Triplets named for peace treaty politicians

Triplets boys Sadat, Begin, and Carter born near Tel Aviv in April of 1979.
Triplet boys Sadat, Begin, and Carter

On March 26, 1979, the Egypt-Israel peace treaty was signed by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin. The signing took place in Washington, D.C., and was witnessed by U.S. president Jimmy Carter.

About a week later, on April 3, triplets were born to Israeli-Arab parents Ibrahim and Hitam Kidasa at a hospital near Tel Aviv.

In honor of the treaty, they named their three newborn boys Sadat, Begin, and Carter.

“When the boys were born I truly believed in coexistence,” Ibrahim said in 2010.

(Unfortunately, 2010 was also the year Ibrahim’s son Begin was shot and killed. By that time, “Ibrahim [had] lost the hope that drove him to name his three sons after a historic peace.”)

Sources:

Neva, not named for Nevada

American actress Neva Patterson (in 1952)
Neva Patterson

I mentioned actress Neva Patterson in yesterday’s post about Diana Lynn.

Neva was born Neva Louise Patterson in 1920, on an Iowa farm close to the town of Nevada (pronounced nev-AY-duh).

So she must have been named for her birthplace, right?

Nope.

Her name isn’t a contraction of Nevada. Instead, it came from one of her mother’s friends.

According to a 2002 article in the Des Moines Register, Neva had “spent much of her life explaining that she really wasn’t named for her hometown.”

Do you like the name Neva? (How would you pronounce it?)

Source: Nelson, Valerie J. “Neva Patterson dies at 90.” Los Angeles Times 16 Dec. 2010.

Image: Screenshot of the TV series Suspense (29 Jul. 1952)

[Latest update: Apr. 2024]

Baby born to Liverpool F.C. fans, named Tia

Liverpool F.C. logo
Liverpool F.C. logo

Kent Roger Solheim of Norway is a big fan of Liverpool F.C.

When he and his partner Carine Heum welcomed their first daughter in early 2018, they named her Ynwa Sofie — YNWA being the acronym for “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” the club’s anthem. They pronounce the name unn-wah.*

And when they welcomed their second daughter this past July, they went with another Liverpool-inspired name: Tia Louise — TIA being the acronym for “This is Anfield,” which refers to the club’s stadium.

Kent said that, if the baby had been a boy, they would have named him George Gerrard — “Gerrard” after former Liverpool player Steven Gerrard, no doubt.

*Another family in Norway with a baby named Ynwa went with the pronunciation yee-nwa.

Source: Bona, Emilia. “Liverpool fans who named baby Ynwa have second child with LFC-inspired name.” Liverpool Echo 31 Jul. 2019.

Image: Adapted from Liverpool F.C. logo (fair use)

Baby name story: Alexander Duncan

In November of 1936, during the Siege of Madrid, many people sought refuge in the city’s foreign embassies.

But only the British Embassy saw the arrival of a baby boy.

He was born to British Embassy cook Josefina Ruiz Torrubiano, who named him Mariano Fernandez [sic?] Alexander Duncan Torrubiano Y Ruiz.

Why “Alexander” and “Duncan”?

The third and fourth names commemorate the assistance of members of the Scottish ambulance corps during the delivery.

And I’m assuming his second name was actually Fernando, even though all the newspapers wrote it “Fernandez.”

Which of the four given names do you like best: Mariano, Fernando, Alexander, or Duncan?

Source: “War Baby Born in British Embassy.” Evening Independent [St. Petersburg] 28 Nov. 1936: 1.