The rise of the baby name Pauline during the early decades of the 20th century accelerated in the mid-1910s. Pauline reached its highest-ever ranking in 1915, in fact:
- 1917: 6,896 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 33rd]
- 1916: 6,655 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 33rd]
- 1915: 6,334 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 32nd]
- 1914: 4,698 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 34th]
- 1913: 3,636 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 35th]
- 1912: 3,163 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 38th]
What was drawing attention to the name around that time?
Fictional character Pauline Marvin, protagonist of the story The Perils of Pauline, which was serialized in print and on film concurrently throughout most of 1914 (from March to December).
The co-serialization came about through a collaboration between newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst and motion picture company Pathé.
Hearst had commissioned Charles Goddard to write the story, in which the main character, a young heiress, set out to “have thrills, adventures, see people, [and] do daring things” before settling down with her sweetheart, Harry. Pauline’s escapades kept going awry, though, due to the scheming of a murderous man intent on stealing her fortune.
The serial’s twenty installments were released biweekly — every other Sunday in the newspapers, and every other Monday in the motion picture houses.
Notably, marketing for the serial included a weekly contest in which Hearst newspaper readers could win sizeable cash prizes for correctly guessing upcoming plot twists.
The motion picture version of The Perils of Pauline quickly became the most famous of all movie serials. It didn’t utilize cliffhangers to the degree that The Adventures of Kathlyn did, but each episode featured exciting footage such as “the wrecking of a real aeroplane” (in episode 2), a ride in a sabotaged hot air balloon (episode 6), a car crash during a cross-country automobile race (episode 15), and an escape from a sunken submarine (episode 18).
The star of the picture was Missouri-born actress Pearl White, who performed most of her own stunts. The worldwide success of The Perils of Pauline turned White into one of the first international movie stars.
What are your thoughts on the name Pauline? (Do you like it more or less than Pearl?)
P.S. The Perils of Pauline was published as a standalone book in early 1915.
Sources:
- The Perils of Pauline – Wikipedia
- Dahlquist, Marina (Ed.) Exporting Perilous Pauline: Pearl White and Serial Film Craze. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2013.
- Pizzitola, Louis. Hearst over Hollywood: Power, Passion, and Propaganda in the Movies. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002.
- Rainey, Buck. Serials and Series: A World Filmography, 1912-1956. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 1999.
- Michell, A. Danson. “Perils of Pauline” [Review]. Motion Picture News 18 Apr. 1914: 41.
- Andrews, William Ressman. “The Perils of Pauline” [Review]. Motion Picture News 27 Jun. 1914: 69.
- SSA
Images: Screenshot of The Perils of Pauline (1914), clipping from the New York Times (14 Mar. 1914)
