The name Mauri first appeared in the U.S. baby name data — for both genders — in the late 1940s:
- 1949: 5 baby boys named Mauri
- 1948: 5 baby boys named Mauri & 7 baby girls named Mauri [debut]
- 1947: 6 baby boys named Mauri [debut]
- 1946: unlisted
- 1945: unlisted
Now, the unisex name Maurie was already in the data by this point, so Mauri could simply have been a variant of Maurie.
That said, the specific spelling “Mauri” may have debuted in 1947 (and 1948) thanks to race car driver Maurice “Mauri” Rose, who won the Indianapolis 500 automobile race back-to-back in 1947 and 1948. (He was also a winner in 1941, but that time he co-won with another driver, Floyd Davis.)
What are your thoughts here? How much influence do you think a race car driver might have had on U.S. baby names in the ’40s?
Sources: List of Indianapolis 500 winners – Wikipedia, SSA