Mother's maiden name is documented to have been in use for authentication at least as far back as 1882, and even then it was known to be a weakness [1, §3].
[1] Stephen M. Bellovin. 'Frank Miller: Inventor of the One-Time Pad'. Cryptologia 35(3), pp. 203–222, 2011. DOI: 10.1080/01611194.2011.583711
[1] Stephen M. Bellovin. 'Frank Miller: Inventor of the One-Time Pad'. Cryptologia 35(3), pp. 203–222, 2011. DOI: 10.1080/01611194.2011.583711