National Republican., 1881-11-23
"wHAr,s INA NAME.n
To the Editor of THE REPUBLICAN,

~ hne f0ltOr OF HEPUHIdCAHs
The progress Of usurpation is always
step by step When one encroaohment is made
upon place, deed OF name, the new position is as
sumed as a legitimate one, and forms point
doppuf from which fresh inroad can be made,
with as much facility as the fomer one Thus IL is
that In process of time q complete metamorphoss
is the result Many a man has lost part OF his
land by permitting his neighbor toplace his land.
marks few feet on the wrong side Of the true line
and IL is In the same way that some peoples names
have been changed by almost imperceptible de-
grees There are many ways in which names have
been changed, and they afford an interesting
study 10 those whose minds inclined In that di
rection Some changes are the result OF peculiar
chain OF circumstances The story Of Peter Gun,
as related by Mr. Livingston in his answer TO Mr..
Jefferson In the celebrated case Of the New Or
leans Batture, affords an apt illustration Of this
truth. An unfortunate scotchman, whose name
was Feyerston, was obliged, in pursuit Of fortune
to settle among some Germans in the western part
ofNew York. They translated his name literally
into German, and called him Feuerstein. On his
return to an English neighborhood his new ac-
quaintances discovered that Feuerstein In German
meant Flint In English, and they retranslated In
stead ofrestoring, his name. and the descendants
ofFeyerston 20 by the name OF Flint to this day.
ought, however, to except one Of his grandsons,
who settled at the Arcadian coast on the Missis-
sippi, whose name underwent the fate Of the rest
OF the family; he was called, by literal transla-
ton into French, Pierre Fusil," and his eldest
son, returning 10 the family clan, his name under.
went another transformation, and he was
called Peter Gun" To those who do not under
stand French, II may not be amiss TO explain
that "plerre fusil is literally stone for gun
or flint, and that Pierre is French for Peter.
Those peculiar cases are doubtless very numerous
but the mostnumerous may be attributed to a de-
sire on the part of persons whose good fortune has
gradually advanced them ON the social scale
from plebian to aristocrat TO oblterate all traces
of their lowly pedigree, and to do so they gradu-
ally change their names with their changing for
tunes. One illustration Of the latter may suffice.
When man in "ould Ireland" " is contented with
q common shelter for himself, his family, and his
cattle he is contented and happy with the good,
old-fashioned name of McFud. If good manage
ment so alters his fortunes that he can separate
cattle and family pride prompts him to veil his past
lowliness, and hence we find n new family named
McFod. Fortune stil favoring an acre or two is
added to his tenancy, and 10 VIC have still an
other family named McFoy. And so on may be
traced the genealogy Of the family Of McAfoy, Nc
Avoy, aud McVoy in oud Ireland, and in tho
land of the free" the pedigree is hidden In such
names as McVey and McVeagh II would be O
difficult task TO outline the future mutations Of
this interesting name, but 1t strikes one very
forcibly that the present time, favored by incl
dental occurrences, would be an auspicious time
to drop the "Mc" and adopt something more
aristocratic, euphonious, and Frenchy-MduUdi,
pronounced Nav. vay) for. instance. No charge
for the suggestion W. &. G.