St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-03-05
CURIOUS NOMENCLATURE
An Idle Hour in the st. Paul Directory
Common Cognomens Curiously
Classified = Quaint View
Through the Kaleidoscope
Of Queer City Sur
NampC


Of Queer City Sur
Names.
To one who has no practical object in view
we might imagine that next to a dictionary
or copy of the Minneapolis Tribune, city
directory would be the last species of litera-
ture to be resorted to for information,
amusement or the qualification of any kind
of intelligent curiosity. Yet there is some
thing to be learned even from the columns
of directory, and it is not little curious to
take the most common and popular names,
and without any pretence to pathological
research, glance at their evident derivations.
A run through the pages of the st. Paul di-
rectory shows at the first glance that
the most common origin Of proper names is
in the divers trades and occupations. We
find, for instance, in our city directory, that
there are 243 Smiths residing here, of whom
II belong to the great family of John Smiths.
Then there are no less than 154 Millers. We
find 90 Clarks, of whom Is append final
to the time-honored name. There are II
Carpenters, IA Coopers and Sawyers We
note 26 Bakers and 3S Cooks; also IA Ma
sons, Goldsmiths, Z Diapers, 8 Painters, 8
1dhGO10, OlCHCIS, d luLuDGI, CdllcI.
and a Cutter. There are 3 Farmers, z
Changers, Watermen, Shoemaker and 1
Sheer. Under the head of Mines we find
hands of Miners for development.
Christian names furnish large diversi ty
Of surnames for the public, as in st. Paul
there are 81 persons who bear the surname
Of Lewis, 81 that Of Henry, % Phillips, 80
Petarc .ond < yrhn Inn patnr ( a-1
renee is used by Is persons as a surname.
Frank by II, Alexander by 13, Edwards by
IA, Samson by 10, John by while there are
4 Johns, and James by 8. Four persons are
numbered under the heads each Of Charles,
Saul and Joseph, while there are 9 Georges
and 2 Samuels. We almost omitted to men
ton also 10 Leonards.
Names of countries are in common use
the list showing 43 SCOTS, 81 by the name Of
Welsh, by that of French, that of English,
(of whome, by the same token, 2 are called
Patrick and one Bridget, 3 Irelands, 4 Ger
mans, and l Russ.
There are 5 Temples and 2 Churches, and
these are provided with Popes, 10 Bishops,
IA Deans, Parsons, one Priest, Is Deacons
and one Deakin-the latter supposed to
come from down East, and yet there are on
ly ChristiansI
The colors are pretty well represented,
there being 137 by the name of Brown, As
Whites, 81 Grays, 81 Greens, II Blacks with
one Blacker) and one Purple.
Twenty bear the name of Mann, while
there are Persons and one Child.
There are 10 Brooks, Is Waters, II Fords,
6 Floods, 5 Ponds, 3 Pooles, and of Fount-
tains and Rivers one each.
We find 10 Roses, 8 Lilleys, Flowers and
one Blossom. There are also to be
discovered Al Hills, 46 Meads,
80 Woods, IL Lanes, 6 Fields, Parks, 4
Ways, Banks, 2 Cliffs, Noall, Rocks 80
Stones, and Roots.
People with an astronomica turn Of mind,
will find l Moon, Star, Days, Knights,
10 Winters, Summers, 2 Weeks and
Moons.
The curious will be interested to know that
there is 1 Oleman, Youngman, 60 Youngs
and 1 Youngster. Of these there appears
to be 20 Strong, 1 Stout, Hard and 1
Harder, - Long, Short, l Hight, Swift,
4 Smart and Low.
The aristocracy is well represented there
being no less than a Kings, 9 Mobiles,
5 Princes, Earls and Mob.
The Terpsichorean art is represented by
one Dance and 4 Dancers.
The reader will be surprised to know that
st. Paul boasts l genuine live Dude, and still
more astonished to be informed by the
Directory that he has Washes to work on.
The warlike may find that the directory
contains II Cannons, 8 Gums, one Victor
and one Victory, and two persons wearing
the sanguinary name of Blood.
There are Squires, and Justus-es.
There are also to be found 2 Graves, one
Coffin and one Goul.
Eleven persons are Wild, and one Wilder;
8 Gay and one Pleasant; 2 Love,
6 Hope, one is Perfect, while 5
luxuriate in the surname of Joy.
9 anguish in Paine, have Virtue, 2 are
Bliss. Out of II horns there are Beers, and
seductive John Collins.
There is one College with one Scholler and
of Masters, one.
We find As Bells with 2 Rings; II Barnes,
Al Halls, Walls. Stiles, 2 Tubbs, Ham
mers. There are Rice, Hay, Beans and Pep
per.
Disciples of Izaak Walton will see that
there are 25 Fishers with small field for the
exercise of their skill as there appear to be
only Pike, 5 Salmon, 2 Bass and other
Fish to angle for.
Followers of Nimrod can discover in the
Directory z Hunters with a field
of sport comprising 16 Volts. 10 Foxes
81 Martins, Lions, p Badgers, . Hares,
Leopard, 1 Bear, 1 Beaver and l Camel.
Sportsmen Of another turn of mind can
find in this menagerie of nomenclature
Fowlers with wide field of exercise on z
Robbins, Quayle, 4 Partridges, 5 Swan, 1
Duck and 9 brakes, Finches, 1 Jay, 1
Hawk, 1 Goslin and 2 Birds not specified.
Down east the traditional trio-Browns,
Jones and Robinson-hold undisputed sway
in the columns of the directories, but in St.
Paul they have to take back seat.
Brown only musters 1877 names,
Jones 60 and Robinson 40, while the John
son family in st. Paul come to the front with
624 members, and the Andersons' come in
good second with list of 1856.
The familiar name of Murphy greets ms
with following of III adherents, and here
we are tempted to exclaim care We there
Moriarity?'' And Moriarity answers out of
the directory pages, 'Faith, an I am sor,
and there are eleven of usl" In most direc-
tories it is a case of nip and tuck
between the O's and the Mes, but in st.
Paul the Mes have it by large majority,
showing up 931 names, to the O's 800.
HOUSEHOLD sUPERsTITIoNs.
Some Of Lo n,toor Er1,,aSoo t..