Mississippi quadruplets: Kenleigh, Kristen, Kayleigh, Kelsey

quadruplets and stork

In February of 2014, Kimberly Fugate of Mississippi went into labor. She was expecting triplets, but learned in the delivery room that she would be having quadruplets.

What did she name the four identical baby girls?

Kenleigh Rosa, Kristen Sue, Kayleigh Pearl, and Kelsey Roxanne. (Kelsey was the “hidden surprise.”)

Kimberly’s first child, a daughter named Katelyn, was 10 when the quads were born.

(I’ve also blogged about quads with Sh-names and quads with Ch-names.)

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Multiplication (1905) by Gordon Ross

Baby names with SUN: Sunita, Tsuneo, Aysun

sunset

Looking for baby names that contain the word SUN?

If so, you’re in luck!

Because below you’ll find a long list of names that contain the letter sequence “s-u-n.” Most of these names come directly from the U.S. SSA’s baby name data.

  • Addisun, Addysun, Adysun
  • Alisun, Alysun, Allisun, Allysun
  • Assunta, Asunta
  • Assuntina
  • Assunto
  • Asun
  • Asuna
  • Asuncion
  • Aysun
  • Brysun
  • Cassundra, Casundra
  • Graysun, Greysun
  • Jahsun
  • Jasun, Jaysun, Jaesun
  • Jaxsun
  • Kaisun
  • Karsun
  • Kasundra
  • Kaysun
  • Kysun
  • Lasunda
  • Lasundra
  • Madisun, Madysun
  • Masun, Maysun
  • Olasunkanmi
  • Rasun
  • Sun
  • Suna
  • Sunaina
  • Sunako
  • Sunan
  • Sunana
  • Sunao
  • Sunasia
  • Sunawin
  • Sunay
  • Sunayana
  • Sunbeam
  • Sunbul
  • Sunda
  • Sundai
  • Sundance
  • Sundar
  • Sundara
  • Sundari
  • Sundas
  • Sunday, Sundae
  • Sunde
  • Sundeep, Sundip
  • Sundiata
  • Sundos
  • Sundown
  • Sundra
  • Sundrina
  • Sundrine
  • Sundus
  • Sundy, Sundie, Sundee, Sundi
  • Sunehri
  • Sunel
  • Sunella
  • Sunem
  • Sunetta
  • Sunette
  • Sunflower
  • Sung
  • Sunhild
  • Sunia
  • Sunidhi
  • Sunie, Suni, Sunee
  • Sunil, Suneel
  • Sunilda
  • Sunisa
  • Sunita
  • Sunitha
  • Suniti
  • Suniya, Suniyah
  • Sunja
  • Sunjai
  • Sunjay
  • Sunna, Sunnah
  • Sunniva
  • Sunny, Sunnie, Sunni, Sunnye, Sunnee
  • Sunrae, Sunray
  • Sunrise
  • Sunset
  • Sunshine, Sunshyne
  • Sunwoo
  • Sunya
  • Tsunade
  • Tsunami
  • Tsuneko
  • Tsuneo
  • Tysun
  • Yasunobu

Some of the above are non-traditional spellings of more common names such as Jason, Addison, and Cassandra.

Other sun-themed names I’ve blogged about include Bluesun, Skysun, Nightsun, Sunchase, Sunstar, and Sunwater.

Which SUN name do you like most? Let me know in the comments!

Source: SSA

Image: Adapted from 2008 sunset in Piriápolis by Alexandre Pereira under CC BY-SA 2.0.

D.C. sextuplets: Emily, Richard, Octavia, Stella, Ann-Marie, Alison

Thompson sextuplets
The five surviving Thompson sextuplets

In May of 1997, Washington, D.C., couple Linden and Jacqueline “Jackie” Thompson welcomed sextuplets.

What were the names of all six babies? Here are their firsts and middles:

  • Emily Elizabeth
  • Richard Linden
  • Octavia Daniella
  • Stella Kimberly
  • Ann-Marie Amanda
  • Alison Nicole (stillborn)

Richard was named after Linden’s late brother, Octavia after Jackie’s mother, Stella after Jackie’s grandmother, and Ann-Marie after Jackie’s sister. The name of the fifth surviving sextuplet, Emily, was one that Jackie simply liked. (Emily was the #1 girl name in the nation from 1996 to 2007.)

Despite being the first black family in the U.S. to have sextuplets, the Thompsons didn’t receive much in the way of publicity or material assistance.

Six months later, the white McCaughey family of Iowa welcomed septuplets. The McCaugheys received not just media attention but “a 12-seat Chevrolet van, baby food, Pampers, clothes, car seats, strollers, milk, groceries and even funding for the children’s college education.”

Eventually — thanks to “the rage of the black community, echoing through black radio talk shows” — the mainstream media covered the Thompson family, and this “exposure forced the corporate community and others to intervene and assist the Thompsons.”

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the cover of Jet magazine (29 Dec. 1997)

The Branch family of Indiana

Indiana politician Emmett Forest Branch (1874-1932)
Emmett Forest Branch

A century and a half ago, Elliott and Alice Branch of Martinsville, Indiana, welcomed four babies, two girls and two boys:

  • Olive L. Branch (b. 1869)
  • Leafy Dell Branch (b. 1871)
  • Emmett Forest Branch (b. 1874)
  • Frank Oak Branch (b. 1878)

According to a newspaper article from 1903, the Branch family was “one of the oldest and best” in Indiana’s Morgan County, but “the names of the children of this branch of Branches the oddest.”

Their mother, who was of a poetic turn, was responsible for the names, Forest, Oak, Leafy Dell and Olive.

Emmett Forest Branch went on to spend three terms in the Indiana House of Representatives (during the first decade of the 1900s) and serve briefly as the governor of Indiana (from April of 1924 to January of 1925).

P.S. Speaking of “olive branch,” did you know that the maternal grandfather of Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall was named Isaiah Olive Branch Williams?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Emmett F. Branch (public domain)