Before there were Follies girls, there were Gaiety Girls.
The Gaiety Girls were showgirls who appeared in Edwardian musical comedies at London’s Gaiety Theatre during the 1890s.
There’s no definitive list of all the Gaiety Girls, but here are the stage names (and birth names) of several dozen of them:
| Stage Name | Birth Name |
| Alice Delysia | Alice Lapize |
| Billie Carleton | Florence Stewart |
| Blanche Massey | Blanch Massey |
| Camille Clifford | Camilla Clifford |
| Cicely Courtneidge | Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge |
| Connie Gilchrist | Constance Gilchrist |
| Constance Collier | Laura Constance Hardie |
| Denise Orme | Jessie Smither |
| Dorothy Minto | Dorothy Scott |
| Eleanor “Nellie” Souray | Ellen Mary Souray |
| Ellaline Terriss | Mary Ellaline Terriss |
| Evelyn Laye | Elsie Evelyn Lay |
| Florence Smithson | Florence Smithson |
| Gaby Deslys | Marie-Elise-Gabrielle Caire |
| Gabrielle Ray | Gabrielle Cook |
| Gertie Millar | Gertrude Millar |
| Gina Palerme | Marie Louise Irène de Maulmont |
| Gladys Cooper | Gladys Cooper |
| Irene Desmond | (unknown) |
| Irene Richards | (unknown) |
| Jessie Matthews | (unknown) |
| José Collins | Charlotte Josephine Collins |
| Kitty Gordon | Constance Blades |
| Lily Elsie | Elsie Hodder |
| Mabel Love | Mabel Watson |
| Mabel Russell | Mabel Russell |
| Mamie Watson | (unknown) |
| Marie Studholme | Caroline Maria Lupton |
| May Etheridge | May Etheridge |
| May Gates | (unknown) |
| Moya Nugent | Moya Nugent |
| Olive May | Olive Mary Meatyard |
| Phyllis Dare | Phyllis Constance Haddie Dones (sister of Zena) |
| Rosie Boote | Rose Boote |
| Sylvia Grey | Sylvia Grey |
| Sylvia Storey | Sylvia Storey |
| Zena Dare | Florence Hariette Zena Dones (sister of Phyllis) |
Which of the above names do you like best?
Sources: Gaiety Girls – Wikipedia, Gaiety Girls exhibition – National Portrait Gallery
My middle name is Ellaline, named after my aunt who was named after Ellaline Terriss. My grandmother admired the Edwardian actress who was the first ever Ellaline because her parents made it up, as recounted in her autobiography A Little Piece Of String.
I loathe this name!
Thank you for the extra information about where the name came from!
Why do you loathe it?
Speaking of Ellaline…a woman named Ellaline Redmond (1901-2013) currently ranks 57th on the list of the 100 oldest British people ever.