Hello, Everett! No escape when your name is same as the town

EVERETT — His name is everywhere: on signs, stores, the front page of the newspaper, blaring over loudspeakers.

What’s up with that?

That’s life when your name is Everett and you live in Everett.

“It’s not weird seeing it,” said Everett P. Fog, a sophomore at Everett High School. “It’s weird hearing it all the time. It’s cool, but it gets confusing at a pep assembly when they do the Everett cheer, and I just hear my name over and over again.”

This story idea came from an email sent by Everett’s grandmother, Marie Larson.

“He was excited a few years ago to meet another boy named Everett, because it is such an uncommon name now,” she wrote. “I’ve always wondered if there’s a way to figure out how many people named Everett live in Everett.”

Popular in the early 1900s, the name Everett saw a decline but is experiencing a resurgence. In 2023, it ranked 88th for baby boys, according to Social Security Administration data.

Derived from Old English, Everett means “brave boar” or “strong as a wild boar.”

First, let’s rewind to 1890: the name Everett was chosen for the city during a dinner party in New York. A group of East Coast bigshots were planning the development of a mill town 3,000 miles away and wanted a strong name. Enter Everett Colby, the 15-year-old son of the dinner host, Charles Colby, who asked for more dessert.

“That’s it!” declared investor Henry Hewitt. “We should name our city Everett. This kid wants more, and we want more.”

Fast forward to today, where Everett P. Fog shares a fondness for desserts, especially Henry’s Donuts. If those seriously good donuts had been around in the 1890s, the town might have been called Henry.

For a “What’s Up” photo, I met up with Everett and his grandma Larson by the “Rise Everett” mural on a building on Colby Avenue, a block from Everett Avenue. There’s no escaping this name game.

Teen Everett was named after Larson’s uncle, Everett Crossman.

“His parents wanted a family name,” Larson said. “My dad was Clair, and my two grandpas were Abner and Clarence, and another uncle was Francis.”

The name Everett won out.

“I really love Everett — the town, and the kid,” said his mom, Dr. Ellie Fog, an optometrist.

As a boy, Everett’s favorite sign was outside the old Sears at Everett Mall that said “Hello, Everett.”

“I’d say, ‘Look, Everett, they’re saying hello to you,’” Larson said.

As for the city’s honoree, Everett Colby, he never lived here. He visited only once, in 1898, despite his double-hitter of a name. Along with Colby Avenue, his surname graces a diner, dental practice, tattoo parlor and speakeasy. Born in Wisconsin in 1874, Colby attended Brown University and became a prominent politician in New Jersey. He died in 1943, the same year Boeing opened its first factory in Everett.

Other notable people named Everett include:

Indiana bank robber Everett Bridgewater from the roaring 1920s and ’30s.

“Twin Peaks” Big Ed actor Everett McGill.

Edward Everett, who spoke ahead of Lincoln at Gettysburg. Massachusetts and Ohio named cities after him.

C. Everett Koop, the Reagan-era Surgeon General. He used his middle name to stand out among other doctors named Charles.

Locally, we’ve got another middle-name standout, 3-year-old Kaid Everett Hitchner.

“We call him Kaid Everett. He introduces himself as Kaid Everett,” said his mom, Caitlin Hitchner.

The name celebrates where his parents met. Both teach at Everett schools, she at Challenger and he at Horizon. The family lives in Edmonds.

Third-born Kaid Everett was expected to be their last child, so they wanted to get the name in.

But, alas, a fourth son was born on Dec. 30, 2023, in a surprise car-born delivery on I-5 on the way to the hospital (check out the Jan. 9, 2024 What’s Up With That? for the full story). They named him Boston, because Caitlin liked the name, even though she’s never been to Boston.

Speaking of middle names, the illustrious Everett Colby’s middle name was Alan.

“I one-upped him,” says Everett P. Fog.

That “P” stands for Pterodactyl. (Yep, I buried the lead.)

“For the longest time, I couldn’t even spell it,” says Everett.

He loves his middle name — after the extinct flying reptile.

“Anytime I have to do an icebreaker, like ‘Two Truths and a Lie,’ I always win. They always think it’s a lie,” he said.

Everett Pterodactyl Fog. Already winning at life with a name like that.

Update on Blue

Here’s the scoop on Blue, the woman in the Safeway parking lot featured in the Dec. 31 “What’s Up With That?” Her name is Barbara Sue DeMaesschalck, 70, an artist who lives in Everett with MaGee, the yellow dog sticking his nose out of the car window. She has since added other toppers to her Subaru Legacy merrymobile.

The story behind her name: “In 1974, I was with a bunch of hippies trying to get to the World’s Fair in Spokane and our bus broke down in Missoula. We didn’t have any money and we tried panhandling. We saw an ad in the paper that said just join a contest — it was a stripping contest, women on Tuesdays and men on Thursdays — and you get $15 just for signing up. The five of us girls went and signed up and the boys all chickened out. They made you sign a release if you fell off the stage. I just tried to think of a dancer’s name and came up with Blue La’Tune. I just go by Blue now.”

Got a story for “What’s Up With That?” Hit me up at reporterbrown@gmail.com or 425-422-7598.