Where did the baby name Judaline come from in 1949?

The character Judy Foster from the movie "A Date with Judy" (1948).
Judy singing “Judaline”

The baby name Judaline has appeared in the U.S. baby name data just once so far, in 1949:

  • 1951: unlisted
  • 1950: unlisted
  • 1949: 7 baby girls named Judaline [debut]
  • 1948: unlisted
  • 1947: unlisted

Where did it come from?

A song…by way of a movie.

The musical comedy A Date with Judy (1948) — based on the 1940s radio sitcom of the same name — starred Jane Powell as teenager Judy Foster.

In the film, the song “Judaline” [vid] was sung by Judy, alternating with her boyfriend and a male quartet. It was reprised later on as “Judaline Serenade,” [vid] sung outside Judy’s bedroom window by the boyfriend and a different male quartet.

The character wasn’t actually named Judaline, though. (And neither was the original radio character.)

The song “Judaline” was written in 1943, after songwriters Don Raye and Gene de Paul learned that The Wizard of Oz (1939) director Victor Fleming had given Judy Garland the nickname ‘Judaline’ during filming. The song was originally intended for the 1944 movie Broadway Rhythm, but didn’t show up on a soundtrack until A Date with Judy came long at the end of the decade.

What do you think of the baby name Judaline? Do you like it as much as the more popular -line names (e.g., Caroline, Madeline, Adeline)?

Sources:

P.S. The similar name Judalon was one-hit wonder several years later…

What gave the baby name Caprica a boost in 2010?

TV show "Caprica" (2010)

The rare name Caprica, which popped up in the U.S. baby name data several times in the 1970s, returned in 2010:

  • 2012: unlisted
  • 2011: unlisted
  • 2010: 6 baby girls named Caprica
  • 2009: unlisted
  • 2008: unlisted

Why?

Because of the sci-fi TV series Caprica (pronounced CAP-rih-kuh), which aired for just one season (Jan. to Nov., 2010). The title of the show referred to the fictional planet upon which the story was set.

TV show "Caprica" (2010)

Caprica was a spin-off prequel of the TV show Battlestar Galactica — not the original version from the late 1970s, but the re-imagined version from the early 2000s.

The events of Caprica took place 58 years before the events of Battlestar Galactica. The show focused on two Caprican families, the Greystones and the Adamas, and portrayed the creation of the first Cylons.

What are your thoughts on “Caprica” as a baby name?

Sources: Caprica – Wikipedia, Caprica – Rotten Tomatoes

P.S. One of Caprica‘s main characters, Joseph Adama, was played by Esai Morales…

How did “Battlestar Galactica” influence baby names in the late 1970s?

The character Apollo from the TV series "Battlestar Galactica" (1978-1979)
Apollo from “Battlestar Galactica“

Today, Battlestar Galactica is a sci-fi media franchise. But the original TV series — about a group of humans fleeing Cylons aboard a battleship called the Galactica — wasn’t terribly successful. It aired on ABC for a single season (from September of 1978 to April of 1979) before being canceled.

Still, the show managed to have a sizeable impact on U.S. baby names. Here are the names that various Battlestar Galactica characters influenced in the late 1970s:

Adama
Adama (played by Lorne Greene of Bonanza fame) was the commander of the Battlestar Galactica. The name Adama debuted (for boys) in 1978.

Apollo
Captain Apollo (played by Richard Hatch), a fighter pilot, was the son of Commander Adama. The name Apollo saw an increase in usage in 1978, and reached then-peak usage in 1979. (The peak was eclipsed in 2002 after speed skater Apolo Ohno became famous.)

Actress Maren Jensen as character Athena in the TV series "Battlestar Galactica" (1978-1979)
Maren Jensen in “Battlestar Galactica“

Athena
Lieutenant Athena (played by Maren Jensen) was the daughter of Commander Adama. The name Athena saw a spike in usage 1979, and the name Maren nearly tripled in usage the same year. (Jensen’s first name is a Dutch diminutive of Marina or Maria.)

Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia (played by Laurette Spang) was a former “socialator” (courtesan) who worked as a Medtech aboard the Galactica. The name Cassiopeia debuted in 1979.

Starbuck
Lieutenant Starbuck (played by Dirk Benedict), a fighter pilot, was Apollo’s best friend. The name Starbuck was a one-hit wonder in the data in 1979. The Lieutanant’s name — just like the name of the famous coffee chain — was inspired by the Moby Dick character Starbuck.

Actor Terry Carter as character Colonel Tigh in the TV series "Battlestar Galactica" (1978-1979)
Terry Carter in “Battlestar Galactica“

Tigh
Colonel Tigh (played by Terry Carter) was Adama’s second-in-command aboard the Galactica. The name Tigh debuted in 1979, and the spelling Tighe saw peak usage the same year. (Carter, born John Everett DeCoste in 1928, was nicknamed “Terry” after the main character of the comic strip Terry & the Pirates when he was a teenager.)

What are your thoughts on the names above? (Would you consider using any of them?)

Sources:

Images: Screenshots of Battlestar Galactica

[Latest update: Oct. 2025]

Babies named for William Tecumseh Sherman

U.S. Army general William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891)
William T. Sherman

William Tecumseh Sherman was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

He served just under Ulysses S. Grant much of the time. In 1864, when Grant was appointed commander of all Union armies, Sherman succeeded him as the commander of the Western Theater. In 1869, when Grant began his first term as U.S. President, Sherman succeeded him as Commanding General of the U.S. Army. (He remained in that position until 1883.)

Many baby boys were named in honor of General Sherman, particularly in the mid-1860s. It’s hard to know just how many hundreds of namesakes he had, though, given all the possible permutations of his name, and the fact that both “William” and “Sherman” were quite common. Some examples…

Boys born into Sherman families simply got the given names “William Tecumseh,” or “William T.” Dozens of other families dropped “William” altogether, opting for “Tecumseh Sherman,” or just “Tecumseh.”

Speaking of Tecumseh…how did William T. Sherman come to have such a distinctive middle name?

He was born in Ohio in 1820, the middle child (#6) of 11 siblings. In his memoir, he said that his father, Charles, had “caught a fancy for the great chief of the Shawnees, ‘Tecumseh.'”

When, in 1816, my brother James was born, he insisted on engrafting the Indian name “Tecumseh” on the usual family list. My mother had already named her first son after her own brother Charles; and insisted on the second son taking the name of her other brother James, and when I came along, on the 8th of February, 1820, mother having no more brothers, my father succeeded in his original purpose, and named me William Tecumseh.

Interestingly, one of General Sherman’s nephews — the the son of his younger brother Lampson — was was born in 1861 and named after Elmer E. Ellsworth.

Sources:

P.S. The most notable non-human thing named after General Sherman would have to be the world’s largest tree, the General Sherman Tree in California.