Baby name story: Louis Francis

The 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, which commemorated the Louisiana Purchase, included “anthropological exhibits” — essentially, various groups of indigenous people put on display. These exhibits included Apaches, “Eskimos” (Tlingits), African Pygmies, and the Ainu of Japan.

One particularly popular exhibit was the 47-acre Philippine Exposition, which featured over 1,000 Filipinos from at least 10 different ethnic groups. (The fair was held soon after the Philippines had become an unincorporated territory of the U.S. following the Philippine-American War* (1899-1902), which itself followed the Spanish-American War.)

On July 6, a Filipino baby boy was born at the Philippine Exposition. When he was christened several weeks later, David R. Francis — the president of the fair (and the former governor of Missouri) — acted as godfather.

The boy’s full name? Louis Francis Silva, first and middle names “in honor of St. Louis and President Francis,” respectively.

Sources:

Image: Philippine Exposition pamphlet

*The military governor of the Philippines from from 1901 to 1902 was Adna Romanza Chaffee, Sr. — the father of Adna Romanza Chaffee, Jr., after whom Fort Chaffee was named.

Baby names in the news: Kent, Valley, Nolan

Some recent and not-so-recent baby names from the news…

Kent: A baby boy born in Michigan in September of 2020 while his parents were on their way to the hospital was named Nolan Kent — middle name after the road on which he was born. (Fox 2, via Clare’s Name News)

Nolan: A baby boy born in St. Louis on April 8, 2021 — St. Louis Cardinals opening day — was named Nolan after baseball player Nolan Arenado. The name was chosen just after his parents heard sports broadcaster Dan McLaughlin say (during the 8th inning): “Arenado, a drive, deep left, at the wall! Welcome to St. Louis, Nolan!” (FOX2now)

Valley: A baby girl born in February of 2021 in Louisiana, in the parking lot of a nursing home called Valley View, was named Ariana Valley. (KALB)

Baby name story: Justice

Bob Marley album
Bob Marley album

Reggae legend Bob Marley (born Robert Nesta Marley) died in mid-1981 of cancer.

Marley didn’t leave a will, so what followed was a ten-year battle over his estate, which was worth tens of millions of dollars. The estate’s court-appointed administrator was apparently “a conservative lawyer who had not liked Marley when he was alive and who […] seemed bent on taking as much as possible from those who had been closest to the deceased.”

On December 9, 1991, the Jamaican Supreme Court ruled in favor of Marley’s widow Alpharita Constantia “Rita” Marley, his 11* recognized children, and his record company.

As luck would have it, the very same day, Marley’s adult son Ziggy (born David Nesta Marley) welcomed a baby girl. Her name? Justice, “in honor of the court decision.”

*Only three of the children — Cedella, Ziggy, and Stephen — were both Bob’s and Rita’s biologically.

Sources:

Baby name story: Cheyenne

Cheyenne helicopter

A few years ago, a San Francisco newspaper ran a profile of fallen soldier Sgt. Cheyenne Willey (1969-2005), who’d died in combat near Baghdad. The profile noted that Cheyenne had been “[n]amed for the helicopter that helped his father out of a scrape in Vietnam.”

That helicopter must have been the Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne attack helicopter, which was used by the Army in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

(This story makes me wonder if the baby name Sioux, which started popping up in the U.S. data in the ’50s, wasn’t influenced by the Korean War’s “Angel of Mercy” Bell H-13 Sioux helicopter.)

Source: “Profiles of the Lost.” East Bay Times 14 Mar. 2010.