Where did the baby name Merrial come from in 1920?

Illustration of Merrial Houlton from the Rocky Mountain News (May 1920)
Merrial Houlton (with a suitor)

The rare name Merrial was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data in 1920:

  • 1922: unlisted
  • 1921: unlisted
  • 1920: 6 baby girls named Merrial [debut]
  • 1919: unlisted
  • 1918: unlisted

Where did it come from?

My guess is the story “Mice and Men,” which was serialized in various U.S. and Canadian newspapers that year.

The main character was a young American woman, Merrial Houlton — “an amazing wisp of a girl, who was equally at home on the back of a bucking broncho or presiding over the ‘tea things’ in a Boston drawing room” — who had traveled to England to visit her late mother’s family.

The story was written by Katharine Newlin Burt, a prolific author whose novels (mostly Westerns) were published from the 1910s to the 1970s. Originally from New York, Burt spent much of her adult life in Wyoming on her husband’s Bar BC Dude Ranch (which was later incorporated into Grand Teton National Park).

What are your thoughts on the baby name Merrial?

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the Rocky Mountain News (16 May 1920)

How did Jet magazine’s “Beauties of the Week” influence baby names?

Taren Sims as the "Beauty of the Week" in Jet magazine (Oct. 1981)
Taren Sims in Jet magazine

Jet was a pocket-sized weekly magazine focused on African-American news and entertainment. While it was being published in print (1951-2014), Jet was “a ubiquitous presence in black communities” — particularly in places like barbershops and beauty parlors.

Most issues of Jet included a full-length portrait of an attractive young woman wearing a swimsuit. The accompanying text revealed the woman’s name and location, plus a few other details (e.g., body measurements, occupation, college major, and/or hobbies). In late 1975, Jet began referring to each of these women as the “Beauty of the Week” in the table of contents.

We’ve already discussed several baby name-popularizing “Beauties of the Week” (Annazette, Debraca, Meyosha, Tchanavian, and Tijwana), but how many others had a similar effect?

To find out, I flipped through every single 20th-century issue of Jet, gathered all the “Beauty of the Week” names, and checked these names in the U.S. baby name data. The result? More than two dozen likely cases of influence…

Ouida
Ouida Williams, a dancer from St. Louis, was featured in Jet in July of 1953. The baby name Ouida saw an uptick in usage the same year.

Meiling
Mei Ling Leung, a college student in Los Angeles, was featured in Jet in April of 1960. The baby name Meiling debuted in the data the same year.

Dollicia Holloway as the featured beauty in Jet magazine (Oct. 1961)
Dollicia Holloway in Jet magazine

Dollicia
Dollicia Holloway, a legal secretary from Long Island, was featured in Jet in October of 1961. The baby name Dollicia debuted in the data the next year.

Kaaron
Kaaron Sidney, a keypunch operator from Chicago, was featured in Jet in May of 1962. The baby name Kaaron was a one-hit wonder in the data the same year.

Darien
Darien Daniels, an actress from Los Angeles, was featured in Jet in June of 1968. The baby name Darien saw an uptick in usage (as a girl name) the same year.

Sharmeen
Sharmeen Caldwell, a model from Memphis, was featured in Jet in November of 1972. The baby name Sharmeen debuted in the data the same year.

Cherisse
Cherisse Wilson, a model from Detroit, was featured in Jet in September of 1973. The baby name Cherisse saw increased usage the same year.

Cherron
Cher’ron Burrell, a beauty pageant winner from Dallas, was featured in Jet in April of 1974. The baby name Cherron peaked in usage the same year.

Kimara
Kimara Parker, a model from Chicago, was featured in Jet in October of 1974. The baby name Kimara saw increased usage the same year.

Shayla Simpson as the featured beauty in Jet magazine (Apr. 1977)
Shayla Simpson in Jet magazine

Shayla
Shayla Simpson, a model from Washington, D.C., was featured in Jet in April of 1977. The baby name Shayla saw increased usage the same year. (From 1977 to 1991, Shayla Simpson was also the commentator of the Ebony Fashion Fair. Both Jet and Ebony ran photos of her regularly during this period. On her website, Shayla notes that “she has met over 350 babies who were named “Shayla” in her honor.”)

Treina
Treina Booker, a model from Los Angeles, was featured in Jet in March of 1979. The baby name Treina peaked in usage the same year.

Nivia
Nivia Souffront, a model of Puerto Rican descent, was featured in Jet in December of 1979. The baby name Nivia peaked in usage the next year.

Lavasia
Lavasia Butcher, a model from Los Angeles, was featured in Jet in February of 1981. The same year, the baby name Lavasia both debuted in the data and reached peak usage.

Lakaii
Lakaii S. Tae, a singer and dancer from Los Angeles, was featured in Jet in October of 1981. The baby name Lakaii debuted in the data the same year.

Taren
Taren Sims, a flight attendant from Jersey City, was featured in Jet in October of 1981. The baby name Taren saw a spike in usage the next year.

Cassaundra
Cassaundra Anderson, an aspiring model from Richmond, Virginia, was featured in Jet in July of 1982. The baby name Cassaundra saw increased usage the same year.

Chartese
Chartese Berry, a student at Georgetown University, was featured in Jet in February of 1983. The baby name Chartese was a one-hit wonder in the data the same year.

Jakki Davis as the "Beauty of the Week" in Jet magazine (Sept. 1984)
Jakki Davis in Jet magazine

Jakki
Jakki Davis, a Cancerian from Seattle, was featured in Jet in September of 1984. The baby name Jakki saw an uptick in usage the same year.

Fotini
Fotini Williams, a secretary from Chicago, was featured in Jet in October of 1984. The baby name Fotini saw an uptick in usage the same year.

Yoshani
Yoshani Wije, “a native of the island nation Sri Lanka,” was featured in Jet in January of 1989. The baby name Yoshani was a one-hit wonder in the data the same year.

Tai
Tai Keart, a model and dancer from Los Angeles, was featured in Jet in April of 1991. The baby name Tai saw an uptick in usage the same year.

Tonisha
Tonisha Joyner, a nursery school teacher from Chesapeake, Virginia, was featured in Jet in September of 1992. The baby name Tonisha saw increased usage the same year.

Anetra
Anetra Reinhart, a model from Louisville, was featured in Jet in May of 1993. The baby name Anetra saw an uptick in usage the same year.

Najha Phillips as the "Beauty of the Week" in Jet magazine (Aug. 1993)
Najha Phillips in Jet magazine

Najha
Najha Phillips, a model from Washington, D.C., was featured in Jet in August of 1993. The baby name Najha debuted in the data the same year.

Talani
Talani Rabb, a model from Hawthorne, California, was featured in Jet in March of 1996. The baby name Talani debuted in the data the next year. (In 2009, Talani married Wu-Tang Clan member Robert Fitzgerald “RZA” Diggs — whose stage name became a baby name in 2023.)

Irian
Irian Thomas, a college student, was featured in Jet in March of 1999. The baby name Irian saw an uptick in usage the next year.

Which of the above names do you like the most?

P.S. Covergirl Jacy De Souza was also a two-time “Beauty of the Week” in 1961…

Sources:

Images: Clippings from Jet magazine (12 Oct. 1961; 7 Apr. 1977; 29 Oct. 1981; 3 Sept. 1984; 30 Aug. 1993)

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?

Sources:

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)