Mamie Eisenhower was named after a song

Sheet music for "Lovely Lake Geneva" (1885)
“Lovely Lake Geneva”

Mamie Eisenhower, wife of Dwight D. Eisenhower, was born Mamie Geneva Doud in 1896 to John and Elivera Doud of Iowa. She was the second of four daughters.

Where did her middle name come from? Her mother was a fan of the popular song “Lovely Lake Geneva,” written by Charles B. Holmes and published in 1885.

Mamie’s older sister was named Eleanor. Her younger sisters were Eda Mae and Mabel Frances, but her father was “so disappointed that he had not yet had a son that he nicknamed his two younger daughters “Buster” and “Mike,” respectively.” They were known as Buster and Mike their entire lives.

Source: Eisenhower, Susan. Mrs. Ike: Portrait of a Marriage. Sterling, Virginia: Capital Books, 2002.

One thought on “Mamie Eisenhower was named after a song”

  1. A quote from a 1956 issue of Good Housekeeping:

    Her mother took the name from the song “Lovely Lake Geneva,” which was popular at the time the First Lady was born. Even though there is a definite sentimental flavor about being named after a song, there is one small drawback. Down at the bottom of the page on sheet music, where any prying eye can see, are tiny Roman numerals blabbing out the year the song was published. Anyone really interested could deduce your age in jig time — or waltz time as the case might be. So mothers, give the matter some thought before calling your daughter “Sixteen Tons Brinklehoff.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.