Where did the baby name Mako come from in 1977?

Actor Mako in the musical "Pacific Overtures" (1976).
Mako in “Pacific Overtures“

The curious name Mako first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1977:

  • 1979: unlisted
  • 1978: unlisted
  • 1977: 5 baby boys named Mako [debut]
  • 1976: unlisted
  • 1975: unlisted

Why?

The influence seems to be Japanese-American actor Makoto Iwamatsu (1933-2006), who was usually credited mononymously as “Mako.”

He’d been appearing in films and on TV since the late ’50s, but in the mid-’70s he starred in the Broadway musical Pacific Overtures (1976) by Stephen Sondheim. His portrayal of several characters in the play earned him a Tony nomination for ‘Best Actor in a Musical.’

In one 1976 newspaper interview, he described the origin of his stage name:

I picked up the single name of Mako when I was in basic training [U.S. Army] in South Carolina. The sergeant could never pronounce my name correctly at mail call. On principle, I never answered.

Next he tried calling me Shorty. When that didn’t work, he finally shouted: ‘Hey, you damn Yankee.’ That was the first time I really felt like an American. That broke the ice. We compromised, and I agreed to answer to Mako.

In Mako’s case, the first name Makoto is written with a kanji character that means “sincerity” in Japanese.

What are your thoughts on the name Mako?

Sources:

  • Lewis, Emory. “Asians can act, too: Mako.” Record [Hackensack, NJ] 4 Apr. 1976: 58.
  • Mako – Wikipedia

Baby name story: Fiona

baby hippo

In July of 2021, Kerbe Shephard unexpectedly went into labor while visiting the Cincinnati Zoo with her husband David and son Bryce.

Later that day, the family welcomed a baby girl — born four weeks premature.

On a previous trip to the Cincinnati Zoo, Bryce had insisted that his future baby sister be named Fiona after the zoo’s famous Fiona the Hippo. (The hippo had been born six weeks premature in 2017 and required round-the-clock care in order to survive.)

At the time, Kerbe and her husband weren’t keen on Bryce’s suggestion.

My husband and I laughed, “Ok, buddy! That sounds great…we’ll add it to the list!” — knowing that we had other plans for names and we certainly wouldn’t name our daughter after a hippo.

After meeting their baby girl, though, they reconsidered.

The baby’s arrival had coincided with a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo, and she (like the hippo) was a preemie who would need special care, as she was born with both Down Syndrome and a congenital heart defect — “complications that we knew she would overcome,” said Kerbe.

So they decided to name her Fiona after all.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Baby Hippo by Tim Sackton under CC BY-SA 2.0.

[Latest update: Feb. 2025]

Where did the baby name Kinsler come from in 2009?

Baseball player Ian Kinsler
Ian Kinsler

The name Kinsler debuted (as a boy name) in the U.S. baby name data in 2009. It rose to peak usage several years later:

  • 2014: 32 baby boys and 7 baby girls named Kinsler
    • 22 boys born in Texas
  • 2013: 31 baby boys and 5 baby girls named Kinsler
    • 24 boys and all 5 girls born in TX
  • 2012: 64 baby boys [peak] and 13 baby girls [debut] named Kinsler
    • 52 boys and 11 girls born in TX; 6 boys born in OK
  • 2011: 28 baby boys named Kinsler
    • 24 born in TX
  • 2010: 21 baby boys named Kinsler
    • 17 born in TX
  • 2009: 8 baby boys named Kinsler [overall debut]
  • 2008: unlisted
  • 2007: unlisted
  • 2006: unlisted

What was the influence?

Baseball player Ian Kinsler, who joined the Majors in 2006. He was a low draft pick out of college, but ended up becoming an All-Star four times, starting in 2008. In 2009, Sporting News‘ ranked Kinsler 24th on its list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball.

He spent more than half of his professional career with the Texas Rangers in (2006-2013), which explains the particularly high usage in Texas.

The surname Kinsler is an Americanized form of the German surname Künzler, which is based on the Middle High German word künzen, meaning “to flatter.” Originally, it was a nickname for a flatterer.

Sources:

Image: Ian Kinsler trading card

Celebrity baby name: Jaden Gil

A couple of decades ago, tennis champions (and married couple) Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf welcomed two children, Jaden Gil (b. 2001) and Jaz Elle (b. 2003).

I didn’t realize until doing research for yesterday’s post on Andre Agassi that Jaden’s middle name, Gil, honors Las Vegas strength and conditioning trainer Gil Reyes, who was a crucial part of Agassi’s late-career comeback.

Here’s a heartwarming passage about the name from Agassi’s autobiography Open (2009):

I bring Stefanie to Gil’s gym, under the guise of a workout. She’s beaming, because she knows why we’re really here.

Gil asks Stefanie if she’s feeling all right, if she’d like something to drink, if she’d like to sit. He guides her to an exercise cycle and she mounts sidesaddle. She studies the shelf Gil has built along one wall, to hold the trophies from my slams, including those I’ve had replaced since my post-Friends tantrum.

I fiddle with a stretching cord and then say: So, uhh, Gil, listen. We’ve picked out a name for our son.

Aw. What is it?

Jaden.

I like that, Gil says, smiling, nodding. Yes I do. I like that.

And — we also think we’ve got the perfect middle name.

What’s that?

Gil.

He stares.

I say, Jaden Gil Agassi. If he grows up to be half the man you are, he’ll be phenomenally successful, and if I can be half the father you’ve been to me, I’ll have surpassed my own standards.

Stefanie is crying. My eyes are filled with tears. Gil is standing ten feet away, in front of the leg extension machine. He has his trademark pencil behind his ear, his glasses on the end of his nose, his da Vinci notebook open. He reaches me in three steps and folds me in his arms.

These days, Jaden Gil doesn’t play tennis, but he does play baseball.