National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1882-03-18
NOMENCLATURE.
THE FUNNY NAMES FOLD ENGLAND.
An Interesting Article from a Writer In tho "Corn
hill Magazine '-Curlous Parental selec-
tiOns-0dd Names All Along the
Llne-Their Suggestion.
A writer in tho c0rnam Magasine thus dlscourses

children are Of a religious character The reli.
gious aspirations which In the time Of our pagan
forefathers had shown themselves denominations
ally by the simple adoption as personal nppella-
tions OF the names and qualities of deties, and
which, seeking likcmode ofexpression in thl mid
die ages had been mostly content to the names
of the saints-as prcemnently In the case of Mary,
probably to this day the commonest English name,
whether malo or female-found n more startling
mode of utterance In the days of Puritanlsm. Not
only did the Puritan ransnck the Bible for appel
latons OF the strangest sound and call his child
liabdkkk, Epdphrodtas, perhaps Mdhershdidihdsh.
bd=j not only did he delight In fastening upon
his offspring prenomen expressing some ubstrao-
ton familiar In his religious phrasooogy as Erpe-
rieilce, dependence, or 7ribul1tion, but he some
times invented for his inhnts personal denomna-
tion lengthy sentence, either admonitory, doc.
trinal, or otherwise, such as Fight Hs. good. fight,
Search he Scrptures Hei0 A0dg in pieces before The
Lord or even u Christ had not died for you.pou.
had. d.been- damned, which latter was the namo Of
the famous Prase-G God Barebones referred to by
Hume in his history Of England.
These well-known extravagances are here re-
fcrred 10 because, although they arc not to be
traced In all their forms among the names of to-
day, most current nominal oddities of the religious
aspiration class are nearly related to them. Some
of this class have been by continuous family
tcenth century; and those similar names with re-
spect 70 which the remark cannot now be made
are distinctly owing TO Puritan taste as II now ex
lists. The following abstract nouns, most of them
apparently representing parental aspirations, and
many having, as IL would seem, a religious mean
ing, occur as names in recent registers: ddmoni-
tion, Advice, AgdbiNy, Comfort Deliperdncc, Duty,
Equality Faith Freedom, Grace, Gratitude, Hope, In
dust'y, Innocence, Liberty Lore Meditation, Mercy,
Modesty, Obedience, Patience Peace, Piety, ProVi-
dcpce, Prudence, Repentance, Sdpie,ice, Silence So.
bridg Temperance, Truth, Unity, Virtue, Wisdom,
Among aspirations names that are not religious
must be ranked those given out of admiration for
heroes. Sometimes the hero appears TO be aris.
tocracy In general The Gordon Sdnl,ys Spencer
FcIcHs &C., so Often now presenting themselves
among the lower ranks seem to disclose an inds-
criminate worship of the patTician order. Or the
homage may be more personal, the reference more
specific AZ Reading we recently found a Richard
IIdntd7end Temple Nliyem Brpdre3 ChdndOs Gren-
vile; he was not duke, but n waiter.
The following are further examples of that varl-
ely OF aspiration names which is based upon hero
wotshipo or something approaching it. They are
given with the surnames to which they are found
preiXed inshe registers: King DuUid Hdydon, Ifdr-
TN Luther Upri0h, Join Bunydn Parsonage General
George Hushington Jones, Lord Nelson POrtndn
Humphrey Daig AUeTy, King george Wesigdte, En-.
press Eulente Aiiridqe. John Robinson Crusoe Hed.
tom and Mdn FfidGy wilson.
We go on now to consider the oddities of per.
sonal nomenclature which are suggested by cir
c,o-tdnces Of birth. Twin or triple births supply
opportunities for the selection of unusual
names. III 1873 n laborer mt Robertsbridge
presented with three daughters at birth
called them Fahh, Hope, and Charity. aud farm.
lAborer near Brldport recently gave the names
RUN and Hope to twin sous. But sometimes dual
births render parents positively cruel in their
choice choice Of Of app9latlons. We have known the
was sheer inhumanity. Peter ne Great Wright and
William he Conqueror Wright figure in registration
as twins. Here the parental selection seems to
nn1 nv bar rshi
though probably the duality of birth excited the
primary desire for name distinction Another fancy
created by twoiod births is that of furnishing tho
children with identical names transposed. Twin
sons of gardener at Chard were few months
since endowed respectively with the names James
Reginald and Reoindid James; and at Ixworth,
Suffolk, we noticed not many years ago the dccease
of Horace Hordtto, whose brother, Hordti0 Horace
attesled the death-entry. These brothers we infer
registers remarks that about the sixteenth CEN
tury It was not unusual for parents to give the
same name to two or more of their children, with
the view perhaps of increasing the likelihood of
its perpetuation in their families. He cites, by
way of proof the following quotation from the
win Of one John Parnell de Gyrton; rs March,
cupy my farm together dill olde john marries and
then she TO have land and cattle. Young John
sowed at Old Johns cost"
The inconyenient practice here exemplifed does
not, we believe, now survive except in the modi-
fled shape Just instanced but It Is not unknown
among the lower classes for parents to give to their
later children names which their earlier ones
deceased have previously borne. Some babies
nave been named Enough in indication, as it
would seem, OF numerous predecessors, and on the
other hand Is found Welcome, which appears TO
denote satisfaction at novel kind OF blessing.
