Baby Name: Callista

In the mid-20th century, Alvin Joseph Miller and Lucille Rose Miller (née Kahnke) of Waseca, Minnesota, had 22 children — 15 girls and 7 boys.

Here are the names of all 22 siblings:

1. Ramona Mary (born in 1940), who became a Franciscan nun
2. Alvin Joseph, Jr. (b. 1942)
3. Rose Ann (b. 1943)
4. Kathleen Edith (b. 1945)
5. Robert Vincent (b. 1946)
6. Patricia Jean (b. 1947)
7. Mary Lucille (b. 1948), nicknamed “Marylu”
8. Diane Margaret (b. 1949)
9. John Charles (b. 1950)
10. Janet Irene (b. 1951)
11. Linda Louise (b. 1953)
12. Virginia Therese (b. 1954)
13. Helen Rita (b. 1955), who wrote a book about growing up in a large family
14. Arthur Lawrence (b. 1956)
15. Dolores Maria (b. 1957)
16. Martin Peter (b. 1959)
17. Pauline Carmel (b. 1960)
18. Alice Callista (b. 1961)
19. Angela Mary (b. 1962)
20. Marcia Marie (b. 1963)
21. Gregory Eugene (b. 1964)
22. Damien Francis (b. 1966)

Eight of the children had been born by April of 1950, when the Miller family was interviewed for the U.S. Census:

Alvin and Lucille raised their children on a 300-acre farm that included a seven-bedroom farmhouse. Here’s how Diane (#8) described her childhood:

I remember a lot of rides in the wheelbarrow from the granary to the barn. I remember a lot of grinding feed, a lot of egg washing and packing, a lot of sitting by the wood stove in the basement, singing songs as we candled eggs.

Which of the names above do you like most?

P.S. Thank you to Destiny for letting me know about the Miller family a few months ago! (Destiny also told me about the Jones family of West Virginia.)

Sources:

• “Lucille Miller, 83, Waseca.” Albert Lea Tribune 30 Aug. 2006.
• “Loving large: 22 siblings attend reunion.” Post Bulletin 22 Apr. 2000.
• “Waseca woman who bore 22 children and took in others dies.” Post Bulletin 31 Aug. 2006.
• FamilySearch.org

Image: Ein Kinderfest (1868) by Ludwig Knaus