Marilyn Monroe is “probably the most celebrated of all actresses,” and People Magazine’s “Sexiest Woman of the Century.” Since her death in 1962 her estate has earned an average of $2 million a year by licensing her image("Marilyn Monroe - Biography.").
But would she have had the same success in life and after death with a different name?
Marilyn Monroe was born with the name Norma Jeane Mortenson. Her mother almost immediately changed the last name to Baker (Mr. Mortenson had long-before departed the scene), so she grew up as Norma Jeane Baker. She started her modeling career as Norma Jeane Daugherty while her husband was in the Merchant Marine during WWII.
A 20th Century Fox executive named Ben Lyon fostered her movie career and name change. Monroe was her mother's maiden name, and Lyon liked the sound of Marilyn, according to Wikipedia. The first time she signed the name she had to ask someone how to spell Marilyn, according to IMDB. She began working in film as Marilyn Monroe around 1946, but only officially changed her name to Marilyn Monroe in February 1956, also according to IMDB. Lyon would later say that he felt “the name ‘Marilyn Monroe’ was sexy, had a ‘nice flow,’ and would be ‘lucky’ due to the double M ("Marilyn Monroe").
Names do impact people’s perceptions. A 1994 study found that people react negatively to unusual names and confirmed that familiarity and attractiveness of names go hand-in-hand. Familiar names were rated higher on “success, morality, health, warmth, cheerfulness, and sex stereotype.”(Levine) In another study “the evaluation of the female photographs was influenced more by an attached
name than by the photograph itself, confirming the strong relationship between name stereotypes and a variety of phenomena,” including grades in school. (Erwin)
If Marilyn were a more popular name in the 1940’s and ’50’s, it might have helped her popularity. According to US Social Security records, in 1947 Marilyn was the 29th most popular birth name, Jean was 40th and Norma 82nd. So Monroe may have gotten a boost from the name change at the
beginning of her career. However, in more than 100 years none of the three has ever been in the top ten female names in America, according to Nametrender.com, which works with data from the US Census Bureau. It looks like Jean and Marilyn were about equal in popularity through the
thirties, forties, and fifties.
The rise and fall of first name popularity, like other cultural objects “should display a cyclical waxing and waning of popularity.”(Hargreaves) A name will grow in popularity until it becomes so familiar that it lacks distinction, though other cultural norms may affect it (such as the ongoing popularity of “Mary” and its variants among Catholics or the surge in popularity of the name
Jacqueline--top five in the UK in 1964--following John F. Kennedy’s Inauguration).
Surnames (last names, like Monroe, Mortenson, Baker, Daugherty, etc.) are more fixed. According to Hargreaves their familiarity will have an “inverted U” relationship to popularity. That is, a somewhat common name will be more popular than an uncommon or very common one. Perhaps Baker is too familiar (37th most popular in 1990), Mortenson and Daugherty too unfamiliar (not in the top 1000), to be really popular. Perhaps Monroe is just unfamiliar enough(523rd).(Most Common Surnames).
Recalling that Lyon, who wanted the name change and suggested “Marilyn,” thought that “Marilyn Monroe” would sound “sexy” and “have a nice flow”("Marilyn Monroe") brings up the impact of a name’s sound. A recent study found that “Women with round-sounding names such as Laura tended to score higher [in sexiness] than those with smaller vowel sounds.” The same study indicated that names with strong consonants are judged to be masculine. “Marilyn Monroe” has all soft consonants and mostly round vowels, so it would be considered a sexy, feminine name, more so than almost any combination of her real names. “Marilyn Monroe” also contains repetitive sound elements absent from any of her real names. The alliteration of the M’s and the consonance of R and N contribute not only to the femininity of the name, but to its flow, and to its memorableness.
From pre-Celtic poets to modern comic book writers (Stan Lee created Scott Storm,
Sue Storm, Peter Parker, Bruce Banner and more), literature has relied on alliteration. Research indicates that the impact on memory extends beyond the words containing the alliteration. (Munger)
It seems that Marilyn Monroe’s selected name has qualities that may have enhanced her chances of success as an actress. The popularity of the first name, semi-commonness of the last name, and femininity, with repetition of the sound elements, all could have had some effect on
her career.
Still, she was well on her way to success as a model under other names. Her famous nude calendar shots were initially sold with no model’s name attached. Also, her name was not the only thing she changed. Her hair was not naturally blonde, but she attained her acting fame nicknamed “the blonde bombshell” (the impact of blonde hair on a woman’s attractiveness is subject for a whole ‘nother
study). Most importantly, once she began to act, she also began to study acting. Eventually, she was noticed by critics for the quality of her dramatic performance in Bus Stop. It seems likely that beauty, personality, determination, and talent had much more to do with her success than her name, but perhaps the name contributed some part, perhaps even enough that instead of being one of
many beautiful actresses in the history of movies she is instead “the most celebrated of all actresses” and left an image that continues to earn more than $2 million a year fifty years after her death.
