Osage Valley banner. (Tuscumbia, Miller County, Mo.) 1879-1881, 1881-09-29

with plenty OF business 10 do, then he
will not be well pleased TO write
George Henry Talbot Robinson" two
or three hundred times n day.
IL Is not a bad plan 10 give girls only
ono baptismal name, so that il they
marry they can retain their maiden
surname: as Elizabeth Barrett Brown
ing, Harriet Beecher Stowe This is the
practice among the Society Of Friends,
and Is worthy of more general adop-
tion. for we should then know at once
on seeing the name OF a lady whether
she was married, and II so, what her
family name was. In Geneva and many
provinces OF France the maiden family
name Of the wife is added TO the sur
nane Of the husbands thus, II Marie
ferrot married Adolphe Lauve, they
would after marriage write their names
respectively, Adolphe Perrot-Lauye
and Marie PerrOt-Lauve. The custom
serves 10 distinguish the bachelor from
the married man, and is worthy Of i'm.
itation; for if vanity unites in the same
escutcheon the arms Of husband and
wife, ought not affection to blend their
namesp
Generally the modern "ie," which
is appended 10 all names that will
admit OF II, renders them senseless
aud insipid Where is the improve
ment in transforming the womauly
loyelncss of Mary into Mollic. Imag-
inc Queen Mollie, or Mollie Queen of
Scots! There is something like sacri-
lege in such q transformation. Take
Margaret. aud mutilato the pearl-like
name into Maggie, and its purity like
q halo vanishes, and we have very
commonplace idea in It's stoad. II we
must have diminutives, commend us to
the old style. Polly, Kitty, Lefty. Dol
ly, were names with some sense and
work in them, and which we pronounce
like articulate sounds.
There is no greater injustice than
the iniliction of whimsical or unwOrld-
like name on helpless infancy; for, as it
is aptly said; "How many are there
who might have done exceedingly well
in the world had not their characters
and spirits been totally NicodemHscl
into nothingPh
II is certainly a grave question II in
the matter of Christian names our re-
gard for the dead past should blind our
eyes TO the future comfort and success
of our children. Why have we so many
George Washingtons? The name is Il
great burden for any boy. He will al
ways feel il. InferiCrity to his name-
sake is inevitable. Besides, this pro-
miscuous use OF great names degrades
them; it is not a pleasant thing TO see a
George Washington or Benjamin
Franklin in the police news for petty
I larceny.
For the most part Old Testament
names are defective in euphony and
very inharmonious with English family
names. The female names are still
less musical. Nothing can reconcile
us TO Naomi Brett, Hepzibah Dicken-
son or Dinah Winter. And to prove
1 that the unpleasant effect produced by
such combinations does not result from
1 the surnames selected, let us substitute
/ appellations unexceptionable and the
I result will be even worse--Naomi Pei
[ ham, Hep1ibah Howai |, Dinah NeyilleI
( A Hebrew Christian name requires, in
/ most cases, Hebrew surname.
! Some parents very wisely refuse fol
their children all names susceptible oi
the nicbiHg process, thinking with DIR.
Dove that "it is not q good thing to be
| Tom'd or Bob'd, Jack'd or jim d.
Sand or Bend, Wild or Bilrd, joe q
or Jerry'd, as you go through the
I world" SObriquets are TO be equally
/ deprecated. We know beautiful
woman who when a girl was remark
able for q wealth of rippling curling
hair. Some one gave her the name ol
"Friz," and IL still sticks to the digni
fed matrOn. Wit, or would-be wit, de
lights To exercise itself after this fash
ion, but chld's name is too precious
n thing to be ridicUled.
! Fanciful names are neither alway,
pretty nor prudent Parents had neec
Of the gift of prophecy who call theil
children Grace, Faith, Hope, Fortune
Love, etc. 1t Is possible that their aft
er-lifc may turn such names into bittel
irony.
For the sake of conciliating ricl
friend never give n child disagreeabl'
or barbaric name. 1t will be a thorn IL
his side as long as he lives, and after al
he may miss the legacy.
A child, too, may have such an as
sembly OF unrhythmieal names that h
and his friends have to go jolting owe
them all their lives. Suppose boy i
called Richard Edward Robert. Th'
ear in moment detects a iumble o
sounds of which 1t can make nothing
II many Christian names are decided
upon, string them together on SOM
harmonious principles; names that ar
mouthfuls OF consonants cannot be born
without bad consequences TO the owner
The cuphony of our nomenclatur
would be greatly improved by a judi
cious Admiration OF the Christian nam
to the surname. When the surname !
monosyllable the Christian nam
should be long. Nothing can reconcii
the ear TO such curt names as Mar
Fox, Luke Harte, Ann Scott; but Gil
bert Fox. Alexander Harte, and Cecil
Scott are far from despicable.