Babies named for Fay Wray

Actress Fay Wray in the movie "King Kong" (1933)
Fay Wray in “King Kong“

Canadian-American actress Fay Wray appeared in films regularly from the 1920s to the 1950s. Her most memorable role was that of Ann Darrow, the object of King Kong’s affection in the now-classic monster movie King Kong (1933).

Dozens of U.S. baby girls have been named “Fay Wray” over the years, and it’s likely that those born during Wray’s career — particularly the early part of her career — were named with her in mind. Some examples…

Fay Wray was born Vina Fay Wray in Alberta, Canada, in 1907. She said in her autobiography:

That “Fay” is almost as a punctuation mark to the longer, fancier names my mother favored. She had been disappointed not to have had a boy, so my father took the opportunity to name me after both his wife and a former lady friend.

Because she never used Vina (the name she shared with her mother), she was known by the self-rhyming name Fay Wray throughout her life.

In her 80s, she observed, “People always ask me if Fay Wray is really my name.”

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Image: Screenshot of King Kong

Tom Morello named his baby after Randy Rhoads

Guitarist Randy Rhoads (1956-1982)
Randy Rhoads

Classically-trained heavy metal guitarist Randall “Randy” Rhoads is best remembered for his work with Ozzy Osbourne in the early 1980s. (You can hear him playing on “Crazy Train.”) Though he didn’t live long — he died in 1982, while on tour — his small but impressive body of work influenced a number of future rock guitarists.

One of those guitarists was Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine. Here’s what Morello told Rolling Stone a few years ago:

Randy Rhoads is my favorite guitar player of all time. It was his poster on my wall when I was practicing eight hours a day, and I named my firstborn son, Rhoads, after him.

Baby Rhoads was born in 2007.

Morello and his wife Denise welcomed their second son in 2011. This time they went for a sports name, choosing Roman in honor of 1960’s Los Angeles Rams quarterback Roman Gabriel. Again, Morello explained the decision in terms of posters:

That was the poster on my wall. Before I had rock and roll posters on my wall I had Roman Gabriel on my wall.

Which name do you like more, Rhoads or Roman?

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Image: Screenshot of a performance with Ozzy Osbourne [vid]

Baby named Tennys, becomes professional tennis player

American tennis player Tennys Sandgren
Tennis player Tennys Sandgren

Did you know that there’s an American professional tennis player named Tennys? (It’s pronounced just like the sport.)

Tennys Sandgren, who was born in 1991, was technically named after his great-grandfather Tennys — a first-generation American whose parents were Swedish immigrants. That said, his parents were inspired to pass the name down largely because they were avid tennis players. (They first met at a tennis club, in fact.)

Sandgren told the New York Times that having the name “Tennys” made him feel obligated to become a reasonably good tennis player:

I had a little bit of expectations just to be not terrible, because you can’t be named so similar to a sport and not be at least adequate at that sport. I don’t think there’s been expectations to be really good, because my parents never put that kind of pressure on me, but I had to be at least decent.

He also admitted that he uses a fake name in restaurants:

When I order sandwiches or coffee, I don’t give my name, I’ll say ‘David’ or something. It’s just not worth it. They never mess David up. I just want my sandwich; I just want my coffee.

In early 2020, Sandgren played Roger Federer in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. During a humorous pre-match interview [vid] with John McEnroe, Federer discussed his opponent’s first name:

JM: Finally, Roger […] your next match is against a guy — I think he’s got the greatest name for tennis in tennis history, his name’s Tennys Sandgren. I don’t know why his parents named him Tennys, but God bless them, cause he’s in the quarterfinals. And he’s the only American left. So what do you make of that, coming up in a couple days?

RF: He was not gonna be a baseball player, that’s for sure, with that name. It’s unreal, actually. I’m looking forward to playing against him, I’ve never played against Tennys. I’ve played a lot of tennis in my life, but never against Tennys.

So far, I haven’t been able to figure out the etymology of the name Tennys. It could be related to the Swedish name Tönnes, which is a diminutive of Antonius. It also reminds me of the English surname Tennyson, which ultimately comes from the personal name Denis.

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Image: Adapted from Tennys Sandgren Challenger of Dallas, Feb 2013 by Khall1323 under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Baby born to Charm City mayor, named Charm

Brandon Scott, mayor of Baltimore
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott

Brandon Scott, the mayor of Baltimore, met his partner Hana Pugh at the Charm City Live music festival in September of 2022.

(“Charm City” is one of Baltimore’s nicknames. It was coined in the mid-1970s by advertising executives who wanted to give the city’s reputation a boost.)

In July of 2023, Brandon announced via social media that he and Hana were expecting a baby. He even hinted at the baby’s name:

#Baltimore Baby Charm is on the way and will be arriving Winter 2024! Will Charm be a boy or girl?

The couple got engaged on Christmas. Their baby boy arrived the very next day.

His name? Charm Jamie Scott, as promised.

Do you think baby Charm’s arrival will influence the usage of the baby name Charm in Maryland in 2024?

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Image: Adapted from Brandon Scott Oct23 by Maryland AG under CC BY 2.0.