Una, Unh, and Unity point. IL may be supposed to
first arrivals; Three and Number Sepea express dif.
ierent degrees of advance in family multitude
Last and omega suggest resolute protest against
further increase; while Also hints at the grudging
acceptance of an unwelcome addition and seems
to need after u note of (melancholy) ex-
clamntion. PodiutR0us liz an unmistak able nomi-
nal memoandum of painful fact. Places oc-
casionally give their names to children rs In
the cases of Matilda australasia Ydrrd YdiYd Holden
Odessa silly &c II may be supposed that in these
instances there is usually some family connection
with the locality at the time of BIRTH In such APP
peiiallons as Tempest Booth Hastings Moore, FtIre-
GeH Hdmpshlre, &C., we seem to trace references to
special incidents and may infer again that the
occurrences 30 celebrated are cifcumstantially
linked to the arrivals Of the Infants whom they
name, while the titles AdmOnHiOn, DeiiUerdfce
Repeltdnce, and others already mentioned in our
list OF abstract nouns used as appellations have
probably sometimes been employed in the same
way In allusion to various conditions under
which the births OF the children so named have
taken place name recently found IN the regis
ters-yiz ,Sfdisy Joseph init PdccndtDr Ve,t-seems
to hint that the bearer was born in an atmosphere
not unfavorabc to the spread of disease while
Temperance Sober Lane must have come into being
under conditions which would delight Sir vii.
trid Lawson. The circumstances OF the birth of
Fi,kaH Cooper might perhaps, on the other hand
be less satisfactory TO that statesman.
some peculiarly of person or disposition in the chill.
dren TO whom they are given.
Every one knows how largely our fOrefathers re-
sorted to nicknames, both complimentary and
otherwise, to distinguish individuals one from
another, ana how many Of the sObriquets thus be-
slowed have established themselves among MS as
permanent surnames. The Biythmdns, tho Cor
heads, the ClttkShdiks, the CUtiSts the Geaes the
LtBChHcs, the Siys and host of other families
give evidence OF these facts in every quarter. But
II was generally the outside world that conferred
such nicknames, now become hereditary hence
" is not to be wondered at that u large number of
them are untnYOrable, Tor men are not given to be
tender to the oddities OF those who do not belong
to them. The personal name, on the other hand
Is for the most part of parental choice, and, pa
rents usually take an indugent view of the defects
and weaknesses of their offspring we should moi
expect to lind among our prenomens many of un-
character. Some SUCH however,
there undoubtedly are; for instance, Gtddy, Dirty
Faint, Fedrjta Milay, Shady, Singular, Sit6bora,
ItiapestuOus, and Troublesome are all recorded
names. lIw VIII be conjecturod that the infants
thus styled must have fallen Into hands other than
those Of their natural guardians One name ON
the list Is capable Of the same Interpretation as
many other prepominal absurditles, Giidy is a
surname; as such we lately came across II at Meath
II is perhaps possible that II has made its appear
ance us personalname only In this connection
terstcs we are not surprised to ind more common
in personal nomenclature than the uncOmpli-
mentary Pleasant Is to all appearance one of
these, When Dickens introduced this name
into "Our Mutual Friend" he was not inventIng IL
has been good deal used, and personal assocla-
li4n, i Is likely enough, has now as much TO do
with It's employment as inantile sweetness of tenn
per- Happy is 10 be met with as often. Any reader
who may be familiar with the personal names
about Loddon, Wymondham, and other paris of
Norfolk viii recognize II as not unlrequenL Pa
hent we have seen IN suffolk: Grdteiui-as the last
OF four nemes-at Reading; Choice, near Merthyr
TydYil. We have also noticed Smart which may
sometimes belong to the same class; aud TFedsurs
which Is, II may be, now and then used as a pa.
rental testimonial TO general personal ex-
cellence; but il will not be forgotten that
the two names last mentioned lead us YET
Cautious, Cipa Energetic, Lresisifble, Nice, Placid
and Thankful have all appeared In modern regis
tration, and are most Of them Ineligible enough
AS expressive Of infant characteristics. SO are
AGdbiay, Obedience, Peace, and Silence (aready