Mavis

Mavis is a female name. Its usage was initiated by Marie Corelli's 1895 novel The Sorrows of Satan¹ which featured a character named Mavis Clare whose first name is said to be "rather odd" but suitable for Miss Clare as "she sings quite as sweetly as any thrush".^[1] Corelli patently was utilizing the common noun mavis² which refers to the song thrush and was long obsolete by the 19th century but known from its poetic use as in Robert Burns' Ca' the Yowes ("Hark the mavis evening sang/ Sounding Clouden's woods amang") written in 1794^[2]; also the popular love song Mary of Argyle, written circa 1850 by lyricist Charles Jefferys features the line: "I have heard the mavis singing its love-song to the morn."^[3]

Mavis had its height of popularity in between the 1920s and 1940s since when its usage has decline with the name being rather unfashionable since the 1960s. ^[4]

• ¹The British politician Mavis Tate was born in 1893 but only assumed the first name "Mavis" as an adult, her actual first name of birth being Maybird.

• ²<Old French mauvis<?

Notable persons with the first name Mavis include:

• Mavis Adjei, Ghanaian actress
• Mavis Doering (1929–2007), Cherokee Nation basketweaver
• Mavis Fan (b. 1977), Taiwanese singer
• Mavis Freeman (1918–1988, American swimmer who competed in the 1936 Olympic Games
• Mavis Gallant (b. 1922), Canadian writer
• Mavis Gray née Beckett (b. 1944), Australian sportswoman
• Mavis Hee (b. 1974), Singaporean singer
• Mavis Hutchinson, first woman to run across the United States
• Mavis Jukes (b. 1947), American childrens author
• Mavis Leno (b. 1956), American feminist and wife of Jay Leno
• Mavis Nicholson (b. 1930), Welsh broadcaster
• Mavis Pugh (1914–2006), British actress and comedian
• Mavis Smitheman, local body councillor for Ardwick, Manchester
• Mavis Staples (b. 1939), American rhythm and blues singer
• Mavis Taillieu (b. 1952), Canadian politician
• Mavis Tate (1893–1947), British Conservative Party politician and feminist
• Mavis Taylor (1915–2007), Australian humanitarian
• Mavis Villiers, an actress
• Mavis Wilson (fl. 1980-90s), Canadian politician
• The Mavis's, Australian alternative rock band

Notable fictional characters with the first name Mavis include:

• Mavis, a diesel locomotive character from The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry
• Mavis, a character from the BBC comedy Open All Hours
• Mavis Anderson, secondary character in Dallas (TV series), best friend to Miss Ellie
• Mavis Beacon, typing instructor
• Mavis Bramston, from The Mavis Bramston Show (1964–1968), Australian TV satire
• Mavis Buckey, anthropomorphic animal character from Funny Farm (webscomic) series
• Mavis Clare, a popular author who resists the temptation of the Devil in The Sorrows of Satan by Marie Corelli
• Mavis Cruet, an obese young fairy incapable of flight, from the British children's animated series Willo the Wisp (1981/2005)
• Mavis Davis, a pseudonymous singer in the British comedy film Bring Me the Head of Mavis Davis (1997)
• Mavis DeVere, one version of the actual name of Bubbles DeVere, a character in the BBC comedy series Little Britain
• Mavis Freestone, a singer, from the In Death series of detective novels
• Mavis Madling, a character in the situation comedy series Designing Women
• Mavis Ming, title character in Michael Moorcock's The Transformation of Miss Mavis Ming, one of his Dancers at the End of Time series of novels
• Mavis Munro, office manager in the comic book series: Supernatural Law and Supernatural Law Secretary Mavis
• Mavis Neff, a girlfriend of Andy Griffith in The Andy Griffith Show
• Mavis Rae, main character in the situation comedy Whoopi
• Mavis Pike, character in the British situation comedy Dad's Army
• Mavis Wartella-Depew, an elementary school student in Rockett's New School, a video game
• Mavis Wilton, a character in Coronation Street
• Mavis (DC Comics), two fictional characters who first appeared in the DC Comics' universe
• Mavis (The Apprentice), a controversial personification of viewers of daytime shopping television, made by Katie Hopkins of The Apprentice series 3. Mavis is said to have had an ample bosom and to be single and lonely, among other things.
• Dark Mavis, recurring character in British band Mansun's debut album Attack Of The Grey Lantern

See also

• Mavis (disambiguation)

References

1. ^ Marie Corelli The Sorrows of Satan 2006 Adamant Media Corporation p.127
2. ^ http://www.rampantscotland.com/songs/blsongs_yowes.htm
3. ^ http://melissawiley.typepad.com/bonnyglen/2007/06/poetry-friday-b.html
4. ^ http://www.behindthename.com/name/mavis