But would she have had the same success in life and after death with a different name?
Marilyn Monroe was born with the name Norma Jeane Mortenson. Her mother almost immediately changed the last name to Baker (Mr. Mortenson had long-before departed the scene), so she grew up as Norma Jeane Baker. She started her modeling career as Norma Jeane Daugherty while her husband was in the Merchant Marine during WWII.
A 20th Century Fox executive named Ben Lyon fostered her movie career and name change. Monroe was her mother's maiden name, and Lyon liked the sound of Marilyn, according to Wikipedia. The first time she signed the name she had to ask someone how to spell Marilyn, according to IMDB. She began working in film as Marilyn Monroe around 1946, but only officially changed her name to Marilyn Monroe in February 1956, also according to IMDB. Lyon would later say that he felt “the name ‘Marilyn Monroe’ was sexy, had a ‘nice flow,’ and would be ‘lucky’ due to the double M ("Marilyn Monroe").
Names do impact people’s perceptions. A 1994 study found that people react negatively to unusual names and confirmed that familiarity and attractiveness of names go hand-in-hand. Familiar names were rated higher on “success, morality, health, warmth, cheerfulness, and sex stereotype.”(Levine) In another study “the evaluation of the female photographs was influenced more by an attached
name than by the photograph itself, confirming the strong relationship between name stereotypes and a variety of phenomena,” including grades in school. (Erwin)
If Marilyn were a more popular name in the 1940’s and ’50’s, it might have helped her popularity. According to US Social Security records, in 1947 Marilyn was the 29th most popular birth name, Jean was 40th and Norma 82nd. So Monroe may have gotten a boost from the name change at the
beginning of her career. However, in more than 100 years none of the three has ever been in the top ten female names in America, according to Nametrender.com, which works with data from the US Census Bureau. It looks like Jean and Marilyn were about equal in popularity through the
thirties, forties, and fifties.
The rise and fall of first name popularity, like other cultural objects “should display a cyclical waxing and waning of popularity.”(Hargreaves) A name will grow in popularity until it becomes so familiar that it lacks distinction, though other cultural norms may affect it (such as the ongoing popularity of “Mary” and its variants among Catholics or the surge in popularity of the name
Jacqueline--top five in the UK in 1964--following John F. Kennedy’s Inauguration).
Surnames (last names, like Monroe, Mortenson, Baker, Daugherty, etc.) are more fixed. According to Hargreaves their familiarity will have an “inverted U” relationship to popularity. That is, a somewhat common name will be more popular than an uncommon or very common one. Perhaps Baker is too familiar (37th most popular in 1990), Mortenson and Daugherty too unfamiliar (not in the top 1000), to be really popular. Perhaps Monroe is just unfamiliar enough(523rd).(Most Common Surnames).
Recalling that Lyon, who wanted the name change and suggested “Marilyn,” thought that “Marilyn Monroe” would sound “sexy” and “have a nice flow”("Marilyn Monroe") brings up the impact of a name’s sound. A recent study found that “Women with round-sounding names such as Laura tended to score higher [in sexiness] than those with smaller vowel sounds.” The same study indicated that names with strong consonants are judged to be masculine. “Marilyn Monroe” has all soft consonants and mostly round vowels, so it would be considered a sexy, feminine name, more so than almost any combination of her real names. “Marilyn Monroe” also contains repetitive sound elements absent from any of her real names. The alliteration of the M’s and the consonance of R and N contribute not only to the femininity of the name, but to its flow, and to its memorableness.
From pre-Celtic poets to modern comic book writers (Stan Lee created Scott Storm,
Sue Storm, Peter Parker, Bruce Banner and more), literature has relied on alliteration. Research indicates that the impact on memory extends beyond the words containing the alliteration. (Munger)
It seems that Marilyn Monroe’s selected name has qualities that may have enhanced her chances of success as an actress. The popularity of the first name, semi-commonness of the last name, and femininity, with repetition of the sound elements, all could have had some effect on
her career.
Still, she was well on her way to success as a model under other names. Her famous nude calendar shots were initially sold with no model’s name attached. Also, her name was not the only thing she changed. Her hair was not naturally blonde, but she attained her acting fame nicknamed “the blonde bombshell” (the impact of blonde hair on a woman’s attractiveness is subject for a whole ‘nother
study). Most importantly, once she began to act, she also began to study acting. Eventually, she was noticed by critics for the quality of her dramatic performance in Bus Stop. It seems likely that beauty, personality, determination, and talent had much more to do with her success than her name, but perhaps the name contributed some part, perhaps even enough that instead of being one of
many beautiful actresses in the history of movies she is instead “the most celebrated of all actresses” and left an image that continues to earn more than $2 million a year fifty years after her death.
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