The Spanish-American War was a brief war fought between the United States and Spain during 1898.
It began in April, two months after the sinking of the USS Maine.
By the time it ended, in December, Spain had lost “most of its overseas empire” — including Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines — and the U.S. had emerged as a world power.
The war inspired hundreds of patriotic parents in the U.S. to choose war-inspired baby names.
Maine, Havana & Cuba
One of the events that led to war was the explosion of the USS Maine in Cuba’s Havana Harbor on February 15. The explosion killed more than 260 men. Many people in the U.S. blamed the explosion on Spain.
The names Maine and Havana both debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1898, and the name Cuba saw a spike in usage:
| Girls named Maine | Girls named Havana | Girls named Cuba | |
| 1900 | . | . | 8 |
| 1899 | . | . | 14 (rank: 884th) |
| 1898 | 9* | 8* | 29 (rank: 597th) |
| 1897 | . | . | 9 |
| 1896 | . | . | . |
(The girl names Maine and Mayne were both one-hit wonders in the data that year.)
According to U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI) data — which is more comprehensive than the SSA data for this time period — 25 people named Maine, 12 named Havana, and 79 named Cuba were born in 1898.
George, Dewey, Manila & Olympia
On April 25, the U.S. declared war on Spain.
On May 1, the Battle of Manila Bay took place in the Philippines.
The U.S. fleet, under the command of Commodore George Dewey, defeated Spain. This victory turned Dewey into a national hero.
According to the U.S. baby name data, the number of boys named George, and the number of babies of both genders named Dewey, increased significantly in 1898. (Dewey became a top-20 boy name that year, impressively.) The spelling variants Dewie and Dewy also debuted that year.
| Boys named George | Boys named Dewey | Girls named Dewey | |
| 1900 | 5,403 (rank: 4th) | 345 (rank: 75th) | 9 |
| 1899 | 4,018 (rank: 4th) | 499 (rank: 39th) | 24 (rank: 632nd) |
| 1898 | 4,853 (rank: 4th) | 1,115 (rank: 19th) | 104 (rank: 305th) |
| 1897 | 4,078 (rank: 4th) | 158 (rank: 111th) | 13* (rank: 904th) |
| 1896 | 4,286 (rank: 4th) | 63 (rank: 224th) | . |
Note that, during this time period, many children were not given names right away. That’s why it seems as though the name Dewey began rising in usage ahead of schedule — because dozens of children born in 1897 and 1896 weren’t named until 1898.
This likewise explains the 1897 debut of the baby name Olympia, which corresponds to the name of Dewey’s flagship, the USS Olympia.
Getting back to Dewey…we see even higher numbers in the SSDI data: 6,708 people named Dewey, 36 named Dewie, and 1 named Dewy born in 1898.
An article in the Reading Eagle in 1899 listed ten local babies named for George Dewey, and another article I spotted from decades later joked about starting a George Dewey namesake club.
We see a similar (though less pronounced) spike of in the usage of Manila for baby girls:
- 1900: 10 baby girls named Manila
- 1899: 34 baby girls named Manila (rank: 512th)
- 1898: 104 baby girls named Manila (rank: 306th) [peak usage]
- 1897: 7 baby girls named Manila [debut]
- 1896: unlisted
The spelling variant Manilla was the top girl-name debut of 1898, with 35 baby girls (rank: 536th).
Again, the SSDI’s numbers are even higher — 195 people named Manila and 118 named Manilla were born in 1898.
One writer recounted (in the early 2000s) the story of how his great aunt came to be named both Dewey and Manila:
Four months after [Dewey’s] triumph, a baby was born in Kingsport, Tennessee. The father had his heart set on a boy, and planned to name him Dewey Manila in honor of the admiral and his victory. The child turned out to be a little girl, but the parents named her Dewey Manila anyway.
Hobson, Admiral, Shafter, Maceo, Schley & Philippina
Here are seven more war-related names that saw higher usage among U.S. babies in 1898, thanks to the events of the Spanish-American War.
The baby name Hobson was influenced by Richmond Pearson Hobson, prisoner of war in Cuba
Hobson was a handsome Southerner who became a national celebrity following his month-long imprisonment. He became well known for kissing pretty young women as he toured the country. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch jokingly called him “the champion kisser of the universe.”
