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 of a clue, given the relative population of California.
Anyone have a theory about the origin of this one?
Update, Apr. 2025: I think Anonymous has figured it out!
A character named Zeline was featured in a late 1956 episode of the popular TV anthology series Climax! (1954-58).
The episode, “Ten Minutes to Curfew,” which was set in the French Quarter of New Orleans, was broadcast on December 27. The main character was ex-convict George Slattery (played by Dewey Martin), and George’s love interest was Zeline Marie Preval (played by Susan Kohner).
“Ten Minutes to Curfew” was based on a story by William Fay called “The Outcasts,” which had been published in The Saturday Evening Post just three months earlier. (In Fay’s version, the setting was New York City, and the female character was named Rose Bruno.)
Thank you again, Anonymous!
Sources:
- Funk, Dorothy. “Story of ex-convict on Climax tonight.” Chronicle Telegram 27 Dec. 1956: 18.
- Fay, William. “The Outcasts.” Saturday Evening Post 29 Sept. 1956: 34+.
- SSA
Second image: Clipping from The Daily Reporter (27 Dec. 1956)
My best guess is that the Zeline’s are children of Hungarian immigrants after the failure of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
Interesting theory!
Would the last few days of 1956 be too early to spike a 1957 rise? On December 27, 1956, an episode of “Climax!” called “Ten Minutes to Curfew” aired. The episode featured a character called Zeline, the “lonely young sister of a neighborhood hoodlum,” in “a story of a boy and girl in love who are outcasts in their own neighborhood.” I’ve also seen references to “Zeline fleeces” in a few adverts from 1957, but I’m assuming a love story would have more influence on baby names than coats would. “Climax!” was #26 in the Nielsen ratings for the 56-57 year, with an estimated audience of 11,242,100 viewers.
Very late 1956 would actually be perfect timing for a 1957 spike. And I’ve found plenty of single-episode TV characters that left their mark on the U.S. baby name data.
So far, though, I haven’t been able to confirm that “Zeline” was a name used in that episode. I can’t find any of the character names, in fact.
I did learn that the episode was based on a Saturday Evening Post story called “The Outcasts” by William Fay, but I can’t find character names for the story either.
Can I ask what source(s) you used to link the name to the episode?
(I’ve seen “Zeline” mentioned in clothing advertisements as well, going back to the 1940s.)
Two separate newspapers’ columns regarding TV on the air the night of 12/27/56, courtesy of newspapers.com:
The Daily Reporter (Dover, Ohio) notes that on Climax that night, “Susan Kohner plays Zeline Marie Preval, lonely young sister of a neighborhood hoodlum” and that “Martin plays George Slattery, an ex-convict who is under the supervision of a strict parole officer,” while Neville Brand “enacts Jules Dreissen, a small-time tough gangster.”
Marshall News Messenger (Marshall, Texas) notes that Dewey Martin plays George Slattery (an ex-convict), Neville Brand plays Jules Dreissen (a small-time tough gangster), and Susan Kohner plays Zeline Marie Preval (lonely young sister of a neighborhood hoodlum). “Knowing that Slattery must be home at midnight each night or return to prison for parole violation, Dreissen and his crew contrive to trap Slattery in Zeline’s home as his curfew hour approaches. If he comes out, they will beat him, and if he declines to face his tormentors, they will tip off his parole officer.”
I was able to track down “The Outcasts” in the 9/29/56 issue of the Saturday Evening Post, and the female character’s name is Rose Bruno! Her brother is Dominic. The protagonist is still George Slattery, and there’s still Jules (called Julie), but there his surname is Dreiss.
Anonymous, thank you for those specifics!
I was able to see (via the newspapers.com search results page) the name “Zeline” in The Daily Reporter, just like you said. And I’ve since been able to find Zeline’s name listed in a few other newspapers, thanks to the details in those quotes.
You’ve solved another one! Thank you so much!
(It’s interesting that they gave the character an entirely new name for the episode. Looks like they wanted to change her ethnicity from Italian to French…?)
P.S. I do want to give props to elbowin’s theory! I think Hungarian immigration did have a small influence on U.S. baby names in the 1950s. But the handful of 1957 Zelines I found in the records did not have Hungarian surnames at birth, so I think the answer in this case is much more likely to be a popular TV program.
This is fun! Lol. I did wonder about the change from Rose to Zeline. I wonder if the more recent Zelines might be Hungarian or named for others?
I have some ideas about the elusive Laquita, too, but of course none of those stories I’d like to investigate further seem to exist anymore.
While I was updating the post, I came across a synopsis of the episode that said it was set in New Orleans. The original story had been set in New York, so when the writers of the TV adaptation changed the setting, they must have decided to change some of the character names to match.
Oh I’d love to figure out Laquita one day…