Morning journal and courier., 1881-10-15
Price Four Cents

Suppose that in adult life he becomes a mer- chant or banker, with plenty of business to
 do, then be will not be pleased to write George Henry Talbot Robinson two or
 three hundred times e day. It is not bad plan to give girls only one baptismal name, so that if they marry they can retain their maiden surname as Eliza beth Barrett Browning, Harriet Beecher
 Stowe. This is the practice among the Socie-
 ty of Friends, and is worthy of more general adoption, for we should then know at once on seeing the name of Q lady whether she
 was married, and if SO, what her family name
 was. In Geneva and many provinces of France the maiden family name of the wife is added to the surname of the husband thus, if q Marie Perrot married Adolphus Lauve, they would after marriage write their names respectively, Adolphe Perrot Lauve
 and Marie Perrot Lauve. The custom serves to distinguish the bachelor from the married man, and Is worthy of imitation for if vani- ty unite in the same e8cutcheon the arms of
 husband and wife, ought not affection to blend their namesY
 Generally tho modern "fe," which is ap- pended toall names that will admit of it,
 renders them sebselese and insipid. Where
 Is the Improvement in transforming the wo-
 manly loyeliness of Mary into Mollie? Im-
 tgine Queen Mollie or SfpIIie. queen of
 Scots There is something ike sacrilege in
 such transformation. Take Margaret, and
 butIAatc tue pSafI-lR6 name Into Maggie, and
 it's purity like hale vanishes, and we have 8
 very commonplace idea in it's stead. If we must have dinninuvfSSs commend US to the
 old style. Polly, Kitty. Lefty. Dolly. were
 names with some sense and work in them
 and which we pronounce like articulate
 sounds.
 There is no greater injustice than the in-
 fiction of whimsical or unworId like name
 on helpless infancy; for, as it is aptly said,
 How many are there that might have done exceedingly well in the world had not their characters and spirits been totally Nicodc-
 unused into nothing ?''
 It is certainly grave question if in the matter of Christian names our regard 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 great burden for any boy He will always feel it. Inferiority to his namesake is inevitable. Besides, the promiscuous use of great names degrades them it is not pleas ant thing to see George Washington or Benjamin Franklin in the police news for petty larceny.
 For the most part Old Testament names
 gre defective in euphony, and very inharmon- ious with English family names. The female names are still less musical. Nothing can recon ciIe us to Naomi Brett, Hephzibah DicIken- son, Dinah Winter. And to prove that the unpleasant effect produced by such coTn- oinations does not result from the surnames selected, let us substitute appellations unex- ceptionable, and the result will be even worse Naomi Pelham, Hephzibah Howard, Dfnah Neville; A Hebrew Christian name requires. in most cases, Hebrew surname.
 Some parents very wisely refuse for their children all names susceptible Of the nfekin2 process, thinking with DE. Dove that s.it tz not good thing to be TOEa'd or Bob'd, Jsck'd or Jfm'd, Sand or Bend, Wind or BiTd, J0s'd CT Jerry'd, aS you go through FaS -r<aslI q f/af preeated. We know beautiful woman who when girl was remarkable for Q wealth of rippling curling hair. Some one gave her the name of "Friz, g and it still sticks to the dgnifed natron- Wit, or would be wit, de- lights to exercise itself after this fashion, but a childs name is too precious thing to be ridiculed
 FancifuI names are neither always pretty nor prudent Parents had need of the gift of prophecy who call their children Grace, Faith, Hope, Fortune, Love- etc. It is pos sible that their after life may turn such names into bitter irony.
 For the sake of consolidating a rich friend never give a child disagreeable or barbaric name. It will be thorn in his side as long as he lives, and after all he may miss the legacy.
 A child, too, may have such an ensemble of unrhythmical names that he and his friends have to go iolting over them all their lives.
 
 Robert. The ear in moment detects jum- ble of sounds of which it can make nothing. If many Christian names are decided upon, string them together on some harmonious principle; names that are mouthfuls of con- sonants cannot be borne without bad conse- quences to the owner.
 The euphony of our nomenclature would be greatly improved by a judicious adaptation of the Christian name to the surname. When the surname is Q monosyllable the Christian name should be long. Nothing can reconcile the ear to such curt names as Mark Fox, Luke Harte, Ann Scott; but Gilbert Fox, Alexander Harte and Cecilia Scott are far from despicable.
 With such variety of excellent Christian names, it is astonishing that so few should be in ordinary use. The dictionaries contain lists of about 25O male and 15O female names, but out of these not more that 20 or 30 for each sex can be called at all common
 Yet our language has many beautiful names both male and female worthy of a they have not yet attained Among the male for instance-Alban, Am prose, Bernard, Clement, Christopher, Gil bert, Godfrey, Harold, Michael, Marmaduke, Oliver, Paul. Ralph, Rupert, Roger, RegI- nald. Roland, Sylvester, Theobald, Urban, Valentine, Vincent Gabriel, Tristram, Nor man, PorcivaI, Figel. Lionel Nicholas, Eus- tace, Colin, Sebastian, Basil, Martin, Antony, Claude, Justus, Cyril, etc., all of which have the attributes of euphony, good etymology, and interesting associations.
 And among female names why have we not more girle called by the noble or grace full appellations of Agatha, AIethia, Arabella, Beatrice, Bertha, Cecilia, Evelyn, Ethel, Ger trude, Isabel, Leonora Florence, Mildred, Nillicent. PhiIippa, Pauline, Hilda, Clarlce, Amabel, Irene, Zoe Muriel, Estelle, Eugen1a, Euphemia, Christabel, Theresa, Marcia, An tonic, Claudia, sibyIIa, Rosabel, Rosamond, etc.