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Unusual real name: Leicester Railway

train engine

Sometime during the summer of 1863, Ann and Joseph Cope of Derbyshire, England, welcomed their second child, a baby boy.

He was born in the adjacent county of Leicestershire, and when he was baptized in late August, he was given the name Leicester Railway.

Now, Ann and Joseph weren’t partial to inventive names. Their eldest child was named Ann Lucy, and their later children were named Eliza, John William, and Lucy. So they must have had a good reason to choose something as unusual as Leicester Railway.

I wasn’t able to find Leicester Railway’s birth record, or any mention of him in contemporary newspapers, but I do think it’s safe to assume that he was born at the Leicester railway station while his family (or perhaps just his mother) was traveling.

About a decade ago, an article about odd 19th-century baby names that ran in various British newspapers (e.g., Metro, Mirror, Daily Mail) claimed Leicester Railway Cope was born inside a train car specifically. While this could be the case, we have no way of knowing for certain.

P.S. Leicester is pronounced just like the name Lester.

Sources: FamilySearch.org, Family of Joseph Cope and Ann Wain – Glynn Roe’s Ancestors and Family

Image: Adapted from O&W Engine #143 (public domain)

What popularized Marlo as a girl name in the 1960s?

The character Ann Marie (played by Marlo Thomas) from the TV series "That Girl" (1966-1971)
Marlo Thomas in “That Girl“

In the mid-1960s, the unisex name Marlo saw a sudden surge in usage as a girl name:

Girls named MarloBoys named Marlo
1968545 [rank: 396th]28
1967353 [rank: 505th]28
196610127
19651625
19642220

The name went on to feature in the girls’ top 1,000 for more than a decade, from 1967 to 1977. (It also popped into the boys’ top 1,000 a few times during the ’70s, interestingly.)

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

Actress Marlo Thomas, star of the sitcom That Girl, which began airing on television in September of 1966.

Marlo played Ann Marie, an aspiring actress living in New York City. (“Marie” was her surname.) Ann was a young unmarried woman living on her own terms — something rarely seen on TV in those days. As Marlo recently said,

All the girls and moms at home wanted to be That Girl: [to] have her own apartment, have fabulous clothes, be getting a job, have a boyfriend, [be] living away from her parents. It was like every girl’s dream.

The compound name Annmarie also saw its highest-ever usage during the five seasons That Girl was on the air.

Marlo Thomas was born Margaret Julia Jacobs in 1937. Her father was entertainer (and St. Jude founder) Danny Thomas, whose legal name was Amos Jacobs — an anglicized form of his Lebanese birth name, Muzyad Yakhoob. She was named after Danny’s mother (Margaret) and aunt (Julia).

How did she come to be called “Marlo”? Here’s how Danny explained it:

So we began to call the infant Margaret, then “Margo,” which we thought would be easier for her to say as she began to speak. It wasn’t easier. The closest she could come to Margo was “Marlo,” as in “Me Marlo.” And that’s how another soon-to-be-well-known stage name was created.

(His own stage name had been created from the names of his youngest brother Daniel and his eldest brother Thomas.)

What are your thoughts on the name Marlo?

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of That Girl

Popular baby names in Belgium, 2024

Flag of Belgium
Flag of Belgium

Last year, the European country of Belgium welcomed 108,150 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Noah, yet again.

Here are Belgium’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 531 baby girls
  2. Emma, 455
  3. Louise, 432
  4. Lina, 354
  5. Sofia, 345
  6. Eva, 335
  7. Mila, 327
  8. Alice, 323
  9. Juliette, 305
  10. Mia, 298
  11. Anna, 289
  12. Nora, 284
  13. Inaya, 266
  14. Lucie, 258
  15. Elena, 257
  16. Jade, 251
  17. Julia, 243
  18. Alba, 242
  19. Ella, 239
  20. Nina, 228
  21. Luna, 225
  22. Noor, 221
  23. Victoria, 220
  24. Ellie, 219 (tie)
  25. Marie, 219 (tie)
  26. Giulia, 218
  27. Mona, 198
  28. Léa, 195
  29. Renée, 183
  30. Liv, 182
  31. Lou, 181
  32. Chloé, 179
  33. Billie, 174
  34. Livia, 173
  35. Nour, 172
  36. Jeanne, 170
  37. Amélie, 163
  38. Lily, 162
  39. Amira, 161
  40. Lena, 158
  41. Emilia, 157
  42. Rose, 156 (tie)
  43. Zoé, 156 (tie)
  44. Camille, 153
  45. Maryam, 149 (tie)
  46. Romy, 149 (tie)
  47. Alix, 148
  48. Aya, 145
  49. Ambre, 142 (tie)
  50. Lara, 142 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Noah, 582 baby boys
  2. Arthur, 559
  3. Jules, 478
  4. Louis, 476
  5. Liam, 461
  6. Adam, 439
  7. Gabriel, 413
  8. Victor, 340
  9. Lucas, 322
  10. Leon, 295
  11. Oscar, 287
  12. Mohamed, 263
  13. Matteo, 259
  14. Luca, 253
  15. Léon, 248
  16. Lewis, 244
  17. Finn, 227
  18. Rayan, 210
  19. Théo, 209
  20. Mathis, 207
  21. Raphaël, 203
  22. Elias, 201
  23. Hugo, 200
  24. Amir, 199 (tie)
  25. Otis, 199 (tie)
  26. Achille, 197
  27. Léo, 192
  28. Sacha, 187
  29. Marcel, 185
  30. Felix, 174 (tie)
  31. Theo, 174 (tie)
  32. Leo, 168
  33. Emile, 166
  34. Henri, 160 (3-way tie)
  35. Ibrahim, 160 (3-way tie)
  36. Lou, 160 (3-way tie)
  37. Eden, 159
  38. Emiel, 158
  39. Naël, 155
  40. Basile, 152
  41. Maël, 151
  42. César, 150 (3-way tie)
  43. Lio, 150 (3-way tie)
  44. Oliver, 150 (3-way tie)
  45. Charles, 149 (tie)
  46. Isaac, 149 (tie)
  47. David, 148 (4-way tie)
  48. Milo, 148 (4-way tie)
  49. Mohammed, 148 (4-way tie)
  50. Nathan, 148 (4-way tie)

