Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-06-12
EVENING STAR.
NAMES OF CHILDREN AND ADULTS.

After child is born, the next matter of
Importance is to give it a name; a pulling
subject of consideration very often, for some
names become stale and even ludicrous, and
we do not like to perpetuate them in the
family tree. In Puritan times there was a
vigorous effort made to introduce the Scrip
ture names, and the world in England was for
one or two generations inhabited by Isaiahs,
Jeremiahs, Nathaniels and 0badiahs; but
they did not take; and now they are associated
with cant and hypocrisy. On the stage they
represent the Praise God .Barebones of dra-
matte entertainments A few have resisted
the tide of popular opposition but even
against many of those who have survived, the
tide is very strong. Peter is almost driven
out; and it is a curious fact that no Pope has
ever chosen to 60 by the name of Peter al
though each prides himself in being his sue
cessOr, and invariably chooses his own reign
ing name at his election. Few Peters nov
have moral courage to call their children
Peter.
The press too has been running a muck
against John for long while, and It will sue
ceed. 1t first fastens itself on a footman, a
groom, or pOt-bOy, and, by thus vulgarising
it, lowers its reputation. There i. perhaps
no real intentios of prosecuting a name in so
doing; 1t Is merely a convenience to have q
few characteristic names for menials in litera-
turc, just as there are characteristic names
for heroes and heroines; and every novel
reader knows by instinct that when a John
and Bertrand are introduced into a tale,
the Bertrand is more likely to be the hero
than the John. James also is now pretty
thoroughly assaulted, and especially by trans
forming the name into Jeames tha ridiculous
mode OF pronounclnS 1t so prevalent in Scot
land and the north Of England, where thew
still continue to murder English with most
outstretched conscience, though perhaps not
more outrageOusly than they do it in some
southern provinces, where il is almost a for
eign language.
Peter, James and John-only think of il '
it is worth your serious consideration There
is dead set against these three names.
though once on time they stood foremost in
Christendom. And Gothic names. the names
OF the northern barbarians who desolated the
empire Of the Roman world, are now in the
ascendant-the names Of those sturdy, brute
force men, who carried boarS' heads and grif-
fms heads on their crests, and prided them
selves in having their shields supported by
brute beasts. These are the men of name and
repute; and to this day the gentlemen of
Christendom rejoice in the ferOciOus heads
the daggers, and the bloody hands of the crest
and the shield, as the proulest evidences Of
rank and family.
few old Bible names are still in repute,
as David and Daniel, and Mary and Eliza
E
wife, and Anne still holds as gocd a place as
II 1t were gothic or barbarian; but Mary
surpasses all other names in universally il
belongs not only to women throughout all
Christendom, but even to men, who bear it as
a second name. Thus, for instance, the Queen
Of Spain's name is Mary, her hus and g name
Is Mary, her mothers name is Mary, and
even her sisters name is Mary; her uncle
and all her cousins are Marys and her cousins'
children are Marys, in fact all the royal fam
lily of Spain, males and females, are Marys,
with scarcely an exception. This arises from
the great devotion Of that Bourbon race 10
the Virgin, a devotion which has gone to such
an excess Of fanaticism as even to confound
the sex Cf her name by applying it to males
and females unfortunately. The males,
however, have the decency TO hide their fe-
male names, ashamed perhaps to expose them
selves publicly to the world in petticoats
1t is difficult to discover the reason why
names should 60 out Of fashion. Peter, for
instance-why should that be so exception
able; 1t Is a musical, well sounding name
There is nothing equivocal about it; it has
two syllableS; It's meaning is good In fact,
1t has almost every attribute that a name
requires to give 1t currency and popularity
Judging from these alone, without reference
to certain indeScribable associations, of which
1t is difficult to form a definite idea, one
would naturally conclude that Peter is first
rate name; and yet, somehow or other, it has
lost its credit, and is going out, like Caesar
and Pompey, once names of renown. Has it
been too much used? We do not think so.
Neither amongst popes nor amongst kings has
it ever been q favorite. In Spain, Portugal,
and Russia, it has attained to sovereignty,
but Papal, French, and English royalties
have religiously abstained from it; nor can
we discover any reason why, for Pietro and
Pierre, the Italian and French for Peter are
not more like stone in these languages than
in Spanish, while in English Peter conveys no
idea of stone, and is not equivocal nor asso-
ciated with anything offensive.
We can easily see reason why no woman
should be called Jezebel, for it is a name of
offence, and would be really misfortune to a
young girl; or why no man should be called
Cain, which is ever associated with the idea
of murder; and no man, perhaps, would like
the railleIy attached to the name Of Jonah,
although the name is really beautiful, and
has been borne by Sir Jonah Darlington; but
one Of the finest of all names, Lucifer, once
borne by bishop, and signifying the Light
bringer, the Bright and morning Star, is now
universally disused, chiefly, we suspect, be-
cause mothers believe that it is the DEVILS
name, which it really is not 1t is one of the
greatest compliments you can pay any man 10
call him Lucifer, for it is really the brightest
Of all names, and they only are worthy of
bearing it who bring light into the world. 1t
is popular error entirely that has excluded
it from the baptismal font. The name has
now been degraded by being applied to phos-
phoric matches, which certainly deserve it.
but it was a pity to lose it as a Christian
name Of men, and it is not all improbable that
it will soon be revived.
But we should not wonder if many clergy
men would refuse to baptise child by the
name Of Lucifer, and yet they could give no
scriptural or theological reason for refusing.
Not long ago child was taken to the Lincoln
union to be baptised, and the clergyman, an
Irishman, refused to baptise her by the name
of Elisamon, because, he said, it was not
name, and he baptised her Charlotte, on his
own responsibility. A piece of assurance on
his part, and which he could only have prac-
tised on poor parents. But what would such
a man have said if a boy were taken to be
baptised Lucifer, which is a name, and a
name which belongs to no evil spirit, as is
generally supposed, and one by which q
bishop of the Christian church was baptised,
ordained, and consecrated, Lucifer, bishop of
Cagliari. Elisamon is certainly not good