The Canton advocate. [volume] (Canton, D.T. [S.D.]) 1877-1897, 1879-06-12
Girls Names.

! 10 .s.ll Girls Names. rs Lsnaa
The following, which seems pertinent
has been culled for the Household from
an old number Of Scribner's Magazine
The tender but thoughtless habit
which has at length crystallized into gen
eral custom, of keeping up the nursery
or pet name of little girls until
they have passed Through alf the
the eras Of young womanhood, mas
lately received some forcible criti-
clsm from one or two sources. 1t is a
habit which has chiefly arisen within
the past generation, but it has noticeably
grown within decade Or two, until
there is scarcely feminine name to
which diminucndo will stick that is not
speedily replaced by that fashionable
substitution or adornment. "a In olden
times Elizabeth was sometimes called
Betsy for case or brevity, but now Betsy
glides away into the public Betty OF Bes-
sic. In fact, the stately and vigorous
old nomenclature is now nearly all gone
into vapid and tastclcss liquidity that
seems utterly bercft of force. There are
no GATHERINGS any more; they are all
|
ties. The Margarets zone OF the strong
est names) arc reduced TO Maggles or
Margies; Mary, il common, yet the ten
derest of all, gets transformed into Ma
tie, or Mamie, Charlotte into Lottie and
SO through the whole dlyersifeds chaper
In any modern school catalogue or news
paper list Of names which you may
chance to meet you find an endless itera-
| ton Of the infection, i. e., as if the beau
ty or attractieeness, if not the respecti-
bihty of the young ladies in some
way depended on theirs liquid and en-
dearing termination. In the short space
Of one page of the catalogue Of promi-
nent young ladies' college-a school of
much higher pretensions than the aver
age seminary studcnts--onc may find
Gas we have satisfied ourselves by trying)
at least the following varieties, viz: Jcn-
ME, Mamie, Hattie, Minnie, Margie,
Ncttic, Allie, Addlc, Lizzie. Lord Duf-
ferin, when the dignitied governor-general
of Canada, has lately chosen to bring this
tendency into notice (and SO we suppose
it prevailed in Canada, too) by making it
a special topic in his address at the COM
mencement of a young ladies school in
Quebec. But he credits the habit, or
its eXaggeration, to the United States ;
and thinks the practice, when it becomes
"a national characteristic is not without
significance" Some future philologist,
perhaps, may pick it up as q remnant of
the period when the young women Of our
most cultivated circles bore the badge Of
belittlement and patronage. and infer
Jheretrom that the Oriental type of IN
tantilc helplessness had certainly survived
to this era even III Western lands. He will
most likely conclude (and does not the
evidence tend in that directionO that in
our Centennial time, the true idea Of
A perfect woman, nobly planned,
TO warn, to comfort and commando
was not so much suspected or sought
after. We do not remember that any
journal Of "Woman's Rights and cnfran-
chisement has ever thought it pertinent
to speak Of this subject; but surely it
bears direct relation to the mental
growth and capacity of the sex. The lit
erary nom de plume of a feminine author
indicates to some extent the force Of her
mind; and we know Just as we'll what to
expect from Lettie Linwoods and Matte
Myrtles as we do from George Eliots.
You can scarcely pen a more suggestive
satire against the helpfulnoss and indie
pendence of woman than to wrap her up
i'll such terms of daily coddling and child
ish endearment as the pet names against
which Lord Dufferin protests. For in
stance, persstently to call the two chief
tains of women's advanced status, Lizzie
Cady Stanton, and Susie B. Anthony,
would crush at one stroke the revolution
they have so much at heart. Under such
sweet persitlage it would sink into languid
imbecility, and furnish fresh food for
laughter. Dufferin, in the address to which
we have made reference, said that "the
daughter of the occupant of the most au-
gust position in the world, was, before her
marriage, commonly referred to as
Nellie as though the paragraphists had
been her playmates in "infancy;N and he
even stated that his own wife, Lady Duff
erin, had been spoken Of as 'Kate' by
the journals Of the United States. These
things were no doubt done with good
feelings, and-without so much as a
thought of disparaging intent. Il The
writer's may have the kindest regard ;Ibut
the familiarity their usage implies is none
the less offensive and is curious symp-
tom Of that lack of reverence which, in
reaction from the early Puritan extreme
of formality, has become very nearly a
distinctive and to older civilizations, a
disagreeable trait Of our republicanism.