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The Very Brief History of Marilyn
No arguments, just an historical note.
Marilyn seems to have begun life as a stage
name, when little Mary Ellen Reynolds of Findlay, Ohio went on
the stage as a singing and dancing moppet. Her mother combined
her first name, Lyn, with the child's, took Mary's stepfather's
family name, and created Marilyn Miller in 1903 at the age of
four. By 1914, Marilyn was a Broadway star, and mothers began
giving her made-up name to their new little darlings. Studio
heads also gave it to blossoming starlets, like Marilyn Monroe.
If anyone has an accurate citation of this
name in use before 1904, disproving this as the source, please,
write me!
Now, rather older is the rare Maryline or
Marylin, which is a pretty standard older French diminutive of
Mary, like Jaqueline is of Jaques. But I haven't found that wandering
around America in the 19th century.
copyright 1997 by Holly Ingraham
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