The curious name Condoleezza was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data in 2005:
- 2007: unlisted
- 2006: unlisted
- 2005: 5 baby girls named Condoleezza [debut]
- 2004: unlisted
- 2003: unlisted
Where did it come from?
Condoleezza (pronounced kon-dah-LEE-zah) Rice, who, in January of 2005, was sworn in as U.S. Secretary of State under George W. Bush. She was the first African-American woman to hold the position.
(The two previous office-holders, Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell, were the first woman and the first African-American secretaries of state, respectively.)
Condoleezza “Condi” Rice was born in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, in 1954. How did she come to have her unusual first name? Here’s how she told the story in her 2012 memoir:
[Mother] wanted a name that would be unique and musical. Looking to Italian musical terms for inspiration, she at first settled on Andantino. But realizing that it translated as “moving slowly,” she decided that she didn’t like the implications for that name. Allegro was worse because it translated as “fast,” and no mother in 1954 wanted her daughter to be thought of as “fast.” Finally she found the musical terms con dolce and con dolcezza, meaning “with sweetness.” Deciding that an English speaker would never recognize the hard c, saying “dolci” instead of “dolche,” my mother doctored the term. She settled on Condoleezza.
Just last month, Condoleezza Rice mentioned in a tweet that she’d met one of her namesakes, Duke University student Condoleezza Dorvil:
What are your thoughts on the name Condoleezza?
P.S. When Condoleezza Rice was a student at the University of Denver during the 1970s, her mentor was professor Josef Korbel — a Czech-American political scientist who just so happened to be the father of Madeleine Albright (who was born in Prague in 1937).
Sources:
- Condoleezza Rice – Ralph J. Bunche Library, U.S. Department of State [PDF]
- Condoleezza Rice – Wikipedia
- Rice, Condoleezza. Condoleezza Rice: A Memoir of My Extraordinary, Ordinary Family and Me. New York, NY: Random House Children’s Books, 2010.
- List of secretaries of state of the United States – Wikipedia
- SSA
Image: Adapted from Condoleezza Rice (public domain)
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