In December of 1945, the Miss Australia beauty pageant was held in Sydney.
The winner was 19-year-old university student Rhondda Kelly, the representative from Queensland (fittingly).
At least one Australian baby girl — born in March to Mr. and Mrs. Mark Fellows at the Lady Musgrave Maternity Hospital in Maryborough, Queensland — was named Rhondda in her honor.
But I don’t think this baby was her only namesake.
Why? Because, in mid-1946, Rhondda Kelly embarked upon a six-month round-the-world trip that included an east-to-west crossing of the U.S. and Canada during October. Photographs of Miss Australia 1946 were published in various U.S. papers (including the New York Times) that month.
Right on cue, the name Rhondda surfaced in the U.S. baby name data:
- 1948: unlisted
- 1947: 6 baby girls named Rhondda
- 1946: 5 baby girls named Rhondda [debut]
- 1945: unlisted
- 1944: unlisted
It remained there for just one more year before falling back below the five-baby threshold.
(Actress Rhonda Fleming — who kicked off the mid-century rise of Rhonda in the late ’40s — wasn’t given a leading role in a movie until 1947.)
So, where does the rare name Rhondda come from?
A Welsh place name (of unknown etymology) that refers to both a river, Afon Rhondda, and a valley, Cwm Rhondda, in South Wales.
What are your thoughts on the name Rhondda? Do you like this spelling, or do you prefer Rhonda?
Sources:
- “Miss Kelly named as Miss Australia.” Daily Mirror 18 Dec. 1945: 3.
- “Maryborough baby named Rhondda.” Maryborough Chronicle 27 Mar. 1946: 4.
- “‘Miss Australia of 1946’ here on week’s visit.” New York Times 7 Oct. 1946: 2.
Image: Adapted from Rhondda Kelly (1945)
