Babies named for the Lusitania

RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania

On May 7, 1915, the British passenger ship RMS Lusitania was nearing the end of a risky trans-Atlantic voyage from New York to Liverpool when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat about 11 miles off the southern coast of Ireland.

Europe had been embroiled in WWI for nearly a year by that point. Earlier in 1915, in response to being blockaded by Britain, Germany had declared the seas around Ireland and Great Britain a war zone. This meant unrestricted submarine warfare: U-boats would attack any Allied or neutral ship — military or not — without warning.

The Lusitania sank in just 18 minutes. Of the 1,962 passengers and crew on board, nearly 1,200 perished. The casualties consisted primarily of British and Canadian citizens, but also included 128 Americans.

Judging by the records I’ve seen, hundreds of babies worldwide were named Lusitania that year. Most were born in the United Kingdom. Others were born in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and elsewhere.

Here’s a sampling of the many babies named Lusitania in the UK:

  • Lusitania May Rayson, born in England on May 4, 1915
  • Bronwen Lusitania Davies, born in Wales on May 7, 1915
  • Lusitania Southwell, born in England on May 15, 1915
  • Lusitania Mayo, born in England on May 17, 1915
  • Lusitania Cartwright, born in England in mid-1915
  • Lusitania M. Fox, born in England in mid-1915
  • Lusitania Haywood, born in England in mid-1915
  • Lusitania Ypres Heavingham, born in England on June 20, 1915
  • Lusitania Nash, born in Wales in mid-1915
  • Lusitania Walker, born in England in mid-1915
  • Lusitania Cranstone, born in England in mid-1915
  • Lusitania G. Elias, born in Wales in mid-1915
  • Lusitania Wiggins, born in England in mid-1915
  • Lusitania Hayden, born in Eng in late 1915
  • Lusitania R. Horncastle, born in England in late 1915
  • Lusitania Colbridge, born in England on December 3, 1915

And here are a few of the U.S-born Lusitanias:

  • Lusitania Looney, born in Virginia in July of 1915
  • Lusitania Vinson (married name Lusitania Kelley), born in Oklahoma in March of 1916
  • Lusitania Henselman, born in Wisconsin circa 1916
  • Lusitania Krupinski, born in Missouri circa 1916
  • Lusitania Totino, born in New Jersey in May of 1917

Though the U.S. public was outraged by the destruction of the Lusitania, president Woodrow Wilson was reluctant to get the country involved in World War I.

Several months later, in September of 1915, Germany agreed to stop attacking passenger vessels.

In January of 1917, however, Germany decided to resume unrestricted U-boat warfare. This reversal — along with the interception and decoding of the Zimmermann Telegram — convinced Wilson to ask Congress to declare war against Germany. Which it did, on April 6, 1917.

The RMS Lusitania was named after the ancient Roman province of Lusitania, located on the Iberian peninsula. The province, in turn, was named after the Lusitanians — the people who’d lived in the region before it was conquered by the Roman Republic.

Sources: FamilySearch.org, RMS Lusitania – Wikipedia, Unrestricted U-boat Warfare | National WWI Museum and Memorial, Timeline (1914 – 1921) – LOC

P.S. In 1982, divers salvaged one reel of the silent film The Carpet from Bagdad, which featured a character named Fortune, from the wreckage of the Lusitania.

What turned Oasis into a baby name in 1995?

The Oasis album "Definitely Maybe" (1994)
Oasis album

The word-name Oasis — which refers to a fertile region in a desert (or, by extension, a peaceful place amid commotion) — first surfaced in the U.S. baby name data in the mid-1990s:

  • 1999: 8 baby girls named Oasis
  • 1998: 8 baby girls named Oasis
  • 1997: 10 baby girls named Oasis
  • 1996: unlisted
  • 1995: 8 baby girls named Oasis [debut]
  • 1994: unlisted

Why?

Because of the English rock band Oasis.

They released their debut album Definitely Maybe in 1994. The album’s first single, “Supersonic,” didn’t chart in the U.S., but…it happens to be my favorite Oasis song, so that’s the music video I’ll embed. :)

The band’s second album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995), ended up becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time. Morning Glory included Oasis’s biggest single, “Wonderwall,” which peaked at #8 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in March of 1996.

So how did the band — centered around brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher — come to have the name “Oasis”?

