What turned Gaynell into a boy name (briefly) in the late 1930s?

Football player Gaynell Tinsley (1915-2002)
Gaynell Tinsley

Back when the baby name Gaynell was seeing regular usage in the U.S. — primarily in the southern states — it was given to baby girls.

For two consecutive years in the late 1930s, however, it popped up in the U.S. baby name data as a boy name:

  • 1939: unlisted (for boys)
  • 1938: 7 baby boys named Gaynell
  • 1937: 11 baby boys named Gaynell (debut)
    • 6 born in Louisiana specifically
  • 1936: unlisted (for boys)
  • 1935: unlisted (for boys)

Notably, Gaynell was the highest-debuting boy name of 1937.

What turned Gaynell into a boy name for just a bit?

The Louisiana usage points me to Gaynell Tinsley, who played football at Louisiana State University for three seasons (1934-1936). “The star end led the Tigers to their first two SEC titles and played in two Sugar Bowls.” He was also selected for the All-America Team twice (in 1935 and 1936).

In 1937, he was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals of the NFL. His professional career lasted only three seasons, but during that time he was selected for the All-Pro Team twice (in 1937 and 1938) and set/tied several single-season records.

Though he went by the nickname “Gus,” the newspapers only referred to him as Gaynell during the 1930s. (Years later, when he was LSU’s head coach, the papers used his nickname more often.)

What are your thoughts on the name Gaynell?

Source: Gaynell Tinsley – Wikipedia, Gaynell Tinsley – LSU

Bebeto named his baby after Lothar Matthäus

German soccer player Lothar Matthäus (in 1990)
Lothar Matthäus

In July of 1994, in the middle of the FIFA World Cup tournament, the wife of Brazilian soccer player Bebeto (full name: José Roberto Gama de Oliveira) gave birth to a baby boy.

The couple decided to name the baby Mattheus in honor of famed German footballer Lothar Matthäus (pronounced LOH-tar mah-TEH-oos), whose surname is the German form of Matthew.

Two days later, Brazil played the Netherlands in the World Cup quarterfinals. Bebeto scored one of Brazil’s goals and — to celebrate both the goal and his newborn son — began to swing his arms side-to-side, as if rocking a baby.

At the sideline, two other Brazilian players (Mazinho and Romário) joined in on the rock-a-baby revelry:

Brazilian soccer players Mazinho (#17), Bebeto (#7), and Romário (#11) during the Brazil vs. Netherlands game of the 1994 World Cup.
Mazinho (#17), Bebeto (#7), and Romário (#11)

This memorable goal celebration is likely behind the debut of Mattheus in the U.S. baby name data the following year:

  • 1997: unlisted
  • 1996: 7 baby boys named Mattheus
  • 1995: 6 baby boys named Mattheus [debut]
  • 1994: unlisted
  • 1993: unlisted

The Brazilian Portuguese spelling of the name, Matheus, also saw an uptick in usage in the mid-1990s.

Almost two decades later, in 2012, Mattheus Oliveira — following in his father’s footsteps — made his debut as a professional footballer.

Sources:

Second image: Screenshot of “100 Great Brazilian Goals: #31 Bebeto (USA 1994)” © 2014 FIFA

What gave the baby name Vonetta a boost in 1973?

Actress Vonetta McGee in the movie "Shaft in Africa" (1973)
Vonetta McGee in “Shaft in Africa“

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Vonetta saw peak usage in 1973:

  • 1975: 111 baby girls named Vonetta
  • 1974: 126 baby girls named Vonetta [rank: 977th]
  • 1973: 161 baby girls named Vonetta [rank: 819th] (peak)
  • 1972: 32 baby girls named Vonetta
  • 1971: 7 baby girls named Vonetta

The spelling variant Vonnetta debuted in 1973 as well.

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

California-born actress Vonetta McGee, best known for her work in blaxploitation films such as Blacula (1972), Hammer (1972), and Shaft in Africa (1973).

Even more notable, perhaps, is the fact that Vonetta (and her name!) were featured on the covers of several African-American magazines in 1973: Jet in June, Jet again in September, and Ebony in November.

Vonetta McGee on the cover of "Jet" magazine (Sept. 1973)
Vonetta McGee on the cover of “Jet“

Interestingly, McGee’s full name at birth was Lawrence Vonetta McGee. She was named after her father (just like Barack Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham).

What are your thoughts on the name Vonetta?

Sources:

Images: Screenshot of Shaft in Africa; clipping from the cover of Jet magazine (20 Sept. 1973).

What popularized Kyle as girl name in the early 1950s?

Singer and actress Kyle MacDonnell (1922-2004)
Kyle MacDonnell

In the U.S., the name Kyle has always been used more often for boys than for girls.

If you look closely at the data from the early 1950s, though, you’ll notice a sudden increase in the usage of Kyle as a girl name. And, interestingly, most of that usage occurred in the north-eastern quadrant of the country — particularly in New York.

Girls named KyleBoys named Kyle
1954158 [rank: 736th]402 [rank: 362nd]
1953153 [rank: 737th]360 [rank: 358th]
1952156 [rank: 713th]381 [rank: 352nd]
1951211 [rank: 594th]343 [rank: 369th]
1950102 [rank: 879th]240 [rank: 431st]
194937144 [rank: 564th]
194816130 [rank: 586th]
194711151 [rank: 549th]
194610107 [rank: 622nd]
1945581 [rank: 670th]

Here’s a visual of the national usage (for girls only):

Graph of the usage of the baby name Kyle (as a girl name only) in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Kyle (as a girl name)

So what’s behind the rise?

