Where did the baby name Adderly come from in 1987?

The character V. H. Adderly from the TV series "Adderly" (1986-1988)
V. H. Adderly from “Adderly“

The rare name Adderly first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1987:

  • 1989: unlisted
  • 1988: unlisted
  • 1987: 6 baby boys named Adderly [debut]
  • 1986: unlisted
  • 1985: unlisted

Why?

My guess is the TV series Adderly (1986-1988), a spy spoof that was produced in Canada and broadcast in both Canada and the United States.

The main character was Virgil Homer “V. H.” Adderly, played by Canadian actor Winston Rekert.

Adderly was a former secret agent who, after being injured (his left hand was crushed by an enemy agent wielding a medieval mace), got reassigned to a desk job in his agency’s Miscellaneous Affairs department. Despite this, Adderly kept uncovering “overlooked threats amongst the pushed papers” and took action to investigate and prevent these plots.

I don’t know if any Canadian babies were named Adderly in the 1980s, unfortunately, as the Canadian data only goes back to 1991.

But I do know that the surname Adderly can be traced back to either of two locations in England called Adderley. One of the locational names is based on the Old English personal name Ealdred (male), while the other is based on the Old English personal name Ealdthryth (female). In both cases, the second element of Adderley derives from the Old English word leah, meaning “clearing” or “meadow.”

What are your thoughts on the name Adderly?

Sources:

  • Adderly – Wikipedia
  • Romanko, Karen A. Television’s Female Spies and Crimefighters: 600 Characters and Shows, 1950s to the Present. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2016.
  • Hanks, Patrick. (Ed.) Dictionary of American Family Names. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
  • SSA

Image: Screenshot of Adderly

Where did the baby name Grantland come from in 1930?

Sportswriter Grantland Rice (1880-1954)
Grantland Rice

The surname-name Grantland first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1930:

  • 1932: unlisted
  • 1931: unlisted
  • 1930: 6 baby boys named Grantland [debut]
  • 1929: unlisted
  • 1928: unlisted

Why?

I think the reason is famous sportswriter Grantland Rice, who was known for his “evocative, heroic writing style.”

He began covering sports during the first decade of the 1900s, initially working at various newspapers in the South (including the Nashville Tennessean and the Atlanta Journal).

In the 1910s, Rice moved to New York City and started a column called “The Sportlight” at the New York Tribune. His influential column would go on to become nationally syndicated in 1930 — which could be the reason the name Grantland debuted in the data that year specifically.

He was born Henry Grantland Rice in Tennessee in 1880. His middle name was his mother Beulah’s maiden name.

The surname Grantland comes from an English place name that may represent a combination of the Old English personal name Granta and the Old English word land, which (in this case) referred to owned or cultivated land.

What are your thoughts on Grantland as a first name?

P.S. Another sportswriter who influenced U.S. baby names was Perian Conerly…

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Grantland Rice on tel/mic (via Library of Congress)

Where did the baby name Airrion come from in 1973?

The Stylistics' self-titled debut album (1971)
Stylistics album

According to the U.S. baby name data, the curious name Airrion both debuted and hit peak usage in 1973:

  • 1975: 7 baby boys named Airrion
  • 1974: 11 baby boys named Airrion
  • 1973: 19 baby boys named Airrion (debut & peak usage)
  • 1972: unlisted
  • 1971: unlisted

Where did the name come from?

Singer Airrion (pronounced AIR-ee-un) Love, a member of the soul group The Stylistics.

The group was founded in Philadelphia in the late ’60s and saw its greatest success during the first half of the ’70s.

From 1971 to 1974, twelve consecutive Stylistics singles reached the top 10 on Billboard‘s R&B chart. Five of those songs — “You Are Everything,” “Betcha by Golly, Wow,” “I’m Stone in Love with You,” “Break Up to Make Up,” and “You Make Me Feel Brand New” — also reached the top 10 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart.

So, if the group achieved fame in 1971, why did Airrion’s name pop up in the data in 1973 — a year (or two) later than expected?

At first I thought he must have been profiled in print somewhere. (How else would so many parents have known to spell his name correctly?) But I couldn’t find anything in the newspapers or the popular magazines of the day.

So my next-best guess is album covers.

On the reverse of The Stylistics’ first record, only lead vocalist Russell Thompkins, Jr., is mentioned by name. On the back of the group’s second and third records, however, the names of all five members — Russell Thompkins, Airrion Love, James Smith, Herb Murrell, and James Dunn — are listed.

Detail from the reverse of the album cover for "Round 2" (1972) by The Stylistics
From the reverse of “Round 2” (1972)

If Airrion’s name had been included on the back of the first record, I think it’s likely that his name would have debuted earlier in the baby name data.

What are your thoughts on the name Airrion?

Sources: The Stylistics – Wikipedia, Discogs.com, SSA

What popularized the baby name Marlene in the 1930s?

Actress Marlene Dietrich in the film "The Blue Angel" (1930)
Marlene Dietrich in “The Blue Angel“

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Marlene was the fastest-rising baby name of 1931. It went on to see its highest-ever usage several years later, in the mid-1930s:

  • 1937: 5,037 baby girls named Marlene [rank: 40th]
  • 1936: 5,331 baby girls named Marlene [rank: 39th] – peak usage
  • 1935: 4,830 baby girls named Marlene [rank: 39th]
  • 1934: 3,755 baby girls named Marlene [rank: 57th]
  • 1933: 4,045 baby girls named Marlene [rank: 50th]
  • 1932: 3,218 baby girls named Marlene [rank: 78th]
  • 1931: 2,586 baby girls named Marlene [rank: 95th]
  • 1930: 306 baby girls named Marlene [rank: 388th]
  • 1929: 129 baby girls named Marlene [rank: 605th]

Here’s a visual:

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

What was popularizing Marlene during the 1930s?

German actress Marlene Dietrich (pronounced mar-LAY-nah DEET-rikh).

She became an international star upon the release of Der blaue Engel (translation: The Blue Angel), Germany’s first feature-length sound film, in April of 1930.

Directed by Josef von Sternberg, the movie told the story of a respectable school teacher (played by Emil Jannings) whose obsession with a seductive cabaret singer named Lola Lola (Dietrich) led to his downfall.

Actress Marlene Dietrich in the film "The Blue Angel" (1930)
Marlene Dietrich in “The Blue Angel“

Following the success of Der blaue Engel, both von Sternberg and Dietrich moved to Hollywood to continue “what would become one of the most legendary partnerships in cinema history.”

Over the course of six films produced by Paramount in the 1930s, the pair refined their shared fantasy of pleasure, beauty, and excess. Dietrich’s coolly transgressive mystique was a perfect match for the provocative roles von Sternberg cast her in — including a sultry chanteuse, a cunning spy, and the hedonistic Catherine the Great.

Those six films were…

Dietrich continued to appear on the big screen for decades to come, but reached the height of her fame — in terms of bankability as a movie star — during the 1930s.

She was born Marie Magdalene Dietrich in Berlin in 1901. Her earliest nicknames were Leni and Lene, but, while still a child, she voiced her preference for the contraction Marlene. Here’s her account of the story:

When I created my name, the first person I told was my sister [Elisabeth]. I told her that I didn’t like my name because it was too common a name in Germany.

I told Liesel I had decided to combine Marie and Magdalene to make a new name for myself, Marlene.

My sister said I would have a very peculiar name. No one else in school would have a name like Marlene. That’s just what I wanted to hear.

Dietrich also noted that she saw Marlene as a “glamorous name” with “a kind of French aura.”

What are your thoughts on the name Marlene?

Sources:

Images: Screenshots of The Blue Angel