How popular is the baby name Nira 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 Nira.

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Popularity of the baby name Nira


Posts that mention the name Nira

Baby born in Alberta town of Wainwright, named Wainwright

Welcome sign in Wainwright, Alberta

The town of Wainwright in Alberta, Canada, was established in 1908 and named in honor of William Wainwright, a vice-president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. (The town was on the Grand Trunk line.)

The first baby born in the small community was the daughter of Martin L. Forster, proprietor of the Wainwright Hotel. She was named Wainwright Marguerite Forster, after the town.

(Wainwright was the fourth of eight children. Her siblings were named Russell, Claudine, Carl, Jessie, Doris, Eileen, and Jeanette.)

While being interviewed in 1958 — just before the town’s 50th anniversary celebration — Wainwright admitted: “It’s a strange first name for a woman and one that has caused quite a bit of confusion, believe me.”

(Other babies named after towns include Salida, Kelowna, and Nira.)

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Wainwright sign by Awmcphee under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Another New Deal-inspired baby name?

Ben Whitehurst’s 1937 book Dear Mr. President is made up of funny letters “salvaged from the White House mail.” Here’s one of those letters:

Dear President Roosevelt:

Next month wife is getting a baby. The relief office says it is alright and is going to pay for it. Wife and I think it would be nice if we called the baby FERA, the name of your relief outfit. If Congress has no protest and its name is alright with you please let me know by letter.

How interesting that at least one couple found a New Deal acronym other than NIRA tempting to use as a baby name. (Not sure why they felt the need to ask the government’s permission to use it, though.)

Roosevelt’s Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), established in 1933, was created out of Hoover’s Emergency Relief Administration (ERA), established in 1932. But it didn’t last long — FERA was replaced by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in late 1935.

Were any babies named Fera after the FERA? I don’t know for sure. The name has never appeared in the SSA’s baby name data, but the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) does include a couple of Feras born within that 1933-1935 window, so it’s a possibility.

Sources:

  • Van Gelder, Robert. “Books of the Times; The President’s Mail.” New York Times 5 Aug. 1937: 21.
  • Whitehurst, Ben. Dear Mr. President. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1937.

Baby born in Iowa town of Nira, named Nira

While doing research for the post about NIRA, I discovered that there used to be a town in Washington County, Iowa, called Nira.

The town wasn’t named after the legislation, though. It had been named decades earlier by Col. William B. Bell, an early Washington County postmaster. He named the town after his wife, Nira.

And here’s an interesting fact: the town of Nira — just like the town of Salida, Colorado — held a baby name contest in its early days:

Col. Bell watched the growth of the village named for his wife, Nira, and offered a gold dollar to the first baby girl born in the town who was named Nira.

The gold dollar eventually was awarded Nira Moffitt, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Moffitt. Her present location is unknown.

(According to the U.S. Census of 1900, Nira Moffitt was born in June of 1880.)

There was a surge of interest in the town in August of 1933, when Nira became one of the first places in the nation to sell NIRA-emblem postage stamps. By that point, though, the town had dwindled to just 20 residents.

After those last residents left, the down of Nira became (and remains) a ghost town.

Sources:

  • “Nira Enjoys New Boom.” Telegraph-Herald 17 Aug. 1933: 1+.
  • “Nira, Iowa, Enjoys Boom Because of New Stamp.” Reading Eagle 17 Aug. 1933: 11.

How were the Philadelphia Eagles named?

When I wrote about the name Nira yesterday, I was sure to include an NRA poster featuring the Blue Eagle emblem.

Why?

So I could post this follow-up, of course. :)

I’ve discovered two names that were inspired by that Blue Eagle, if you can believe it.

The first is a personal name. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Knapinski of Milwaukee had a baby boy on September 20, 1933. They named him Franklin Delano Blue Eagle Knapinski after both the president and the Blue Eagle.

The second is a (very familiar!) sports name. A National Football League team was formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1933 out of the ashes of the Frankford Yellow Jackets (1899-1931). The new team was named the Eagles after the NRA emblem.

Sources:

  • Bowen, Les. Philadelphia Eagles: The Complete Illustrated History. Minneapolis: MVP Books, 2011.
  • “Franklin Blue Eagle, Proud Infant’s Name.” Milwaukee Journal 21 Sep. 1933: 11.