Melba is an Australian-English invented name — derived from the city of Melbourne by Dame Nellie Melba, who chose it as her stage surname in 1887 to honor her hometown. A top-500 US baby name from 1904 to 1949. Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell, 1861-1931) — Australian operatic soprano; the first Australian-born musician to gain international classical recognition; sang at La Scala Milan (1893 debut), the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (1888-1926), the Metropolitan Opera New York (1893-1910), and the Paris Opéra. *Her signature roles were Mimì in La bohème, Marguerite in Faust, and Violetta in La traviata. Two foods are named after her: Peach Melba (Auguste Escoffier created it at the Savoy in London 1892 as a tribute) and Melba toast (also created by Escoffier — thin, twice-baked toast for her ill stomach). Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1918); her face appears on the Australian $100 note. Melba Liston (1926-1999) — American jazz trombonist; first African American woman jazz trombonist to record professionally; collaborated with Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, and Randy Weston; pioneer for women in jazz. Melba Roy Mouton (1929-1990) — American NASA mathematician; head of the Echo satellite tracking program at Goddard Space Flight Center. Melba Pattillo Beals* — one of the Little Rock Nine (1957).
Featured throughout Australian, American, and African American cultural history.
Melba reduces to eight — the number of Australian $100 note.