Maybe they didn’t have voices then, but lots of the silent screen stars did have intriguingly exotic looks and equally exotic names–even if many of them were invented by studio publicists. Theda Bara, for example, the quintessential vamp, was not the Egyptian-born daughter of a French actress and an Italian sculptor whose name was an anagram of Arab Death, as the PR people proclaimed to the public, but was actually Cincinnati-born Theodosia Goodman, daughter of a Jewish tailor. Likewise, Nita Naldi’s real last name was Dooley, Olga Petrova was born Muriel Hardy and Alla Nazimova’s birth name was Miriam Leventon.
But real or concocted, these names–primarily short, with two-syllables and heavy on the vowels–still retain vestiges of that sultry 1900’s-1920’s glamour, and could have some vintage appeal today:
LYA
ORMI
VOLA
And then there were those that had slightly more elaborate, tango-type names:
FRANCELLA
The men’s names tended to fall into three groups:
STRONG, SILENT, SINGLE-SYLLABLE TYPES:
HOOT
HOUSE
Sophisticated, cigarette-holder, surname types:
ANTRIM
CASSON
CULLEEN
VAN DYKE
And the exotics to co-star with Vilma and Vola:
LUPINO
Tags: 1920s baby names, baby names, exotic baby names, period baby names, sophisticated baby names, Theda Bara, unique baby names, unusual baby names
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August 5th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Nice list! I like: Leila, Marceline, Crane, Webster and Philipe.