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D.C. sextuplets: Emily, Richard, Octavia, Stella, Ann-Marie, Alison

Thompson sextuplets
The five surviving Thompson sextuplets

In May of 1997, Washington, D.C., couple Linden and Jacqueline “Jackie” Thompson welcomed sextuplets.

What were the names of all six babies? Here are their firsts and middles:

  • Emily Elizabeth
  • Richard Linden
  • Octavia Daniella
  • Stella Kimberly
  • Ann-Marie Amanda
  • Alison Nicole (stillborn)

Richard was named after Linden’s late brother, Octavia after Jackie’s mother, Stella after Jackie’s grandmother, and Ann-Marie after Jackie’s sister. The name of the fifth surviving sextuplet, Emily, was one that Jackie simply liked. (Emily was the #1 girl name in the nation from 1996 to 2007.)

Despite being the first black family in the U.S. to have sextuplets, the Thompsons didn’t receive much in the way of publicity or material assistance.

Six months later, the white McCaughey family of Iowa welcomed septuplets. The McCaugheys received not just media attention but “a 12-seat Chevrolet van, baby food, Pampers, clothes, car seats, strollers, milk, groceries and even funding for the children’s college education.”

Eventually — thanks to “the rage of the black community, echoing through black radio talk shows” — the mainstream media covered the Thompson family, and this “exposure forced the corporate community and others to intervene and assist the Thompsons.”

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the cover of Jet magazine (29 Dec. 1997)

How did Daryle Lamonica influence baby names?

Football player Daryle Lamonica (1941-2022)
Daryle Lamonica

California-born quarterback Daryle Lamonica played professional football for twelve seasons (1963-1975).

He spent seven of those seasons with the Oakland Raiders, leading the team to four consecutive division titles (from 1967 to 1970) and its first Super Bowl appearance (in January of 1968). He was also named the AFL’s Most Valuable Player twice, in 1967 and 1969. (The winner in 1968 was Joe Namath, incidentally.)

Lamonica ended up influencing both boy names and girl names during the late ’60s and early ’70s.

Usage of boy name Daryle (one of the various spellings of the top-100 name Darrell) increased in both 1968 and 1970, while usage of the girl name Lamonica more than tripled in 1968 and nearly doubled in 1971 (the year that Monica reached the girls’ top 50 for the first time).

Boys named DaryleGirls named Lamonica
197271 [rank: 960th]78
1971119 [rank: 749th]103†
1970142† [rank: 697th]56
196988 [rank: 824th]55
196895 [rank: 762nd]40
196762 [rank: 919th]12
196672 [rank: 854th]16
†Peak usage

The Italian surname Lamonica may have sounded particularly appealing to African-American parents, as adding prefixes like “La-” to traditional names was becoming fashionable among African-Americans during the latter years of the civil rights movement. (Perhaps L’Tanya Griffin helped kick off the trend in the late 1940s…?)

Speaking of Lamonica, one of the few baby boys to get the name was actor LaMonica Garrett, who was born in San Francisco in 1975. (He went on to name his own son Montana after San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana.)

What are your thoughts on the names Daryle and Lamonica? Which one would you be more likely to use?

Sources:

Image: Daryle Lamonica trading card

Popular baby names in Mexico, 2022

Flag of Mexico
Flag of Mexico

Back in 2022, the North American country of Mexico welcomed 1,891,388 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sofia and Santiago.

Here are Mexico’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2022:

Girl names

  1. Sofia
  2. Regina
  3. Maria Jose
  4. Valentina
  5. Camila
  6. Maria Fernanda
  7. Isabella
  8. Ximena
  9. Victoria
  10. Romina

Boy names

  1. Santiago
  2. Mateo
  3. Sebastian
  4. Leonardo
  5. Matias
  6. Daniel
  7. Emiliano
  8. Miguel Angel
  9. Diego
  10. Alejandro

In the girls’ top 10, Isabella and Romina replaced Valeria and Renata.

In the boys’ top 10, Alejandro replaced Gael.

A year earlier, in 2021, Mexico’s top names were also Sofia and Santiago.

P.S. As of mid-2025, these top-ten lists for 2022 are Mexico’s most up-to-date baby name rankings. (If I come across a longer set of ’22 rankings in the future, I’ll come back and update this post.)

Sources: Natalidad – INEGI, Estadística De Nacimientos Registrados (Enr) 2022 – INEGI (PDF)

Image: Adapted from Flag of Mexico (public domain)

What gave the baby name Kathlyn a boost in 1914?

The character Kathlyn from the film serial "The Adventures of Kathlyn" (1913)
Kathlyn from “The Adventures of Kathlyn“

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Kathlyn saw a steep rise in usage in the mid-1910s:

  • 1916: 86 baby girls named Kathlyn [rank: 731st]
  • 1915: 108 baby girls named Kathlyn [rank: 633rd]
  • 1914: 101 baby girls named Kathlyn [rank: 559th]
  • 1913: 28 baby girls named Kathlyn
  • 1912: 12 baby girls named Kathlyn

Why?

Because of fictional character Kathlyn Hare, protagonist of the story The Adventures of Kathlyn. She was a young American woman who traveled to India to rescue her father, a wild animal collector.

William N. Selig, founder of the Chicago-based motion picture company Selig Polyscope, had commissioned novelist Harold MacGrath to write the tale.

It was serialized in print and on the big screen concurrently, from the very end of 1913 until June of 1914, thanks to an innovative collaboration between Selig Polyscope and the Chicago Tribune newspaper.

"The Adventures of Kathlyn" by Harold MacGrath
“The Adventures of Kathlyn“

In the newspapers — the Tribune as well as dozens of affiliated papers across the country — a new chapter of The Adventures of Kathlyn was released every week, on Sunday, for 26 weeks.* The chapters were illustrated with films stills and sketches.

In the movie theaters, 13 installments of The Adventures of Kathlyn were released in two-week increments. Notably, at the end of each installment, Kathlyn was left “in some dangerous predicament designed to lure the audience back to see how she would extricate herself.” Cliffhangers — utilized for the very first time (by American filmmakers) in The Adventures of Kathlyn — went on to become a defining feature of motion picture serials.

The film’s heroine was portrayed by, and named after, Selig player Kathlyn Williams (born Kathleen Mabel Williams in Montana in 1879). Its exotic animals (leopards, lions, and elephants, and more) came from William Selig’s extensive animal collection.

Kathlyn Williams Perfume advertisement
Kathlyn Williams Perfume advertisement

The partnership between the newspaper and the motion picture company proved very successful. “Chicago Tribune Sunday circulation jumped almost 80,000, while the motion picture theaters showing Kathlyn were packed.”

As a result, Kathlyn Williams’ name and likeness were used to promote a variety of products (including a perfume, a face powder, a shirtwaist, a waltz, a cocktail, a cigar, and a “watch charm for single men”) throughout 1914, continuing to draw attention to the name Kathlyn even after the synchronized serializations had ended.

What are your thoughts on the name Kathlyn?

*The 26 chapters of The Adventures of Kathlyn were finally published as a standalone book in June of 1914.

Sources:

Images Clippings from Photoplay Magazine (Apr. 1914), Chicago Sunday Tribune (31 May 1914), and Photoplay Magazine (Sept. 1914)