During the wee hours of March 10, 1970, Delta’s Flight 86 was flying from Miami to Detroit with 35 passengers and 7 crew on board.
Somewhere over Georgia, pregnant passenger Janice Liogghio of Livonia, Michigan, gave birth to a baby boy.
What did she name him?
“I want to wait and talk to my husband about the first name,” the 22-year-old mother said. “The baby probably will have three first names. Delta will be one of them.”
They ended up naming him Natalino Delta.
“Natalino” is related to names like Natalia and Natalie, which derive from the Latin phrase natale domini, meaning “birth of the Lord” (in reference to Christmas Day). Traditionally, these names were bestowed upon Christmas babies. In this baby’s case, though, the pairing of Natalino (“birth”) with Delta was likely meant to commemorate his unusual birthplace.
P.S. Speaking of Livonia…here’s a baby named after the Pullman car Livonia.
Sources:
- Janice “Jann” Liogghio Obituary
- “Stork Wins Race; Baby Born on Plane in Flight.” Dispatch [Lexington, NC] 11 Mar. 1970: 8.
Image: Adapted from Douglas DC-8-51 N821E DL MIA 07.02.71 edited-5 by RuthAS under CC BY 3.0.
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