Hobson was the top boy-name debut of 1898:
- 1900: 13 baby boys named Hobson (rank: 713th)
- 1899: 15 baby boys named Hobson (rank: 511th)
- 1898: 38 baby boys named Hobson (rank: 311th) [debut]
- 1897: unlisted
- 1896: unlisted
According to the SSDI, at least 161 babies were named Hobson that year.
The baby name Admiral was the rank of many of the men (e.g. Admiral Dewey, Admiral Sampson, Admiral Schley) who played a part in the war — Dewey especially.
- 1900: 18 baby boys named Admiral (rank: 579th)
- 1899: 13 baby boys named Admiral (rank: 549th)
- 1898: 25 baby boys named Admiral (rank: 394th) [debut]
- 1897: unlisted
- 1896: unlisted
According to the SSDI, at least 154 babies were named Admiral that year.
The baby name Sampson was influenced by William Thomas Sampson, hero of the Battle of Santiago de Cuba.
- 1900: 20 baby boys named Sampson
- 1899: 18 baby boys named Sampson
- 1898: 23 baby boys named Sampson
- 1897: 11 baby boys named Sampson
- 1896: 7 baby boys named Sampson
According to the SSDI, at least 94 babies were named Sampson that year.
The baby name Shafter was influenced by army general William Rufus Shafter, who had command of the U.S. forces in Cuba during the war.
- 1900: 8 baby boys named Shafter
- 1899: unlisted
- 1898: 14 baby boys named Shafter (rank: 604th) [debut]
- 1897: unlisted
- 1896: unlisted
This was the first and only time the name Shafter landed in the U.S. top 1,000.
According to the SSDI, at least 58 babies were named Shafter that year.
The baby name Maceo was influenced by Cuban revolutionary Antonio Maceo, “one of the outstanding guerrilla leaders in nineteenth century Latin America.” (He had died in late 1896, actually.)
- 1900: 8 baby boys named Maceo
- 1899: 9 baby boys named Maceo (rank: 760th)
- 1898: 13 baby boys named Maceo (rank: 621st) [debut]
- 1897: unlisted
- 1896: unlisted
According to the SSDI, at least 34 babies were named Maceo that year.
The baby name Schley was influenced by Winfield Scott Schley, hero of the Battle of Santiago Bay.
- 1900: unlisted
- 1899: unlisted
- 1898: 10 baby boys named Schley (rank: 737th) [debut]
- 1897: unlisted
- 1896: unlisted
Like Maine, it was a one-hit wonder in the SSA data, and, like Shafter, it was in the top 1,000 just once.
According to the SSDI, at least 39 babies were named Schley that year.
(Winfield Scott Schley — just like Winfield Scott Hancock — had been named in honor of General Winfield Scott (1786-1866), who was a family friend. Scott became Commanding General of the U.S. Army two years after Schley was born.)
Finally, the baby name Philippina, likely inspired by the Philippines, was another one-hit wonder the year of the war:
- 1900: unlisted
- 1899: unlisted
- 1898: 5 baby girls named Philippina [debut]
- 1897: unlisted
- 1896: unlisted
Interestingly, only a single Philippina is accounted for in the SSDI data that year.
Sources:
- Spanish-American War: A Resource Guide – Library of Congress
- “Berks Babies Named in Honor of Dewey.” Reading Eagle 30 Apr. 1899: 4.
- “Commodore Schley and His Deeds.” Milwaukee Journal 25 Feb. 1898: 3.
- Hispanic Division, Library of Congress. “Antonio Maceo – The World of 1898: The Spanish-American War.”
- History, Art & Archives, U.S. House of Representatives. “The Most Kissed Man in America.”
- Bradley, Jeff. Hello, My Name Is…: A Guide to Naming Your Baby. Boston: Harvard Common Press, 2005.
- Wikipedia
- SSA
Images:
- Adapted from The Battle of Manila (LOC), Wreck of the Maine, Havana (LOC), George Dewey, Richmond Pearson Hobson, William Thomas Sampson, William Rufus Shafter, Schley, Admiral W.S. (LOC)
- Clippings from the San Francisco Call (8 May 1898) and the Weekly Corinthian (12 May 1898)
[Latest update: Dec. 2024]
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