How popular is the baby name Zeppelina 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 Zeppelina.

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Popularity of the baby name Zeppelina


Posts that mention the name Zeppelina

Babies named for William Leefe Robinson

William Leefe Robinson, VC (1895-1918)
William Leefe Robinson

Six months after the outbreak of of WWI, Germany began sending bomb-laden Zeppelins — which were notoriously hard to shoot down — across the North Sea to terrorize Britain.

Dozens of middle-of-the-night Zeppelin raids killed hundreds of British citizens and injured hundreds more.

Finally, in the wee hours of September 3, 1916, William Leefe Robinson became the first British pilot to shoot down a German Zeppelin over the United Kingdom.

Accounts of Robinson’s achievement — attributable to bravery, skill, and newly developed incendiary bullets — ran in newspapers and magazines across the country, along with photographs of the heroic 21-year-old airman.

On September 9, King George V presented Robinson with the Victoria Cross, the British military’s most prestigious award.

On October 22, in a letter to his parents, Robinson wrote:

As I daresay you have seen in the papers — babies, flowers and hats have been named after me also poems and prose have been dedicated to me — oh, it’s too much!

I am recognised wherever I go about Town now, whether in uniform or mufti — the city police salute me, the waiters, hall porters and pages of hotels and restaurants bow and scrape — visitors turn around and stare — oh it’s too thick!

Due to the commonness of the names William and Robinson, we may never know how many babies were named with William Leefe Robinson in mind. But here are several likely namesakes (all born in England):

  • Samuel Leefe R. Batley (b. Sept. 3, 1916)
  • George Leefe R. Smith (b. Sept. 5 1916)
  • William Leefe R. Cox (b. Sept. 9, 1916)
  • William Leefe R. Telford (b. Sept. 14, 1916)
  • William Leefe Robinson (b. Sept. 15, 1916)
  • William Leefe Robinson (b. Sept. 23, 1916)
  • William Leefe Robinson Jarrett (b. in the third quarter of 1916)
  • Leonard Leefe Robinson Martin (b. in the fourth quarter of 1916)
  • Walter Leefe Robinson Welland (b. May 18, 1917)

Soon after the first airship was shot down, others followed. (One that landed in Wigborough inspired a local family to name their baby girl Zeppelina.)

The final Zeppelin raid took place in August of 1918 — several months before the Armistice was signed and Germany was defeated.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Leefe Robinson (public domain)

[Latest update: Sept. 2024]

Baby name story: Zeppelina

The wreck of Zeppelin L33
Wreck of Zeppelin L33

Germany sent Zeppelins to bomb Great Britain a total of 52 times during World War I.

One of these bombing raids occurred on the night of September 23, 1916. It involved 12 Zeppelins — eight aiming for the Midlands, four aiming specifically for London.

One of the London-bound Zeppelins, L33, was damaged by anti-aircraft fire while dropping bombs over the East End. It came down intact in Little Wigborough, about 60 miles east of London, in the wee hours of September 24.

The Germans on board were uninjured by the landing, so they set the airship on fire and tried to escape. (They were the only armed Germans to set foot in England during WWI, apparently.) They were soon caught and imprisoned.

News of the wreckage spread quickly. Right around the time the L33 was set alight, Mr. and Mrs. Clark of Great Wigborough (one village over from Little Wigborough) welcomed a baby girl. The doctor who delivered her suggested she be named Zeppelina to mark the occasion, and the Clarks agreed.

Zeppelina Clark went on to live a long life, marrying a man named Williams and passing away in the early 2000s. Today, in St. Nicholas’s Church in Little Wigborough, there’s a memorial plaque that reads:

In memory of
Zeppelina Williams
1916-2004
(L33 Little Wigborough 24 September 1916)

[Zeppelina isn’t the only Zeppelin-inspired baby name I’ve discovered. Check out Zeppelin Wong, born in 1929, or the dozens of U.S. babies named Zeppelin since the mid-1990s.]

Sources:

Image: Zeppelin brought down near a cottage – Nationaal Archief