The dainty-sounding name Daintry only appeared in the U.S. baby name data a single time, in 1958:
- 1960: unlisted
- 1959: unlisted
- 1958: 6 baby girls named Daintry [debut]
- 1957: unlisted
- 1956: unlisted
Why?
Like Irmalee, this one popped up thanks to a fictional woman in a magazine.
The May, 1958, issue of Glamour included a set of stories about four women — Sue, Daintry, Jane, and Maria — each of whom learn a lesson about summertime clothing. (Sounds riveting, doesn’t it?)
Here’s what one contemporary (college-aged) writer had to say about Daintry:
Daintry scored in a pair of “smashing slacks” with Gerrald at a summer stock rehearsal. Out of doorsy, she wears blue eye shadow. She spends most of her time in Bermuda shorts and slacks (presumably all equally smashing), but it took her “new blue/orchid/green print” with “billowy skirt and a green bow-belt, big cluster-bead earrings, and bright green sandals” to snap the trap on Gerrald.
Summing up Daintry’s story, the writer said: “Change your name to Daintry and stick to billowy skirts to nail down your equivalent to Gerrald.”
If you do decide to change your name to Daintry, here’s some background. It comes from an English surname that, in turn, reflects the original pronunciation of an English place-name: Daventry, in Northamptonshire. Local tradition has it that the place-name refers to the Danes. (In line with this, a 16th-century town seal portrays a Dane with an axe standing next to a tree.) But the ultimate source is actually the British phrase Dwy Avon Tre, meaning “settlement of two Avons [rivers].”
P.S. Did you know that the name Dainty has appeared in the data before as well?
Sources:
- Datchworth – Dean, West | Topographical Dictionary of England | British History Online
- “The Lighter Side.” Eight Eighty-Five 1 Jun. 1958: 2.
- SSA
Image: Clipping from the cover of Glamour magazine (May 1958)
[Latest update: Jan. 2022]
