Where did the baby name Micheaux come from in 1983?

College basketball player Larry Micheaux
Larry Micheaux

The curious name Micheaux surfaced in the U.S. baby name data for two years during the 1980s:

  • 1985: unlisted
  • 1984: 5 baby boys named Micheaux
  • 1983: 16 baby boys named Micheaux (debut)
  • 1982: unlisted
  • 1981: unlisted

Why?

Because of college basketball player Larry Micheaux (pronounced MEE-shaw).

Micheaux was a member of the University of Houston’s successful “Phi Slama Jama” teams of the early 1980s. His teammates included future NBA stars Akeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.

During his last two years of college, Micheaux helped the Houston Cougars reach the NCAA Final Four (in 1982) and the NCAA National Championship Game (in 1983).

(In 1982, Houston lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels, featuring freshman phenom Michael Jordan, in the semifinals. The following year, after memorably defeating the Louisville Cardinals, a.k.a. the “Doctors of Dunk,” in the semifinals, Houston was upset by the North Carolina State Wolfpack in the championship game.)

Micheaux played in the NBA for a couple of seasons after college, but spent most of his professional career in Europe.

The French surname Micheaux can be traced back to the personal name Michel, which is the French form of Michael.

What are your thoughts on Micheaux as a first name?

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Image: Screenshot of Larry Micheaux during the 1983 NCAA Championship Game

What gave the baby name Corliss a boost in the 1920s?

Movie actress Corliss Palmer (1899-1952)
Corliss Palmer

According to the U.S. baby name data, the uncommon name Corliss started seeing more usage in the early 1920s:

  • 1924: 30 baby girls named Corliss
  • 1923: 25 baby girls named Corliss
  • 1922: 21 baby girls named Corliss
  • 1921: 6 baby girls named Corliss
  • 1920: 6 baby girls named Corliss

Why?

Because of Corliss Palmer, a Georgia-born actress who was best known for her association with a married millionaire.

In 1920, Corliss entered the “Fame and Fortune” contest being advertised in a trio of fan magazines: Motion Picture Magazine, Motion Picture Classic, and Shadowland.

All three of these magazines were published by wealthy businessman Eugene V. Brewster, who hoped that hosting the annual contest would help him discover “prospective stars.” (The contest did, in fact, launch the careers of Glenda Farrell, Mary Astor, and Clara Bow.)

Corliss was declared the winner of the contest in early 1921, and, for the next few years, Brewster promoted her heavily in his magazines. She was the subject of numerous articles, and her name and image were used to advertise products like face powder and perfume.

More significantly, Corliss and Brewster became romantically involved. Corliss even moved into Brewster’s home — much to the chagrin of Brewster’s wife.

News of the affair broke when Mrs. Brewster filed a separation suit against her husband in late 1922. She named Corliss in the suit.

Corliss Palmer and Eugene V. Brewster (in 1924)
Corliss Palmer and Eugene V. Brewster

Further developments — such as Brewster buying a quarter-million dollar estate in New Jersey to share with Corliss in January of 1924, and Mrs. Brewster suing Corliss for alienation of affection three months later — kept Corliss Palmer in the headlines for several years.

Finally, in late 1926, Brewster — whose wife had refused to grant him a divorce — went go Mexico and got one anyway. The next day, he married Corliss.

Soon after, it was announced that the lawsuits had been settled out of court, and that Brewster had sold his movie magazines as part of the settlement.

During the latter half of the 1920s, Corliss appeared in a string of grade-B movies, usually as a secondary character.

In 1931, amid the Great Depression, Brewster filed for bankruptcy. Corliss and Brewster separated in 1932, and divorced in 1933.

The newspapers claimed that the actress’s full name was Corliss Modena Palmer, but she’s listed as “Helen” on the 1900 U.S. Census (as a one-year-old) and as “Caroline” on the 1910 U.S. Census.

The English surname Corliss derives from an Old Norse word meaning “careless” (i.e., a nickname for a carefree person). What are your thoughts on Corliss as a first name?

Sources:

Image: Clippings from Motion Picture Classic (Dec. 1920) and the Americus Times-Recorder (3 Dec. 1924)

What gave the baby name Nile a boost in 1940?

College football player Nile Kinnick, Jr. (1918-1943)
Nile Kinnick, Jr.

According to the U.S. baby name data, the uncommon name Nile saw an uptick in usage in 1940:

  • 1942: 25 baby boys named Nile (6 born in Iowa)
  • 1941: 25 baby boys named Nile
  • 1940: 39 baby boys named Nile (12 born in Iowa)
  • 1939: 28 baby boys named Nile (7 born in Iowa)
  • 1938: 21 baby boys named Nile

Why?

Because of Nile Clarke Kinnick, Jr., who played football at the University of Iowa.

The Iowa Hawkeyes — after winning a single game in 1937, and another single game in 1938 — had an unexpectedly successful 1939 season. Under new coach Eddie Anderson, the team compiled a 6-1-1 record overall and finished second in the Big Ten Conference.

Leading the charge was senior Nile Kinnick, a halfback who — by “passing, running or kicking” — “was directly involved in 107 of Iowa’s 130 points that season.”

Thanks to his stellar performance on the field, Nile Kinnick won almost every major national award, including the Heisman Trophy, the Walter Camp Memorial Trophy, and the Maxwell Award.

Kinnick’s celebrity became so strong, he was named 1939’s top male athlete in the country by the Associated Press. The honor was particularly noteworthy considering his competition included Joe DiMaggio, Joe Louis and Byron Nelson.

Among his namesakes were Nile Clarke Andersen, born in Iowa in late 1939, and Nile Kinnick Clarke, born in Washington state in 1946 (to Nile Kinnick’s first cousin, Fred).

After college, Nile Kinnick turned down an offer to join the NFL. Instead, he went to law school.

But a year later, when it seemed likely that the U.S. would enter World War II, he left law school and enlisted in the Naval Air Corps Reserve. He died during a training flight off the coast of Venezuela in 1943.

In 1972, Iowa’s football stadium, simply called Iowa Stadium, was renamed Kinnick Stadium in honor of Nile Kinnick. And by the early 2000s, enough babies were being named after the stadium every year that the name Kinnick began popping up in the U.S. baby name data.

What are your thoughts on the name Nile? (Do you like it more or less than the similar name Niles?)

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the Imperial Valley Press (11 Dec. 1939)

Celebrity baby name: True

American actor Forest Whitaker
Forest Whitaker

Actor Forest Whitaker and his late ex-wife, Keisha Nash, were the parents of four children:

  • Ocean, b. 1990 (Forest’s son from a previous relationship)
  • Autumn, b. 1991 (Keisha’s daughter from a previous relationship)
  • Sonnet, b. 1996 (daughter)
  • True, b. 1998 (daughter)

Their youngest, True Whitaker, was interviewed several days after the birth of Khloé Kardashian’s daughter True (in April of 2018). In the interview, she told the story behind her name:

Whitaker discovered that her parents originally planned to name her Truth before deciding on True, which was inspired by Lauryn Hill‘s version of “Can’t Take My Eyes off of You” by Frankie Valli. “I remember to this day my mother singing the lyrics ‘You’re just too good to be True’ to me in my little cradle.”

True Whitaker’s birth did not noticeably affect the usage of the baby name True in the late ’90s, but the birth of her older sister did give the rare name Sonnet a boost in 1997.

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Image: Adapted from Forest Whitaker by David Shankbone under CC BY 2.0.