What female name is the title of a Chuck Berry hit song?

Chuck Berry (1926-2017) heard the early 1950s song 'Ida Red' on his hometown St. Louis radio station KMOX. He loved it, not knowing it was of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, then reworked it into a song he called 'Ida Mae'. Berry sang it around St. Louis with his band, the Johnnie Johnson Trio.

In 1955 Berry travelled to Chicago to hear Muddy Waters. Having never previously recorded, he stayed over another day to pitch himself to Leonard Chess of Chess Records, who asked him to come back the next week to show original material. Berry returned with band mates Johnnie Johnson (piano) and Eddie Hardy (drums) and a demo reel with four songs, including 'Ida Mae', which Chess liked best. However, he recommended Berry to change the song title to avoid confusion with 'Ida Red' and fend off copyright claims. Berry changed the title and the lyrics, turning it into a song about fast cars, one of his favorite topics. This became the band's first recording, in 1955.

The song is about a woman cheating on her man, who is chasing Maybellene in his V8 Ford while she is driving a Coupe DeVille drag racing a man in a Cadillac.

There are two different stories about the song title. Berry said a cow in a children's nursery rhyme, while Johnnie Johnson recalled seeing a box of Maybelline mascara at the office of Mr. Chess, which in turn gave Chess the idea for name of the song. The song sold 1M copies and peaked at Billboard #5 overall and #1 in rhythm & blues by end of 1955.