According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Gilda achieved peak popularity (in terms of ranking) in 1927:
- 1929: 257 baby girls named Gilda [rank: 414th]
- 1928: 291 baby girls named Gilda [rank: 393rd]
- 1927: 321 baby girls named Gilda [rank: 381st]
- 1926: 293 baby girls named Gilda [rank: 401st]
- 1925: 200 baby girls named Gilda [rank: 497th]
What was drawing attention to the name around that time?
Actress Gilda Gray, who began her career as a vaudeville dancer in the late 1910s. She was famous for doing the shimmy — a shoulder-shaking dance move that was somewhat controversial at the time.
She went on to appear in several movies, the most successful of which was the 1926 silent film Aloma of the South Seas, in which she played the title character. Here’s how one newspaper advertisement described the picture:
A fiery romance of the tropics in which Gilda, as a native dancing girl, vies with a lovely woman of fashion for the love of a derelict young white man. Drama! Beauty! Thrills!
(The baby name Aloma saw higher usage in 1927 as well.)
Gilda Gray was born Marianna Michalska in Poland around the turn of the century. Her family immigrated to the U.S. when she was a child.
Her stage name was initially Mary Gray, but singer Sophie Tucker suggested that she change “Mary” to “Gilda” on account of her golden hair.
What are your thoughts on the name Gilda?
P.S. The word “shimmy” is of unknown origin, but one theory posits that it derives from the French word chemise.
Sources:
- Gilda Gray – Wikipedia
- Aloma of the South Seas advertisement. Ogdensburg Republican-Journal 21 Oct. 1926: 12.
- Clune, Henry W. “Seen and Heard.” Ithaca Journal 8 Mar. 1941: 6.
- Shimmy – Online Etymology Dictionary
- SSA
Image: Clipping from the book Aloma of the South Seas (1926)