“Covered Wagon Babies” named for their birthplaces

"Emigrants crossing the plains" by F. O. C. Darley

In September of 1850, California became the 31st state to enter the Union.

In September of 1925, to celebrate 75 years of statehood, the city of San Francisco hosted a week of festivities. Events included parades, concerts, banquets, balls, exhibitions, automobile races, athletic competitions, a fashion show, a beauty contest, and more.

Charmingly, the organizers of the Diamond Jubilee celebration also rounded up and honored about fifty of California’s “covered wagon babies” — individuals who’d been born in covered wagons en route to California during the pioneer era. A banquet was held for them on the 8th, and they were featured in the Admission Day parade on the 9th.

Among the “babies” were several who’d been named after their birthplaces:

  • Willow Springs Shearer, born in a covered wagon in Willow Springs, Wyoming, on July 16, 1849.
  • William Nebraska Winter, born in a covered wagon near the Platte River in Nebraska on May 12, 1853.
  • Elijah Carson Hart, born in a covered wagon in Carson City, Nevada, on September 9, 1857.
  • Deseret Moe, born in a covered wagon in Deseret, Utah, on September 22, 1862.
  • James Carson Needham, born in a covered wagon in Carson City, Nevada, on September 17, 1864.
    • He went on to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives for seven successive terms (from 1899 to 1913).
  • Truckee Nevada Steward, born in a covered wagon near the Truckee River in Nevada on September 23, 1869.
    • He was born several months after the completion of the first transcontinental railroad.

One of the other “babies” was born in a covered wagon at Sutter’s Fort (in Sacramento) in July of 1849. The gold miners there suggested that she be named Poppy, “for the glorious flower which carpets the hills and valleys of the state,” but her parents “decided that Celesta Ann was more to their liking and Celesta Ann it was.”

P.S. After the Jubilee, a state-wide “Covered Wagon Babies Club,” comprising well over 100 members was organized by J. C. Needham. Meetings were held annually, in September, for about a decade.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Emigrants crossing the plains (LOC)

Sasheer Zamata’s name came from “Star Trek”

Actress and comedian Sasheer Zamata on the TV talk show "The Talk" (Oct. 2024)
Sasheer Zamata on “The Talk“

In her stand-up act, actress and comedian Sasheer Zamata (pronounced sah-SHEER zah-MAY-tah) mentions that her parents created her unique first name from a word they heard while watching the sci-fi TV series Star Trek.

Here’s how she told the story on The Talk in October:

Captain Kirk was flirting with this alien princess, as he does, and he handed her a rose. And she was like, “Oh, we have something like this on my planet, except it’s made out of crystal and its called sahsheer.” And my parents wrote it down, [and] named me years later.

That sahsheer scene was part of the episode “By Any Other Name,” which first aired in February of 1968. My hunch is that Zamata’s parents were watching a re-run during the early 1980s, because Zamata wasn’t born until mid-1986.

Here’s the relevant dialogue from “By Any Other Name” between Capt. James T. Kirk and the alien woman Kelinda (of the planet Kelva):

Kelinda: (picks a flower, smells it) These are lovely. Captain Kirk, what is it you call them?

Kirk: Flowers. I don’t know the variety.

Kelinda: Our memory tapes tell us of such things on Kelva. Crystals that form with such rapidity, they seem to grow. They look like this fragile thing, somewhat. We call them sahsheer.

Kirk: (mumbles) A rose by any other name.

Kelinda: Captain?

Kirk: A quote from a great human poet, Shakespeare. “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

I’m not sure how many other babies were named after the flower-shaped crystals, but we know that at least a few were named after Kelinda…

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of The Talk

Baby name story: Rex and Hillary

New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary (1919-2008)
Edmund Hillary

On June 2, 1953, twin boys were born to Mr. and Mrs. N. Stephens of Auckland, New Zealand.

In the headlines that day were two major events:

  1. The coronation of Elizabeth II as queen of the United Kingdom. Her coronation service, the first to be televised, took place mid-day at Westminster Abbey.
  2. The announcement that a pair of mountaineers, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal, had reached the summit of Mt. Everest on May 29.

The commemorate these two events, the baby boys were named Rex and Hillary.

(When the twins themselves were in the papers several days later, it was noted that the Stephens family might give Rex the additional name Philip, in honor of Prince Philip.)

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay by Jamling Tenzing Norgay under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Singaporean siblings named Ivfen, Ivfeno, Ivfy

In vitro fertilization (IVF)
In vitro fertilization (IVF)

In the early 1990s, Singaporean couple Benson and Vivien Foong decided to seek medical assistance because they’d been unable to conceive a child during the first eight years of their marriage.

They spent another year “trying methods like taking fertility pills, carefully timing sex and artificial insemination.” But nothing worked.

Finally, as a last resort, they turned to IVF (in vitro fertilization).

The treatment was successful, allowing the Foongs to have their first child, a baby girl.

As “a tribute to the procedure, which was a miracle to them,” the couple decided to incorporate the letter sequence I-V-F into their daughter’s name, Ivfen (pronounced iev-fern).

Two years later, the Foongs welcomed a set of twins, one boy and one girl, again with the help of IVF.

They named their son Ivfeno (pronounced iev-fern-o) and their second daughter Ivfy (pronounced iev-fee).

Source: Teng, Amelia. “Ivfen, Ivfeno, and Ivfy: Why the names of 3 Singaporean siblings begin with the letters IVF.” Straits Times 21 Jul. 2018.

Image: Adapted from ICSI intracytoplasmic sperm injection (public domain)