How did 4-H influence U.S. baby names?

4-H logo ("emblem").

The 4-H youth organization was officially established by the U.S. government in the 1914. (Those four H’s come from the group’s original motto, “head, heart, hands, and health.”) The initial focus was agricultural and home economics activities, and the initial participants were rural youth.

In 1922, 4-H started hosting an annual congress at which national-level awards were bestowed. And at least two of these top-level award winners — whose names and photos often ran in the papers — had a slight influence on U.S. baby names.

The first 4-H name to debut was Clarabeth:

  • 1937: unlisted
  • 1936: 6 baby girls named Clarabeth [debut]
  • 1935: unlisted

The second was Nawatha:

  • 1942: unlisted
  • 1941: 5 baby girls named Nawatha [debut]
  • 1940: unlisted

Both were one-hit wonders.

Clarabeth Zehring, 17, of Ohio.
Clarabeth Zehring

Clarabeth was inspired by 17-year-old Clarabeth Zehring of Germantown, Ohio. She was the national winner of the 4-H dress-making competition in late 1935. First she won in her category (“school dress”) and, along with three other category winners, received a gold wrist watch. Upon being the one chosen (out of the four) to win the national title, Clarabeth also got a solid gold medal.

Nawatha was inspired by 20-year-old Nawatha L. Krebs of Eufaula, Oklahoma. She was the female winner of the National Achievement Award (there was a male winner as well) in late 1940. She won a silver flatware set and a college scholarship.

And, check this out — I happened to find some proof that Nawatha’s name being in the newspapers had an influence on expectant parents:

About the time Nawatha was winning her 4-H award, a family in McAlester [Oklahoma] had a new baby, a girl. The mother had seen Nawatha’s picture in the paper, fell in love with the unusual name and named her baby Nawatha.

The two Nawathas later learned of one another after both had moved to California and both had tried to get a California license plate that said “NAWATHA.” The younger one, who had the idea first, got the plate. The older one was stuck with the plate “NWATHA” instead.

Which of today’s names, Clarabeth or Nawatha, do you like more? Why?

Sources:

Baby named for Grace Coolidge

First Lady Grace Coolidge
Grace Coolidge

Yesterday we talked about Calvin Coolidge, so today here’s a quick story involving his wife, Grace:

In October of 1926, several earthquakes struck Turkey and Armenia. (They were centered near the city of Kars.)

American medical personnel set up in Leninakan (now Gyumri) to help the survivors. In the week following the first quake, dozens of babies were born in the American tent hospital. The first of these babies was a girl that the American nurses “named Grace Coolidge Dubenikan, in honor of the first lady of the United States.”

Source: “Triplets Among Seven Babies Born in Armenian Quake Area.” Reading Eagle 1 Nov. 1926: 14.

Baby name story: Seattle No. 3 Yukon Woodpile

Mollie Walsh

Mary “Mollie” Walsh was a young Irishwoman who operated a grub tent in the Yukon during the Klondike gold rush. She was “known among the stampeders for her beauty and cheerfulness.”

One of Mollie’s suitors* was Mike Bartlett, who ran a pack train business out of Dawson City with his brothers. She moved to Dawson and married Mike in 1898.

In August of 1900, the couple welcomed a baby boy while traveling on a steamboat. His name? Leon Edward Seattle No. 3 Yukon Woodpile Bartlett. “Leon” was Mollie’s choice, “Edward” was in honor of an uncle, and the rest of it was thrown in by Mike (and others):

Seattle No. 3 was the name of the boat on which he was born, and the crew insisted on it being a part of the name. Yukon was inserted out of deference to the icy river, and Woodpile because of the fact that on the day he was born the boat was taking on a pile of wood from a big woodpile, 73 miles above Rampart.

Poor Leon wouldn’t have his parents around for long, though. In 1901, Mollie left Mike for a packer named John Lynch. In October of 1902, after an attempted reconciliation, Mike shot and killed Mollie. In late 1903, Mike went on trial for murder, and was acquitted by reason of insanity. (The newspaper coverage of the trial noted that little Leon had “only recently succeeded in memorizing his own name.”) Finally, in 1905, Mike killed himself via hanging.

At the time of the 1910 Census, orphaned Leon was living with his uncle Edward Bartlett in Seattle. By the time Leon got married in 1931, he was living in Washington state and his occupation was “soldier.” Notably, none of the later records I found for Leon included the middle names “Seattle No. 3,” “Yukon,” or “Woodpile.”

Sources:

*Decades later, in 1930, one of Mollie’s other gold rush suitors, Jack Newman, commissioned the bronze bust of Mollie above. It’s still on display in Skagway, Alaska.

Baby name story: Storm

Dutch Merchant - Ships in a Storm (1670s) by Ludolf Bakhuizen

In October of 1636, Albert Andriessen Bradt and his wife Annetje* boarded the Wapen Van Rensselaerwyck in Amsterdam and set off for the New World. They arrived in New Netherland in March of 1637.

During the sea voyage, they welcomed their third child. He was born on November 2 during a violent storm, and so they named him Storm, fittingly. (The word is the same in both Dutch and English.)

During his early adulthood, Storm adopted the surname van der Zee, meaning “from/of the sea.” This was the surname he gave his wife Hilletje and their four children: Annatje Storm, Gerrit Storm, Wouter Stormsz, and Albert. (The “sz” ending in Dutch names is a contraction of –s zoon, or “-‘s son.”)

Storm Vanderzee’s first name ended up being passed down to many people — not just to his direct descendants, but also to the descendants of his seven siblings, and even to one of the children his widow had with her second husband (!).

What are your thoughts on the name Storm?

*Interestingly, neither one was Dutch by birth: Albert was originally from Norway, and Annetje was originally from Germany.

Sources: Storm Vanderzee – New York State Museum, Albert Andriessen Bradt – Wikipedia, Albert Andriessen Bradt (1607-1686) – WikiTree, Hilletie Lansing Vanderzee Ketelhuyn – New York State Museum, Hard to Kill (1990) – IMDb

P.S. The baby name Storm saw a steep rise in usage (as a boy name) in the U.S. in 1990. The next year, it reached the top 1,000 for the first time and remained there until 1997. Why the jump? My guess is the 1990 movie Hard to Kill, in which star Steven Seagal played Detective Mason Storm.