Back in 1991, when Liam was in a band called “The Rain” and Noel was working as a roadie, the band that Noel was working for played a gig at a venue called the Oasis Leisure Centre (in Swindon). Liam saw the name of the venue on a tour poster and, liking the word oasis, decided to changed his own band’s name to “Oasis.” Later on, Noel joined Liam’s band. And the rest is history.

What are your thoughts on Oasis as a baby name?

Sources: Diary: Liam returns to the Oasis, Oasis – Mad for Swindon, Oasis – Online Etymology Dictionary, List of best-selling albums – Wikipedia

Where did the baby name Cypress come from in 1993?

The music video for the song "Insane in the Brain" (1993) by Cypress Hill.
Cypress Hill music video

The name Cypress first appeared in the U.S. baby name data as a boy name (and returned to the data as a girl name) in 1993:

  • 1995: 18 baby girls and 8 baby boys named Cypress
  • 1994: 19 baby girls and 7 baby boys named Cypress
  • 1993: 5 baby girls and 7 baby boys [debut] named Cypress
  • 1992: unlisted
  • 1991: unlisted

Why?

Because of West Coast hip hop group Cypress Hill.

Their single “Insane in the Brain” was released in June of 1993 and quickly became a crossover hit. The song topped Billboard‘s rap chart for three weeks straight in August, peaked at #19 on the Hot 100 in September, and earned a Grammy nomination (for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group) in early 1994.

Here’s the trippy music video for “Insane in the Brain”:

The band at that time was made up of Louis Freese (stage name “B-Real”), Senen Reyes (“Sen Dog”), and Lawrence Muggerud (“DJ Muggs”).

How did the band come to be named Cypress Hill? Here’s how B-Real explained it:

Before we really got on, we were called DVX or Devastating Vocal Excellence. When we got on, we had to change our name to something and Muggs was constantly bringing East Coast music over to Sen Dog and myself. One of those albums was Wild Style, the soundtrack for the movie. In one of the joints, Raymond Zoro references Cypress Hill. Sen Dog lived on Cypress Ave [in South Gate, California], so we thought ‘Cypress Hill.’

Cypress, the common name of coniferous trees in the family Cupressaceae, can be traced back to the ancient Greek word kyparissos.

What are your thoughts on Cypress as a baby name?

Sources:

P.S. “Devastating Vocal Excellence” is my new favorite band name.

What gave the baby name Clarissa a boost in the early 1990s?

The character Clarissa Darling from the TV series "Clarissa Explains It All" (1991-1994)
Clarissa Darling from “Clarissa Explains It All“

The baby name Clarissa had already been on the rise for several decades when, in 1992, usage increased more sharply than usual. Several years later, the name reached peak popularity:

  • 1997: 1,091 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 266th]
  • 1996: 1,157 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 241st]
  • 1995: 1,201 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 239th] – peak usage
  • 1994: 1,185 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 237th] – peak ranking
  • 1993: 1,074 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 258th]
  • 1992: 1,141 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 244th]
  • 1991: 909 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 305th]
  • 1990: 853 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 322nd]
  • 1989: 759 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 335th]

Here’s a visual:

Graph of the usage of the baby name Clarissa in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Clarissa

What accounts for this?

My guess is the TV series Clarissa Explains it All, which aired on Nickelodeon from early 1991 to late 1994.

The show’s main character was witty teenager Clarissa Darling (played by Melissa Joan Hart), who frequently broke the fourth wall — speaking directly to viewers about the things that were going on in her life and how she felt about them.

Two other memorable characters were Clarissa’s obnoxious younger brother Ferguson (who was a Republican, just like Alex P. Keaton of Family Ties) and her best friend Sam (who always climbed a ladder up to Clarissa’s second-story bedroom window).

Interestingly, Clarissa introduces herself in the very first episode of the series with some commentary about her name:

Hi, I’m Clarissa. Clarissa Darling. Ok, I didn’t choose the name. I wanted Jade. But by that time, it was too late already.

Anything without a last name would be better, like, Martika. Or Madonna would have been great. But no one asked me.

The name Clarissa is based on the name Clara, which is derived from the Latin word clarus, meaning “bright, clear.”

What are your thoughts on Clarissa?

(And, if we pretend for a second that the sitcom never happened, do you think the usage of Clarissa would have kept rising past the mid-1990s? If so, how high do you think the name could have climbed in the rankings?)

Sources: Clarissa Explains It All – Wikipedia, Clara – Wiktionary, SSA

P.S. Another early ’90s prime-time TV show that featured a quirky teenage girl (with an equally quirky sense of fashion) was Blossom.