Where did the baby name Mauri come from in the late 1940s?

Race car driver Mauri Rose
Mauri Rose

The name Mauri first appeared in the U.S. baby name data — for both genders — in the late 1940s:

  • 1949: 5 baby boys named Mauri
  • 1948: 5 baby boys named Mauri & 7 baby girls named Mauri [debut]
  • 1947: 6 baby boys named Mauri [debut]
  • 1946: unlisted
  • 1945: unlisted

Now, the unisex name Maurie was already in the data by this point, so Mauri could simply have been a variant of Maurie.

That said, the specific spelling “Mauri” may have debuted in 1947 (and 1948) thanks to race car driver Maurice “Mauri” Rose, who won the Indianapolis 500 automobile race back-to-back in 1947 and 1948. (He was also a winner in 1941, but that time he co-won with another driver, Floyd Davis.)

What are your thoughts here? How much influence do you think a race car driver might have had on U.S. baby names in the ’40s?

Sources: List of Indianapolis 500 winners – Wikipedia, SSA

Where did the baby name Kirsten come from in 1937?

Opera singer Kirsten Flagstad (1895-1962).
Kirsten Flagstad

The name Kirsten first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1937:

  • 1939: 16 baby girls named Kirsten
  • 1938: 14 baby girls named Kirsten
  • 1937: 10 baby girls named Kirsten
  • 1936: unlisted
  • 1935: unlisted

The reason?

Norwegian opera singer Kirsten (pronounced keer-sten) Flagstad, who became famous in America in the mid-1930s, particularly for playing Wagnerian roles (like Isolde in Tristan und Isolde, and Brünnhilde in Die Walküre). People would have been able to hear her on 1930s radio shows like Kraft Music Hall (NBC) with Bing Crosby and The Ford Sunday Evening Hour (CBS).

Her first name is the Norwegian form of Christina. (She also had an interesting middle name, Malfrid, which is made up of Old Norse elements meaning “ore” and “beautiful.”)

Do you like the name Kirsten?

Sources: Kirsten Flagstad – Wikipedia, Malfrid – Nordic Names Wiki

Where did the baby name Terrea come from in the early 1950s?

Terrea Lea's album "Folk Songs" (1956)
Terrea Lea album

Usage of the unisex name Terry was rising fast for both genders during the ’40s and ’50s, but I think the debuts of Terrea and Terria in the early ’50s had a more specific explanation than the trendiness of Terry.

Girls named TerreaGirls named Terria
195610†
[9 born in CA]		18
1955.10
1954915
1953616
1952.17*
19516.
19505*
[all born in CA]		.
1949..
1948..
*Debut, †Peak usage

I think the influence was Missouri-born folksinger Terrea Lea, who was closely associated with the Southern California folk scene starting in the early ’50s — long before folk music became trendy in the U.S. in the mid-’60s.

Terrea Lea was born Bette June Nutz in Liberty, Missouri, in 1922. I’m not sure how she chose her stage name or when she started using it, but she was being mentioned as “Terrea Lea” in Billboard magazine by mid-1950 and was appearing on television, performing on radio, and putting out singles by 1951. In April of 1951, Billboard described her as “local TV folk chirper billed as the fem[inine] Burl Ives.”

Her own Terrea Lea Show could be heard on the East Coast radio by 1952, but the newspapers often misspelled her name (e.g., “Terria Lea,” “Terrea Lee”) in the broadcast schedules. Typos like these, combined with the fact that the shows were (of course) audio only, probably account for why the name Terria was the top debut name of 1952.

Misspelling of "Terrea Lea" in Billboard magazine (1952)
Misspelling (Billboard, 1952)

In 1956 and 1957, Terrea Lea put out her first two full-length albums. In late 1958, she and some friends opened a coffee house in West Hollywood called The Garret. (The name was inspired by Puccini’s La bohème.) She regularly performed there, and it was frequented by popular folk singers of the day, including Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell. The Garret existed until 1971.

There’s a website dedicated to The Garret, and the guest book includes six comments from people named after Terrea Lea. They are: Terra Lea, Terrea Lee, Terrea Lea (b. 1954, Calif.), Terrea Lea (b. 1951, Oregon), and Terria Leigh. Another comment is from someone whose son has the middle name Garret.

What are your thoughts on the name Terrea?

Sources:

Where did the baby name Diron come from in 1965?

Football player Diron Talbert
Diron Talbert

The name Diron first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1965:

  • 1967: 7 baby boys named Diron
  • 1966: 8 baby boys named Diron
    • 5 born in Texas
  • 1965: 9 baby boys named Diron [debut]
    • 6 born in Texas
  • 1964: unlisted
  • 1963: unlisted

Why?

Because of college football player Diron Talbert.

Diron, a defensive tackle, played at the University of Texas from 1964 to 1966. He was a letterman all three years.

After college, he played in the NFL for fourteen seasons — four with the Angeles Rams, ten with the Washington Redskins. (In fact, in the 1970s, “Diron” popped up in the Washington, D.C.-specific baby name data a couple of times.)

What are your thoughts on the baby name Diron?

Sources: Diron Talbert – Wikipedia, Diron Talbert (2005) – Hall of Honor – University of Texas Athletics, SSA