Yesterday I mentioned that Korla Pandit leaving Snader Telescriptions circa 1951 opened the door for a Vegas pianist named Wladziu Valentino Liberace to have a shot at television.
And the rest is history: Liberace’s energetic live TV performances quickly made him famous. He went on to become one of highest-paid entertainers ever.
He was known as “Lee” to family and friends, but as a showman he preferred to go by his Italian surname, pronounced lib-er-AH-chee. It can probably be traced back to the Latin word liber, meaning “free.”
And while the baby name Liberace has never been popular enough to appear in the SSA’s baby name data — I would have told you a long time ago if it had! — it has been used as a given name before. As you’d expect, most Liberaces were born in the early-to-mid ’50s. Here are some examples:
- Liberace Harris, b. 1953 in Illinois
- Leonard Liberace Parker, b. 1953 in Indiana
- Liberace Williams, b. 1953 in California
- Liberace Keefe Atkins, b. 1954
- Liberace Ricky Sharpe, b. 1954 in North Carolina
- Liberace Ford, b. 1955 in North Carolina
- Liberace Jackson, b. 1955 in Kentucky
- Liberace Malbon, b. 1957 in Texas
- Lemon Liberace Hamilton, b. 1959 in Texas
What are your thoughts on Liberace as a baby name?
P.S. Wladziu is a diminutive of the Polish name Wladyslaw.
Sources: Liberace – Wikipedia, FamilySearch.org
Image: Clipping from Radio-TV Mirror (Jul. 1954)