Time for another mystery baby name! Today’s stumper is Zeline, which charted in 1957 with a dozen baby girls:
- 1959: unlisted
- 1958: unlisted
- 1957: 12 baby girls named Zeline
- 1956: unlisted
- 1955: unlisted
The name Zelene debuted the same year, with half as many baby girls.
I’ve done all my standard research, which includes looking at newspapers and periodicals of the era, and so far I haven’t found any notable people/characters/products named Zeline (or Zelene) in 1956-1957.
These names don’t appear to be a variant of a more popular name, though I should mention that Celine saw an uptick in usage in ’58, which is interesting.
At least three of the Zelines and two of the Zelenes were born in California, but this probably isn’t much a clue, given the relative population of California.
Anyone have a theory about the origin of this one?
My best guess is that the Zeline’s are children of Hungarian immigrants after the failure of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
Interesting theory!