Babies named for the Battle of Antietam

Battle of Antietam (1862)
Battle of Antietam

The Civil War’s Battle of Antietam (pronounced an-TEE-tum) took place on September 17, 1862, in northwest Maryland, close to Antietam Creek.

The Union and Confederate armies — led by George B. McClellan and Robert E. Lee, respectively — each lost a large number of men in what turned out to be “the bloodiest single day in American history.”

So far I’ve found a handful of people named after the battle, including these three females, all of whom were born during the Civil War:

While the Battle of Antietam was a tactical draw, it was still a strategic victory for the Union, and this “gave [President] Lincoln what he needed to issue the Emancipation Proclamation that would free the slaves in the Confederate states the following January.”

The place-name Antietam was derived from an Algonquian word that may mean “swift water.”

Sources: Battle of Antietam – Wikipedia, Antietam: A Savage Day In American History, Antietam – Online Etymology Dictionary

P.S. Did you know that Antietam was the first American battlefield to be “photographed before the dead had been buried”? Here are some Antietam battlefield photographs (via the U.S. National Park Service).

Where did the baby name Naturi come from in 2001?

3LW's self-titled album (2000)
3LW album

In 2001, the name Naturi debuted in the U.S. baby name data with a dozen baby girls:

  • 2003: 16 baby girls named Naturi
  • 2002: 11 baby girls named Naturi
  • 2001: 12 baby girls named Naturi [debut]
  • 2000: unlisted
  • 1999: unlisted

Where did it come from?

New Jersey-born singer Naturi (pronounced na-TUR-ee) Naughton, who was a member of the girl group 3LW.

The group’s most successful single, “No More (Baby I’ma Do Right),” peaked at #23 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in April of 2001.

How did Naughton come to have the unusual first name “Naturi”? Here’s how she explained it during a recent interview:

Naturi actually means nature’s girl, natural woman. It was a name that actually my parents kind of made by merging two names together. It has African [descent] but I don’t know what language. It’s almost spelled, as you can see, like the word nature. I love my name. You know, people messed it up a lot in the beginning. It was so frustrating but now I think everyone’s getting the hang of it.

I think it’s plausible that her parents created the name by altering the English word “nature” to make it look/sound more like any of various African names, such as Ngozi (Igbo), Imani (Swahili), or Mbali (Zulu).

Naturi Naughton left 3LW in mid-2002. She went on to have a successful acting career, appearing, for instance, in the film Fame (a remake of the original Fame from the early ’80s) and on the TV series Power.

What are your thoughts on the name Naturi?

Sources:

Where did the baby name Rumeal come from in 1989?

Basketball player Rumeal Robinson
Rumeal Robinson

The name Rumeal appeared in the U.S. baby name data a total of five times, consecutively, from 1989 to 1993:

  • 1994: unlisted
  • 1993: 7 baby boys named Rumeal
  • 1992: 8 baby boys named Rumeal
  • 1991: 11 baby boys named Rumeal
  • 1990: 22 baby boys named Rumeal
  • 1989: 25 baby boys named Rumeal [debut]
  • 1988: unlisted

What was the influence?

Basketball player Rumeal (pronounced roo-MEEL) Robinson, who achieved fame while playing with the University Of Michigan. In the last seconds of the 1989 NCAA championship game, Rumeal made two free throws that secured Michigan’s win over Seton Hall University (with a score of 80-79 in overtime).

Later the same year, Rumeal was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine.

He was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1990 NBA Draft, and ended up playing for various NBA teams during the early and mid-1990s.

It’s interesting to note that, the very same year, Shaquille O’Neal’s first name also debuted in the data — but not as impressively as Rumeal (14 baby boys vs. 25 baby boys).

Sources: Rumeal Robinson – Wikipedia, 1989 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Game – Wikipedia

Image: Clipping from the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine (20 Nov. 1989)

What gave the baby name Arlayne a boost in 1930?

Arlayne in the papers, 1930

The name Arlayne was the fastest-rising girl name (relatively speaking) of the year 1930:

  • 1932: 13 baby girls named Arlayne
  • 1931: 12 baby girls named Arlayne
  • 1930: 25 baby girls named Arlayne [peak usage]
  • 1929: 6 baby girls named Arlayne
  • 1924: 5 baby girls named Arlayne

What gave the name a boost that year?

A young St. Louis pistol shooter named Arlayne Brown.

In the fall and winter of 1929, at the age of 13, she won over 19 shooting medals and national titles in competition against adults at Camp Perry. From late 1929 through 1930, many newspapers ran photos of and articles about Arlayne. She was also sometimes featured in advertisements.

She went on to become “one of the nation’s foremost exhibition shooters of the mid-1930s and ’40s,” but she also continued to compete. By the age of 18, for instance, she was up to 32 medals and working as part of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus “Wild West” show.

What are your thoughts on the name Arlayne?

Sources: