New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1881-02-23
HISTORY OF NAMES.

Dor, there was a company of United
States Infantry stationed some time ago,
which had in it six men by the name of
Smith. heard the roll of this compa-
ny called one morning and when the
Sergeant came to the Smiths, the cere-
mony proceeded thus:
Smith l. Here. Smith 2. Here
Smith 3. Here. Smith 4. Here. Smith
5. Here. Smith 6. Here.
This had an odd sound, and still more
peculiar was it to hear a good-looking,
respectable soldier spoken to and spoken
of as "Smith s." 1t reduced poor
Smith to an unhappy insigni6cance, for
which there was no justification.
There is really no necessity for the
continuance of this great army of
Smiths; name which has become 80
common as to be in some places no
designation 1T all. The "Smith g.
aforesaid was named Henry Oscar
Smith. Now, by simply changing the
order of his names, and calling himself
Henry Smith Oscar, or Oscar Smith
Henry. he would have acquired a name.
1t is high time that something was done
to reduce the multitude of Smiths, and
l can think of no better plan than the
one just mentioned. Because man
happens to have Smith among his
names he is not obliged to put it last.
The Earl of Derby is named Smith; but
seeing in the London Directory that his
country is already blessed with a con-
siderable number of Smiths, he has the
good sense to sign his name .sDerby. y
The ancient Greeks for ages SUBJ
mitted to even greater Inconvenience;
as, indeed, all the primitive races seem
to have done. In old Athens, Smith
had not even John to help Itself out
with, for the people had but one name
apiece.
Socrates was Socrates and nothing
else. Demosthenes was only Demos
themes. As the eldest son usually re-
ceived the name of his fathers father,
this would have been more than incon-
venient, but for way the lively Greeks
had OF giving apt nicknames. Thus,
Demosthenes carried all through his
lite a nickname which he acquired in
his Batolos, which means
suffering. The most eloquent of ora
tors was known among his fellow-cit-
liens by the name of Demosthenes Slut
terer.
Among the Greeks, the father claimed
the right of naming all his boys, and
ne usually gave to his eldest the name
Of his own father; to his second son,
the name of his wife's father: to his
third son, the name of one of his wife,
relations, and to his fourth, the name
of his own maternal grandfather. The
mother, it appears, named her daugh-
tiers on a similar principle. On the
tenth day of a Greek child's life a sort
OF christening festival was held, when
the name was given; and the act was
accompanied by religious service and
feast, just as it is among Europeans
at the present day. All the friends
and relations of the family were in
vited; a sacrifice was offered to the
gods, and the affair concluded with 8
repast.
The Romans did better than the
Greeks in the matter of names. Every
noble Roman had at least three names,
like Marcus Julius Cicero. Cicero was
the name of his family; Julius was the
name of his tribe; and Marcus was his
own personal name.
Ihe great mass OF the people, how
ever, probably had but one name, sug-
gested by the occupation, or by some
personal popularity, as rough boys now
call one another Shorty, Red-head and
Longg-legs. We perceive in the New
Testament that the Jews of the same
period commonly had but one name.
"There was a man whose name was
John" In some cases something was
added to mark the individual, as Saul
Of Tarsus. Indeed, throughout the
Bible, there are few persons mentioned
who had more than one name; from,
Adam and Eve to the prophets, and
from them onward to the Apostles.
This custom of giving but one name
to each individual. explains why there
are so many John Smiths in the New
York directory. AS late as the year
1900, the inhabitants of England, noble
and simple, had each but one name,
and the names in common use were
very few in number.