“Jeopardy!” contestant named after IKEA furniture

Contestant Niklas Berry on the TV game show "Jeopardy!" (Jul. 2023)
Niklas Berry on “Jeopardy!“

Last week, the TV game show Jeopardy! featured a contestant named Nik Berry.

After introducing Nik to the audience, Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings asked Nik about his name:

Nik Berry, a social studies teacher, comes to us from Baltimore. Now, I know a lot of Niks, but you might be the only one who’s named after — what?

Nik responded,

Well, my parents wanted an alternate spelling of Nicholas, so they went with n-i-k-l-a-s because, when they were shopping at IKEA before my birth, they saw a shelf called the Niklas.

Hundreds of U.S. babies have been named Ikea, but this is the first person I know of who was named with a specific piece of IKEA furniture in mind.

According to IKEA’s Norwegian-language Navnekatalogen (“Name Directory”), the Niklas shelf was introduced in 1981. Here’s what it looked like:

IKEA Niklas (1981)
“Never say no to a good book”

What are your thoughts on the name Niklas?

(And, did you know that a handful of U.S. babies have been named after Jeopardy contestants?)

Sources: Contestant Zone – Jeopardy.com, Jeopardy! tweet (20 Jul. 2023)

Images: Screenshot of Jeopardy!; clipping from IKEA’s Navnekatalogen

Baby name stories: Parthenope and Florence

Florence and Frances Parthenope Nightingale (painted circa 1836 by William White)
Florence and Frances Parthenope Nightingale

Wealthy British couple William Nightingale and Frances “Fanny” Smith married in June of 1818. The Napoleonic Wars had ended several years earlier, so, now that it was safe to travel through Europe again, they decided to spend the first part of their marriage on the Grand Tour.

While abroad, they welcomed two daughters:

  1. Frances Parthenope (pronounced pahr-THEN-oh-pee), born in April, 1819
  2. Florence, born in May, 1820

Both baby girls were named after their birthplaces.

Frances Parthenope was born in Naples, which had been founded — as Neápolis, in the 6th century BC — in roughly the same spot as an earlier Greek colony known as Parthenope. Because of this, “Parthenope” is sometimes used as a poetic synonym for Naples. The Greek settlement was named after the Siren Parthenope, whose name was derived, in part, from the ancient Greek word parthenos, meaning “maiden, girl” or “virgin.”

Florence was born in Florence (of course), which is located about 300 miles northwest of Naples. The city’s name is based on the Latin word florens, meaning “flowering” or “flourishing.”

(Nowadays, both of these cities are part of Italy. During that era, however, Naples was part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Florence was part of Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and the unification of Italy was still 40 years away.)

The sisters, who went by the nicknames “Parthe” (PAHR-thee) and “Flo,” returned with their parents to England in 1821.

Younger sister Florence, who went on to become a nurse (despite her family’s opposition), rose to prominence in the mid-1850s while caring for wounded soldiers during the Crimean War. Today, Florence Nightingale is considered the founder of modern nursing.

Which name do you prefer, Parthenope or Florence?

Sources: Florence Nightingale – Wikipedia, Parthenope (Siren) – Wikipedia, Parthénos – Wiktionary, William Nightingale – Wikipedia

Image: Florence Nightingale; Frances Parthenope, Lady Verney by William White

Rickey Henderson was named after Ricky Nelson

Baseball player Rickey Henderson
Rickey Henderson

Hall of Fame baseball player Rickey Henderson wasn’t named after an earlier baseball player (as Ryne Sandberg was), but after a rock-and-roll singer.

His mother, Bobbie, was a Ricky Nelson fan and named her son after the actor-turned-musician.

Here’s the story:

Henderson was born on Christmas Day, 1958 in Chicago — more specifically, in the back seat of a ’57 Chevy. His father’s name was John L. Henley.

When Bobbie and John brought their newborn son home, they hadn’t chosen a name for him.

“The only name on my birth certificate,” Henderson said, “was Henley, no first name.”

Bobbie…eventually decided on Rickey Nelson Henley for her son. To this day, Henderson has no idea why his first name is spelled with an E.

After Rickey’s father passed away, his mother married a man named Paul Henderson.

Rickey Henderson went on to play major league baseball for 24 seasons. He currently holds the MLB records for both career stolen bases (set in 1991) and career runs (set in 2001).

Sources:

Baby named Scott, gets B.A.S.S. lifetime membership

Largemouth bass

In October of 1975 — while Roland Martin was competing in a bass fishing tournament in Tulsa, Oklahoma — his wife was MaryAnn went into labor.

As soon as he was off the water, Roland rushed to the hospital. His wife gave birth to a baby boy.

Not long after that, Roland was on the phone with his friend Ray Scott, founder of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.).

Ray asked what they were going to name the newborn. Roland said they hadn’t chosen a name yet.

So Ray said, “If you name him after me I’ll give him a B.A.S.S. Lifetime Membership.” Dad liked that idea and ran in to tell my mom. He was all excited about the Life Membership.

My mom’s reaction was, “No way. I’m not going to name him Ray. I don’t really like that name, and he doesn’t look like a Ray.”

So, Dad thought about that and said, “How about Scott?” Mom said, “Well I might be able to work with that.”

Scott Martin thinks he “might be the only person to get a B.A.S.S. Lifetime Membership at birth.”

Source: Sexton, Jim. “How Scott Martin was named after Ray Scott.” Bassmaster 25 May 2022.

Image: Adapted from Largemouth bass by Thecatsmilk under CC BY-SA 4.0.