Singer and actress Kyle MacDonnell, who was one of the first stars of television!

She was born Ruth Kyle MacDonnell in 1922, and spent most of her childhood in Kansas. Her middle name, Kyle, was a family name on her father’s side.

By the mid-1940s, she was doing modeling work in New York City. A talented singer, MacDonnell also found her way onto Broadway, performing in the musical Park Avenue (1946-1947) and the musical revue Make Mine Manhattan (1948-1949).

While appearing in the latter production, she was offered her own TV series, For Your Pleasure, which featured music and dancing.

The weekly, 15-minute variety show began airing live from NBC’s New York City station, WNBT, on April 15, 1948. It was also broadcast across NBC’s Eastern network, which included nearby cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Schenectady. (NBC affiliate stations in other parts of the country may have screened episodes as well, on later dates, thanks to kinescope recordings sent through the mail.)

One reviewer, after watching only the first episode of For Your Pleasure, said Kyle MacDonnell “showed an extremely photogenic personality with grace and naturalness.”

Her singing of How High the Moon and I Wish I Didn’t Love You So were satisfying, and she may well prove an important video find.

Three episodes in, New York Times television critic Jack Gould described Kyle MacDonnell as “television’s first truly new and bright star…the most videogenic young lady yet seen before the cathode cameras.”

Kyle MacDonnell on the cover of Life magazine (May 1948)

A month and a half after the show began, Kyle MacDonnell was on the cover of Life magazine. Life noted that Kyle’s “catch-all appeal nets strangely assorted fan mail from grandmothers, grammar-school kids and ardent bachelors.”

In September, after NBC was able to secure a sponsor for Kyle MacDonnell’s show, For Your Pleasure ended and its re-branded successor Girl About Town (sponsored by Bates Fabrics, Inc.) promptly began.

Girl About Town was also a weekly variety show that aired live from the studio, but episodes were slightly longer (20 minutes) and included prerecorded film footage of Kyle at various landmarks around New York City. The footage was meant to suggest to viewers that Kyle was performing from these locations.

In December, Jack Gould declared in his annual “Honor Roll” that the top male and female TV personalities of 1948 were Milton Berle (host of Texaco Star Theater) and Kyle MacDonnell.

In early 1949, NBC interlinked its 7-city Eastern network to its 9-city Midwest network (which included Chicago, Cleveland, and Buffalo), more than doubling the number of cities in which Girl About Town and other NBC series could be seen live.

Kyle MacDonnell in an RCA Victor ad (Aug. 1949)
Kyle MacDonnell in an RCA Victor ad

Not only was Kyle MacDonnell’s show available in more homes, but her face and name began popping up in advertisements in magazines like Collier’s, The Saturday Evening Post, Vogue, Mademoiselle, Harper’s Bazaar, and Life. Most of the ads were for either Bates-brand fabrics or her own Bates-sponsored television show. The rest were for RCA Victor television sets.

In June of 1949, Girl About Town was canceled. NBC restarted For Your Pleasure in July, but it only lasted until September.

So Kyle MacDonnell returned to Broadway, performing in the musical revue Touch and Go (1949-1950). But she could still be spotted on television, making several guest appearances on the variety show Cavalcade of Stars (DuMont) and several more on the game show Celebrity Time (CBS/ABC).

In late September, 1950, she began hosting a weekly half-hour variety show called Hold that Camera (DuMont). Soon after that, in early October, she became a regular panelist on “Celebrity Time.”

The first show lasted until early December, and her stint on the second show lasted through the end of December — meaning that, for over two months toward the end of 1950, Kyle MacDonnell could be seen on television for two half-hours per week: Fridays from 8:30 to 9 p.m., and Sundays from 10 to 10:30 p.m.

This double-dose of Kyle, combined with a rapidly growing TV audience — the percentage of U.S. homes with a television set had risen from about 2% in 1949 to about 9% in 1950 — is likely what boosted the name Kyle into the girls’ top 1,000 in 1950.

Kyle MacDonnell in a Camel cigarette newspaper ad (Sept. 1950)
Kyle MacDonnell in a Camel cigarette ad

She made a few more guest appearances in early 1951, then took several months off to give birth in June to her first and only child, a son named MacDonnell. (His father was Kyle’s third husband, Richard Gordon, a New York City television producer.)

After that, however, Kyle MacDonnell wasn’t able to find much work in television. Instead, she focused on other things: singing in nightclubs, touring with musical theater productions, and hosting her own radio program in NYC.

She attempted to make a comeback in 1959, singing on Tonight Starring Jack Paar in March, then The Ed Sullivan Show in May. These TV performances would have reached many more viewers than any of her earlier TV performances, as both shows were broadcast nationally, and more than 85% of U.S. homes had a television set by that time. Though they didn’t revive her TV career, they may account for her name seeing a boost in usage in 1959.

Not long after that, Kyle MacDonnell married her fourth (and final) husband, William Vernon, the president of Santa Fe National Bank. She spent the rest of her days in New Mexico, passing away in 2004.

What are your thoughts on Kyle as a girl name?

Sources:

Images: