Doris

Doris Eaton Travis

Origin: Greek
Gender: Female
Meaning: "Dorian woman"
Pronunciation: DORE-iss
Other forms: Dorris

Is Doris forever lost to another time? Or could she possible be revived? I personally think Doris is pretty cute, it is fusty, but why does fusty have to be a bad thing?

Doris last appeared in the US' popular names in 1992 at #880; The highest it has ever ranked was in 1929 at #6. It is an ancient Greek name, written as Δωρις, which meant "Dorian woman". The Dorians were a Greek tribe that lived in the Peloponnese penisula in the 12 century B.C. Doris is also the name of an Oceanid in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys and was the mother of the fifty Nereids by Nereus. One of the fifty Nereids is Thetis, the mother of Achilles. In England, Doris is an insult pretty much meaning the same thing that "pansy" means here. I don't know how well known it is as I've never heard it before, but I'm not English.

There is of course Doris Day who is a famous singer and dancer and is now known for her animal rights movements. There is also a famous Ziegfeld Girl or Ziegfeld Folly by the name of Doris Eaton Travis. She was the youngest Ziegfeld Folly ever at young age of fourteen. For those who don't know, The Ziegfeld Follies were a broadway show that ran from 1907 to 1931. It was created by Florenz Ziegfeld and his then wife Anna Held. Doris' sisters, Mary and Pearl, were also Ziegfeld girls. Pearl was said to have had the most beautiful legs in America and Florenz Ziegfeld always asked her, "How are the legs?"
Doris was the last surviving Ziegfeld Girl and died in 2010 at the age of 106. She grauated from Oakland University in 2004 when she was only 100 years old. In 1997 she and four other Ziegfeld Girls reunited for the opening of the New Amsterdam Theatre, she said she was the only one that could still dance.