Finds from History: The Silent Era

Hello, everyone! A while back, I put together a list of the most unusual names seen on silent era actors, and I thought I could share.

A surprising amount of them were actually legal, birth names (I had to check ZaSu several times). Surnames are in brackets.

Ladies:

[name_f]Alta[/name_f] (Allen)
[name_f]Ricca[/name_f] (Allen)
[name_f]Mignon[/name_f] (Anderson)
Tsuru (Aoki)
[name_f]Yola[/name_f] (d’Avril)
[name_f]Theda[/name_f] (Bara)
[name_u]Victory[/name_u] (Bateman)
[name_f]Nella[/name_f] (Bergen)
Bleuette (Bernon)
Francelia (Billington)
[name_u]Fritzi[/name_u] (Brunette)
Majel (Coleman)
[name_f]Bijou[/name_f] (Fernandez)
[name_u]Adda[/name_u] (Gleason)
[name_f]Odessa[/name_f] (Warren Grey)
Ormetta “Ormi” (Hawley)
[name_f]Peaches[/name_f] (Jackson)
[name_u]Norris[/name_u] (Johnson)
Julanne (Johnston)
[name_f]Leatrice[/name_f] (Joy)
[name_f]Willette[/name_f] (Kershaw)
[name_u]Allyn[/name_u] (King)
[name_f]Florida[/name_f] (Kingsley)
[name_f]Evalyn[/name_f] (Knapp)
[name_m]Pepi[/name_m] (Lederer)
Toshia (Mori)
[name_f]Pola[/name_f] (Negri)
Ottola (Nesmith)
[name_f]Moya[/name_f] (Nugent)
[name_f]Ethelmary[/name_f] (Oakland)
[name_f]Corliss[/name_f] (Palmer)
Derelys (Perdue)
ZaSu (Pitts)
Kittens (Reichert)
[name_u]Marin[/name_u] (Sais)
[name_f]Clarine[/name_f] (Seymour)
[name_u]Truly[/name_u] (Shattuck)
[name_f]Leora[/name_f] (Spellman)
[name_m]Duane[/name_m] (Thompson)
[name_f]Maidel[/name_f] (Turner)
[name_f]Jessalyn[/name_f] (Van Trump)
[name_f]Elmire[/name_f] (Vautier)
Lule (Warrenton)
[name_u]Toby[/name_u] (Wing)
Laska (Winter)

Gentlemen:

Maclyn or Macklyn (Arbuckle)
[name_u]Arda[/name_u] (La Croix)
[name_m]Thurlow[/name_m] (Bergen)
Holbrook (Blinn)
[name_m]Egon[/name_m] (Brecher)
[name_m]Elwood[/name_m] (Bredell)
[name_m]Pomeroy[/name_m] (Cannon)
[name_m]Bartlett[/name_m] (Caré)
[name_m]Lige[/name_m] (Conley)
Casson (Ferguson)
[name_m]Olin[/name_m] (Francis)
[name_m]Ullrich[/name_m] (Haupt)
[name_u]Noble[/name_u] (Johnson)
Lorimer (Johnston)
Ormer (Locklear)
Willet [name_m]Melbourne[/name_m] (MacDowell)
[name_m]Murdock[/name_m] (MacQuarrie)
[name_m]Lafayette[/name_m] “Lafe” (McKee)
[name_u]Loyal[/name_u] (Underwood)
Stanhope (Wheatcroft)
Togo (Yamamoto)
[name_f]Tammany[/name_f] (Young)

5 Likes

Wow, what an interesting collection of names! I like:

[name_f]Alta[/name_f] :maple_leaf:
[name_f]Nella[/name_f] :evergreen_tree:
Bleuette :nest_with_eggs:
[name_f]Odessa[/name_f] :dove:
[name_f]Ethelmary[/name_f] :luggage:
[name_u]Truly[/name_u] :tangerine:

[name_m]Elwood[/name_m] :wood:
[name_m]Ullrich[/name_m] :crossed_swords:
[name_m]Murdock[/name_m] :mag_right:
Stanhope :sun_behind_small_cloud:

1 Like

Wow! What an incredible collection of names!

I love [name_u]Adda[/name_u], [name_f]Odessa[/name_f], [name_f]Corliss[/name_f], [name_f]Clarine[/name_f], [name_f]Leora[/name_f] for girls and [name_m]Egon[/name_m], [name_m]Olin[/name_m], [name_m]Ullrich[/name_m], [name_m]Murdock[/name_m] and [name_m]Lafayette[/name_m] (it reminds me of The Aristocats’s charachter, loving!)

I also like [name_u]Arda[/name_u] for a girl and I find very artsy [name_f]Mignon[/name_f], Bleuette, [name_f]Bijou[/name_f], [name_f]Peaches[/name_f] and [name_u]Truly[/name_u] (more for a stage names than real ones, but still cute)

1 Like

Wow this is fun! I like [name_f]Theda[/name_f], [name_f]Leora[/name_f], [name_u]Adda[/name_u], [name_m]Bartlett[/name_m] & Holbrook :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

1 Like