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Baby name story: Daehlie

Bjørn Dæhlie greeting Philip Boit at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Bjørn Dæhlie greeting Philip Boit

Norwegian cross-country skier Bjørn Dæhlie (pronounced DAHL-ee) placed first in the men’s 10km classic at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

He held off going to the medal ceremony, though, until Kenyan skier Philip Boit — a former middle-distance runner who, after switching sports, became the very first Kenyan to compete at the Winter Games — crossed the finish line in last place, twenty minutes later.

Philip Boit welcomed his first child, a baby boy, just weeks after the Olympics. The baby’s name? Daehlie, after Bjørn Dæhlie. As Boit explained,

All my friends and family said he had to be a very good-hearted man because he waited for me in Nagano, and that I should keep his name in my family.

Philip Boit went on to have three more children: Olympia, Faith, and Alex.

P.S. Philip Boit’s uncle, middle-distance runner Mike Boit, competed alongside Kipchoge Keino at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of the 1998 Winter Olympics

Where did the baby name Shireen come from in 1923?

The characters Omar and Shireen from the movie "Omar the Tentmaker" (1922)
Omar and Shireen from “Omar the Tentmaker“

The baby name Shireen first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1923:

  • 1925: unlisted
  • 1924: unlisted
  • 1923: 5 baby girls named Shireen [debut]
  • 1922: unlisted
  • 1921: unlisted

A similar uptick can be seen in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) data the same year:

  • 1925: 3 people named Shireen
  • 1924: 2 people named Shireen
  • 1923: 4 people named Shireen
  • 1922: no one named Shireen
  • 1921: 1 person named Shireen

What was drawing attention to the name Shireen around that time?

Two different characters in the silent film Omar the Tentmaker, which was released in December of 1922.

The movie was loosely based on the life of medieval Iranian polymath Omar Khayyam. Here’s how it was described in an advertisement:

Omar, most daring poet of ancient Persia, secretly wooed the beautiful, the forbidden Shireen, destined to be the bride of the Shah. Fleeing in the night, the Shah’s slaves tear them apart. Follows thrill, romance and conflict before the lovers are reunited in a most spectacular and smashing climax.

The plot, which spans a number of years, actually features two romances: the primary one between Omar (played by Guy Bates Post) and Shireen (Virginia Brown Faire), and a secondary one between the couple’s grown daughter “little Shireen” (Patsy Ruth Miller) and a Christian crusader.

The film was adapted from the 1914 play of the same name by playwright Richard Walton Tully.

The Persian name Shireen (also spelled Shirin) is transliteration of a Persian word meaning “sweet.” What are your thoughts on the name?

Sources:

Image: Clipping from Shadowland magazine (Oct. 1922)

Popular baby names in Buenos Aires, 2024

Flag of Argentina
Flag of Argentina

Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, is home to over 3.1 million people.

Last year, the most popular baby names in the city were Olivia and Mateo, according to data from the Buenos Aires Civil Registry.

Here are the city’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 544 baby girls
  2. Sofía, 420
  3. Emma, 400
  4. Emilia, 382
  5. Isabella, 322
  6. Catalina, 321
  7. Martina, 295
  8. Delfina, 281
  9. Mía, 262
  10. Valentina, 258

Boy names

  1. Mateo, 524 baby boys
  2. Felipe, 445
  3. Enzo, 426
  4. Bautista, 383
  5. Benjamín, 374
  6. Valentino, 307
  7. Bruno, 306
  8. Liam, 299
  9. Noah, 291
  10. Joaquín, 275

The city’s news release also mentioned several of the baby names that were bestowed fewer than 100 times each last year…

  • Girl names: Antonia, Cielo, Elena, Eva, Luz
  • Boy names: Amadeo, Beltrán, Franco, Nicolás

I’ve never posted rankings for Buenos Aires before, but here are the most recent rankings for Argentina (2023), if you’d like to compare this list to that one.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Argentina (public domain)

What gave Corliss a boost as a boy name in 1994?

College basketball player Corliss Williamson
Corliss Williamson

The name Corliss, which was primarily given to baby girls during the 20th century, re-emerged in the U.S. baby name data as a boy name in 1994:

  • 1996: 5 baby boys named Corliss
  • 1995: 17 baby boys named Corliss
  • 1994: 22 baby boys named Corliss [peak usage]
  • 1993: unlisted
  • 1992: unlisted

Why?

Because of college basketball player Corliss Williamson, who attended the University of Arkansas from 1992 to 1995.

Corliss, a 6-foot-7 power forward, helped the Arkansas Razorbacks win their very first NCAA championship (against the Duke Blue Devils) in April of 1994. In fact, Corliss was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

A week later, he was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

He led the Razorbacks to a second championship game the following season, but the team ultimately lost (to the UCLA Bruins).

Corliss forwent his senior year in order to enter the 1995 NBA draft. He was selected in the first round by the Sacramento Kings, and ended up playing for four different teams over the course of his 14-season professional career.

What are your thoughts on Corliss as a boy name?

P.S. Of the five names listed twice in the top returns post, Corliss is the only one that appeared both as a girl name (in 1943) and as a boy name (in 1994). The other four double-entry names are Ammie, Eulalia, Gale, and Victory.

Sources: Corliss Williamson – Wikipedia, SSA

Image: Clipping from the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine (11 Apr. 1994)