Baby born during Cyclone Rene, named Rene

hurricane

In February of 2010, Tropical Cyclone Rene brushed past American Samoa in the South Pacific. The storm came closest to the U.S. territory on February 13.

The night before, a baby girl was born at American Samoa’s LBJ Tropical Medical Center.

The hospital’s emergency team had been camping at the hospital in preparation for the cyclone that night.

The head of the delivery department, Dr. John Ah Ching, says the mother came in with complications and having all the necessary staff present may have saved the baby’s life.

I don’t know the baby’s full name, but she was “named after Cyclone Rene,” according to my source.

P.S. The Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) Tropical Medical Center, which was named after the first and only U.S. president to visit American Samoa, opened in June of 1968. “The first admitted patient was a baby about to be delivered. He received the name Lyndon.”

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Image: Hurricane Elena by NASA

Baby born in Colorado City, named Colorado

Birth announcement for Colorado Johnson (1859)
Colorado Johnson’s birth announcement

On August 13, 1859 — during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush — the settlement of Colorado City was established in western Kansas Territory (near the base of Pikes Peak itself). The abundance of red sandstone in the area is what inspired the founders to use the Spanish word colorado, meaning “red,” in the settlement’s name.

A mere two weeks later, Colorado City welcomed its first baby. The Rocky Mountain News (which was just four months old at the time) published the following announcement:

BIRTH. — Born in Colorado City, Aug. 28th, Colorado Johnson, son of Mr. and Mrs. [William] Johnson, late of Pensylvania [sic].

In consideration of its being the first birth in the embryo city of Colorado, a share of eight lots was donated to the new comer.

Colorado City became part of the newly organized Colorado Territory in 1861. (Interestingly, the territory was not named after the city, but after the Colorado River, whose headwaters were located within the boundary of the territory.) Today, the settlement is a neighborhood within the city of Colorado Springs.

P.S. Colorado City was founded several weeks before the settlements of Auraria and Denver to the north.

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Image: Clipping from the Rocky Mountain News (10 Sept. 1859)

Baby name story: Patrick

Australian cyclist Patricia "Pat" Hawkins (1921-1991)
Patricia “Pat” Hawkins

In March of 1940, an 18-year-old woman from Perth named Patricia “Pat” Hawkins broke several Australian cycling records, including the “seven days” record (by cycling 1546.6 miles in a week) and the women’s “1,000 mile” record (with a time of 104 hours and 9 minutes).

On the night of March 14, a baby was born at Perth’s Harrisdale Hospital, which is located on the Canning Highway.

Pat Hawkins frequently passed the hospital on her record-breaking ride, [and] won the admiration of the mother who decided to name her baby Patricia. As the baby was a boy she changed the name to Patrick.

P.S. Did you know what the Canning Highway is the road being referenced in the title of the 1979 AC/DC song “Highway to Hell“?

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Image: Clipping from the Sporting Globe (20 Mar. 1940)

Where did the baby name Kessel come from in 2017?

Hockey player Phil Kessel
Phil Kessel

The rare name Kessel was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data in 2017:

  • 2019: unlisted
  • 2018: unlisted
  • 2017: 5 baby boys named Kessel [debut]
  • 2016: unlisted
  • 2015: unlisted

Where did it come from?

Professional hockey player Philip “Phil” Kessel.

During the second half of the 2010s, Kessel played with the Pittsburgh Penguins (alongside teammate Sidney Crosby). The team won the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons: 2016 and 2017.

The name Kessel does not appear anywhere in the SSA’s state-by-state data, meaning that Pennsylvania was not the birthplace of all five of the baby boys named Kessel (curiously). We do know that at least one of the winger’s namesakes was born inside the Keystone State, though — to Pittsburgh parents Nicole and Adam Hillman. Their baby boy, Kessel Ryan Hillman, arrived in May of 2017 (during the Eastern Conference Finals).

The German surname Kessel is derived from a Middle High German word meaning “kettle, cauldron.” It originally referred to a person who made copper cooking vessels.

What are your thoughts on Kessel as a first name?

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Image: Adapted from Phil Kessel 2017-06-08 by Michael Miller under CC BY-SA 4.0.