First Short Paper
Nina Datz
10/14/2021
Soap Mania: Nina and All My Children
Why was ‘Nina’ impacted more by the popularity of All My Children than other female character names? To begin answering this question, I investigated the words associated with mentions of Nina Cortlandt’s character across various sources to gauge how she is characterized. I believe if the descriptions reveal Nina to be an especially beloved character, this will be a first step in understanding Nina’s unique popularity.
First, I have included below the graph of the popularity of ‘Nina.’ The spike in 1980 marks the peak for ‘Nina,’ with 1,889 baby girls receiving the name.
Preliminary research indicated that this jump was directly correlated to the introduction of Nina Cortlandt on All My Children. Looking at the popularity graph of several major female characters in All My Children, however, reveals that no other character had a comparatively dramatic increase during the show’s run (shaded).
## Warning: Transformation introduced infinite values in continuous y-axis
I first attempted basic scraping of plot summaries for All My Children. Nina Cortlandt’s first aired appearance was June 1st, 1979 (“Taylor Miller” (2021)). Unfortunately, few episodes from 1979 onwards have plot summaries available on IMDB- fewer include Nina. Those that do, though, are quite revealing of Nina’s characterization. The episode from February 15, 1980 includes Nina’s father hosting a “costume ball for his daughter[’s] birthday,” and the summary of the December 18, 1987 episode includes the line “Nina nurses a wounded Matt” (“All My Children Episodes” (2021)). Both synopses, while painfully vague, hint that Nina is both caring and cared for. Examining Wikipedia’s articles for Nina and All My Children’s plot reveals that many phrases immediately linked to Nina’s character support this assessment. She is noted to be “overprotected” and “her father’s daughter,” and he throws a “lavish 18th birthday party” for her (“Nina Cortlandt” (2021), “All My Children” (2021)). These phrases demonstrate further that Nina is deeply loved and enjoys a comfortable life (“Nina Cortlandt” (2021)). Additionally, she has an “acumen for business” and “formally adopted” her husband’s son, indicating intelligence and reinforcing her caring nature (“Nina Cortlandt” (2021)). These sources reveal that Nina Cortlandt is often associated with positive words and actions. Because of these associations, it becomes clearer why parents used her name as an inspiration for their own children.
I also briefly investigated the language used by fans to describe Nina Cortlandt. Nina had several romantic trysts throughout the series, but her on-again-off-again relationship with Cliff Warner was far the most popular with audiences. Thus, most audience discussion of Nina seems to focus on this pair, with “supercouple” and “fan favorites” heavily used (“Nina Cortlandt” (2021)). The below photograph from a 1984 issue of Soap Opera Digest describes the “sheltered” and “wealthy” Nina’s “storybook romance” and “elegant” wedding with Cliff. Fans seem to associate Nina with a romantic, fashionable life.
The information from my initial searches indicates that Nina Cortlandt’s characterization as a beloved daughter, attractive love interest, and caring mother seem to be explanations for the spike in her name’s popularity. Parents show a preference for names connotated with goodness and romantic characteristics (Lieberson and Bell (1992) 521, 539). Thus, the many positive traits associated with Nina Cortlandt would make her an ideal inspiration for parents. I am also curious if the name’s slump in popularity in the years immediately preceding Nina Cortlandt’s introduction contributed to the spike, since it would have been more of a unique name at the time.
In future research, I plan to compare associated phrases for other female characters in All My Children, particularly looking at the frequency of positive characterizations to determine why the show’s popularity seemed to impact ‘Nina’ than any other female character’s name.
Bibliography