1,000. According to the SSDI, at least 58 babies were named Shafter.
The baby name Maceo was inspired by Cuban revolutionary Antonio Maceo, “one of the outstanding guerrilla leaders in nineteenth century Latin America.” (He had died in late 1896, actually.)
- 1900: 8 baby boys named Maceo
- 1899: 9 baby boys named Maceo (rank: 760th)
- 1898: 13 baby boys named Maceo (rank: 621st) [debut]
- 1897: unlisted
- 1896: unlisted
According to the SSDI, at least 34 babies were named Maceo.
The baby name Schley was inspired by Winfield Scott Schley, hero of the Battle of Santiago Bay.
- 1900: unlisted
- 1899: unlisted
- 1898: 10 baby boys named Schley (rank: 737th) [debut]
- 1897: unlisted
- 1896: unlisted
Like Maine, it was a one-hit wonder in the SSA data, and, like Shafter, it was in the top 1,000 just once. According to the SSDI, at least 39 babies were named Schley.
(Winfield Scott Schley — just like Winfield Scott Hancock — had been named in honor of General Winfield Scott (1786-1866), who was a family friend. Scott became Commanding General of the U.S. Army two years after Schley was born.)
Finally, the baby name Philippina, likely inspired by the Philippines, was another one-hit wonder the year of the war:
- 1900: unlisted
- 1899: unlisted
- 1898: 5 baby girls named Philippina [debut]
- 1897: unlisted
- 1896: unlisted
Interestingly, only a single Philippina is accounted for in the SSDI data.
The Spanish-American War ended “with Spain losing most of its overseas empire” — including Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines — “and the U.S. emerging as a world power.”
Sources:
- Spanish-American War: A Resource Guide – Library of Congress
- “Berks Babies Named in Honor of Dewey.” Reading Eagle 30 Apr. 1899: 4.
- “Commodore Schley and His Deeds.” Milwaukee Journal 25 Feb. 1898: 3.
- Hispanic Division, Library of Congress. “Antonio Maceo – The World of 1898: The Spanish-American War.”
- History, Art & Archives, U.S. House of Representatives. “The Most Kissed Man in America.”
- SSA
Images:
- The Battle of Manila – LOC
- Wreck of the Maine, Havana – LOC
- Clipping from the San Francisco Call (8 May 1898)
- Clipping from the Weekly Corinthian (12 May 1898)
Recent sighting:
Found it in the September/October 1995 issue of Ancestry Magazine, on page 11, in an article by Linda Herrick Swisher.
Another recent discovery:
From Hello, My Name Is…: A Guide to Naming Your Baby by Jeff Bradley, Truman Bradley and Walker Bradley.
One more:
Source: “Triplets–Dewey, Sampson, Schley.” Reading Eagle 18 May 1899: 3.