How popular is the baby name Clayton in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Clayton.
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Leimomi, a Hawaiian name that means “pearl lei” or “pearl necklace,” debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1959 — the year that Hawaii became the 50th state.
1963: unlisted
1962: unlisted
1961: 6 baby girls named Leimomi
1960: unlisted
1959: 8 baby girls named Leimomi [debut]
5 born in Hawaii specifically
1958: unlisted
1957: unlisted
The debut was likely inspired by the song “Leimomi,” written by Alvin Kaleolani Isaacs and recorded by Hawaiian foursome The Surfers (Alan Naluai, Clayton Naluai, Patrick Kalani Sylva and Bernie Ching) for their debut album On the Rocks (1958).
The Surfers — like [Don] Ho, Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman — were in the first wave of musicians to bring the Islands’ music to the post-statehood Mainland audience.
Their debut album “was a whopping hit” successful enough to allow the boys to quit college and devote “all their time to making more records and appearing in clubs” and other places, including Disneyland and the Stardust in Las Vegas.
The name Leimomi has been in and out the SSA’s data since then, last appearing in 1990. What do you think of it?
So what’s the story behind this mysterious name? The state-by-state data offers a big clue:
1943: unlisted
1942: unlisted
1941: 11 baby boys named Saford
9 born in Virginia specifically
1940: unlisted
1939: unlisted
The name Saford was inspired by Virginia fiddler Saford Hall. Saford and his identical twin brother Clayton (who played the banjo) were born in rural Patrick County, Virginia, in 1919. They were the last of 10 children. (Their older siblings were named Lee, Roxie, Thamon, Mack, Romie, Samson, Simon and Asa.)
In the late ’30s, the boys formed their first band: the Hall Twins.
The Hall Twins
In 1939, the twins joined Roy Hall (no relation) and His Blue Ridge Entertainers. The band had a radio show that started out in Winston-Salem (WAIR), but saw much more success after moving to Roanoke (WDBJ) in April of 1940. The show consisted of musical numbers and comedy skits. In fact, Saford and Clayton had a comedy segment in which they played hillbilly characters named Monk and Gibb.
And while Saford and Clayton were radio stars in Roanoke, Saford’s name emerged in the U.S. baby name data — thanks to strong usage in Virginia. Clayton‘s name was already being given to hundreds of U.S. babies per year by the early ’40s, but usage in both Virginia and North Carolina was higher than expected in 1942. I even found a Virginia baby named Saford Clayton! (He wasn’t born until 1944, though.)
Ralph Berrier, Jr. — a journalist who happens to be Clayton’s grandson — wrote about the twins in his book If Trouble Don’t Kill Me. Here’s how he describes them on his website (which also includes recordings of several performances from the early ’40s):
The Hall twins rose from mountain-bred poverty to pickin’ and yodelin’ all over the airwaves of the South in the 1930s and 1940s, opening shows for the Carter Family, Roy Rogers, the Sons of the Pioneers, and even playing the most coveted stage of all: the Grand Ole Opry.
(They played the Grand Ole Opry twice, in 1941 and in 1942, as part of the Blue Ridge Entertainers.)
But just as their musical careers were beginning to take off, the brothers were drafted. Saford was sent to North Africa and Europe, and Clayton was sent to the South Pacific.
The Hall twins survived WWII, and they continued playing music after returning to the States, but they were never able to achieve the same level of musical success. Saford passed away in 1999, Clayton in 2003.
Sources:
Berrier, Ralph, Jr. If Trouble Don’t Kill Me: A Family’s Story of Brotherhood, War, and Bluegrass. New York: Crown Publishing, 2010.
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