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

Where did the baby name Trevino come from in 1969?

Professional golfer Lee Trevino
Lee Trevino

The surname-name Trevino first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1969. It reached peak usage two years later:

  • 1972: 12 baby boys named Trevino
  • 1971: 17 baby boys named Trevino [peak]
  • 1970: 5 baby boys named Trevino
  • 1969: 5 baby boys named Trevino [debut]
  • 1968: unlisted
  • 1967: unlisted

Where did the name come from?

Mexican-American professional golfer Lee Trevino, who was born in Texas in the late 1930s.

In the summer of 1968, Trevino won the U.S. Open. He finished five under par — four strokes ahead of defending champion Jack Nicklaus, who placed second.

In the summer of 1971, Trevino not only won the U.S. Open again, but also won the Canadian Open and the British Open — becoming the first golfer to win these three particular tournaments in the same year. (Tiger Woods would repeat the feat in 2000.) Trevino was named PGA Player of the Year, Associated Press Athlete of the Year, and Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.

The Spanish surname Trevino can be traced back to either of two locations in northern Spain called Treviño. What are your thoughts on Trevino as a first name?

Sources:

  • Lee Trevino – Wikipedia
  • Hanks, Patrick, Simon Lenarcic and Peter McClure. (Eds.) Dictionary of American Family Names. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022.
  • SSA

Image: Clipping from the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine (19 Aug. 1974)

What gave the baby name Pauline a boost in 1915?

The character Pauline from the film serial "The Perils of Pauline" (1914)
Pauline from “The Perils of Pauline“

The rise of the baby name Pauline during the early decades of the 20th century accelerated in the mid-1910s. Pauline reached its highest-ever ranking in 1915, in fact:

  • 1917: 6,896 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 33rd]
  • 1916: 6,655 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 33rd]
  • 1915: 6,334 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 32nd]
  • 1914: 4,698 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 34th]
  • 1913: 3,636 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 35th]
  • 1912: 3,163 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 38th]

What was drawing attention to the name around that time?

Fictional character Pauline Marvin, protagonist of the story The Perils of Pauline, which was serialized in print and on film concurrently throughout most of 1914 (from March to December).

The co-serialization came about through a collaboration between newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst and motion picture company Pathé.

Hearst had commissioned Charles Goddard to write the story, in which the main character, a young heiress, set out to “have thrills, adventures, see people, [and] do daring things” before settling down with her sweetheart, Harry. Pauline’s escapades kept going awry, though, due to the scheming of a murderous man intent on stealing her fortune.

The serial’s twenty installments were released biweekly — every other Sunday in the newspapers, and every other Monday in the motion picture houses.

Notably, marketing for the serial included a weekly contest in which Hearst newspaper readers could win sizeable cash prizes for correctly guessing upcoming plot twists.

"The Perils of Pauline" advertisement (Mar. 1914)
“The Perils of Pauline” advertisement

The motion picture version of The Perils of Pauline quickly became the most famous of all movie serials. It didn’t utilize cliffhangers to the degree that The Adventures of Kathlyn did, but each episode featured exciting footage such as “the wrecking of a real aeroplane” (in episode 2), a ride in a sabotaged hot air balloon (episode 6), a car crash during a cross-country automobile race (episode 15), and an escape from a sunken submarine (episode 18).

The star of the picture was Missouri-born actress Pearl White, who performed most of her own stunts. The worldwide success of The Perils of Pauline turned White into one of the first international movie stars.

What are your thoughts on the name Pauline? (Do you like it more or less than Pearl?)

P.S. The Perils of Pauline was published as a standalone book in early 1915.

Sources:

Images: Screenshot of The Perils of Pauline (1914), clipping from the New York Times (14 Mar. 1914)

What popularized the baby name Elle in 2002?

The character Elle Woods from the movie "Legally Blonde" (2001)
Elle Woods from “Legally Blonde“

The baby name Elle, which had been rising slowly since the mid-1990s, more than doubled in usage in 2002:

  • 2004: 596 baby girls named Elle [rank: 494th]
  • 2003: 497 baby girls named Elle [rank: 556th]
  • 2002: 418 baby girls named Elle [rank: 612th]
  • 2001: 197 baby girls named Elle
  • 2000: 181 baby girls named Elle

What gave Elle a boost that year?

My guess is the bubbly main character of the movie Legally Blonde, which came out in July of 2001.

At the beginning of the film, Elle Woods (played by Reese Witherspoon) — a sorority girl obsessed with the color pink — got dumped by her blue-blooded boyfriend, Warner. (“Elle, If I’m going to be a senator, well, I need to marry a Jackie, not a Marilyn.”)

Elle decided to win Warner back by following him to Harvard Law School. She managed to gain admission, but struggled to fit in once she arrived. Eventually — thanks to her positivity and determination — Elle made friends, found success, and forgot all about Warner.

Legally Blonde was a surprise hit at the box office, and its main character proved so memorable that, twenty years later, the New York Times stated: “She remains an emblem for challenging stereotypes and embracing female empowerment in the face of misogyny.”

The movie was based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Amanda Brown, who attended Stanford Law School for two years in the mid-1990s. While there, she “spent her class time thumbing through Elle magazine and lampooning her classmates in letters home.” Those letters were the basis of Legally Blonde, the protagonist of which was named after the French fashion magazine. (The French pronoun elle means “she.”)

What are your thoughts on the name Elle?

P.S. The acceleration of the rise of Ella in 2002 may have been spurred by the movie as well.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Legally Blonde