And here’s a selection of names from the other end of the spectrum — names that were given to just 5 babies each in Belgium last year:

Rare girl namesRare boy names
Afia, Bitania, Cézan, Dima, Ecaterina, Femke, Gioïa, Hatice, Inês, Jinthe, Kiki, Lies, Maëlyne, Nine, Ombeline, Rho, Suus, Tenzin, Vanina, Yumi, ZelihaAkim, Brieuc, Camil, Deen, Edzio, Foss, Giacomo, Hektor, Ibe, Jimmy, Kenji, Lowenn, Mélyo, Nawfel, Orso, Roger, Stefano, Taïm, Vasile, Yoel, Zeger

Lies (pronounced LEES) is a Dutch diminutive of Elisabeth, Nine (pronounced NEE-nah) is a Frisian short form of Katherine, and Suus is a palindromic Dutch short form of Susanna.

Brieuc may be a reference to the French city of Saint-Brieuc, which was named after a 5th-century Welsh monk called Brioc.

Finally, here are Belgium’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: First names for boys and girls – STATBEL, Births 5.0% lower in 2024 than the average for 2020-2023 – Statbel, Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Belgium (public domain)

Babies named for Horatio Nelson

Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758-1805)
Horatio Nelson

During his 37-year military career, British naval commander Horatio Nelson was directly responsible for several major victories.

One of them was the Battle of the Nile, in which the Royal Navy defeated Napoleon Bonaparte‘s French Mediterranean fleet off the coast of Egypt in August of 1798.

The destruction of the French fleet not only changed the balance of power in the Mediterranean, but also inspired expectant parents (both in the UK and elsewhere) to name several hundred baby boys after Nelson. Some examples…

  • Horatio Nelson Bakewell, b. 1798 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Davison, b. 1799 in Canada
  • Horatio Nelson Freeman, b. 1799 in the U.S. (Vermont)
  • Horatio Nelson Mallalieu, b. 1799 in England
  • John Horatio Nelson Merryweather, b. 1799 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Thompson, b. 1798 in England

A handful of the names even featured Nelson’s rank:

Nelson’s most famous (and final) engagement was the Battle of Trafalgar, in which the Royal Navy defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet off the coast of Spain in October of 1805.

News of the victory — which ensured Britain’s safety from Napoleonic invasion — and of Nelson’s death by enemy fire brought about a second (and larger) wave of namesakes, including…

  • Horatio Nelson Abbott, b. 1805 in the U.S. (Connecticut)
  • Horatio Nelson Andrews, b. 1806 in Canada
  • Horatio Nelson Chandler, b. 1806 in the U.S. (New Hampshire)
  • Horatio Nelson Crosby, b. 1806 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Dallas, b. 1805 in Scotland
  • Horatio Nelson Edmond, b. 1806 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Gardner, b. 1805 in Canada
  • Horatio Nelson Goddard, b. 1806 in England
  • John Horatio Nelson Houghton, b. 1805 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Hurlbut, b. 1806 in the U.S. (New York)
  • Horatio Nelson Scot, b. 1806 in Scotland
  • Joseph Horatio Nelson Strickland, b. 1806 in England

Again, some of the names featured Nelson’s rank, as well as various titles:

  • Viscount Nelson Ball, b. 1805 in the U.S. (Vermont)
  • Lord Nelson Holt, b. 1807 in England
  • Admiral Nelson Lumbard, b. 1807 in the U.S. (Massachusetts)

Dozens of the second-wave names also commemorated Nelson’s last battle:

  • Nelson Trafalgar McPherson, b. 1805 in Scotland
  • Horatio Trafalgar James Sidaway, b. 1805 in England
  • Horatio Nelson Trafalgar Hope, b. 1806 in Scotland
  • Trafalgar Nelson Francis, b. circa 1807 in England
  • Horatio Trafalgar Beck, b. 1807 in England

Impressively, Horatio Nelson fought the battles of the Nile and Trafalgar after having already lost sight in his right eye (in 1793) and most of his right arm (in 1797).

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson (1799) by Lemuel Francis Abbott