The rare name Dovima has never appeared in the U.S. baby name data. But it has popped up a few times in the birth records:
- Dovima R. Sanchez (born in 1956 in California)
- Dovima M. Tom (b. 1959, California)
- Dovima M. Ayers (b. 1959, Vermont)
I think their shared first name was inspired by one of the highest-paid fashion models of the 1950s — and the very first model to go by a single name — Dovima.
Dovima worked with photographers like Horst P. Horst, Irving Penn, and Richard Avedon (who called her “the last of the great elegant, aristocratic beauties”). Her photographs appeared in magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.
Notably, she also had a small role in the romantic comedy Funny Face (1957), which starred Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire.
How did she come to have her single name?
She was born Dorothy Virginia Margaret Juba in New York City in 1927. She spent several years of her childhood bedridden with rheumatic fever, and, during that time, invented the name “Dovima” (from the first letters of her three given names: Dorothy, Virginia, Margaret) for an imaginary friend.
What are your thoughts on the name Dovima?
P.S. Another three-in-one name I’ve blogged about is Louvima.
Sources:
- Morris, Bernadine. “Dovima, a Regal Model of the 50’s, Is Dead at 63.” New York Times 5 May 1990: 31.
- Dovima – Wikipedia
- FamilySearch.org
Image: Screenshot of Funny Face
[Latest update: Sept. 2024]