The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1888-08-17
The Science OF Names.
Atlantic Monthly.

Atlantic Monthly.
Writers spend much time and
thought in selecting n name for a
play or nove!, for they know that
success is largely dependent on IT,
Parents, however, + strangely
careless and u%nsclentihc in giving
names TO children. In the Harvard
and Yale catalogues OF last year l
find but two or three really good
combinations. Usually, when a
newcomer arrives, some old family
name is taken; or if the parents
exercise an onglninal choice, they
are too much excited to be guided
by any sound euphonic principles,
They forget that not only from the
social point Of view it is very adj
yantaneous to have ones name re
membered, but that from the bust
ness point of view notorlety is
capitaI, and must be obtained by
persistent and ingenious advertis.
ing. But if a certain amount OF
notorletv could be obtained for
John Smith by an expenditure oil
time. money and ingenuity repre-
sented by X. and spread over a po-
Rod of three years, 1t is safe to say
that The same amount could be OBJ
tanned for Hans Arrowsmlth by
"A in eighteen months. Nor Is
the saving of time and money on
the part of the knOcker at the gate
of nutoriety The only thing to be
considered, for, from the allruistlc
point of view, the lessening OF the
effort of recollection on the part OF
the world is far more important.
The economy of the public stock OF
energy wasted IN innumerable I'M
conscious efforts to remember The
name without any corners OF the
memory TO grasp, but perslstenlly
thrust before it, you'd result III the
increase of available mental force
applicable to settling the question
of future probation, or to raise the
ethical standard, or TO reforming
the tariff, or to d~isposing OF The
surplus The importance Of the
subject leads me to suggest one or
two of the chief fundamental prlu
ciples of the SCIENCE OF naming
children. The system is simple,
and any provident parent can eaSl-
ly master and apply it. |. Avoid
| odd or eccentric or poetic cOmblna-
tions, and be guided by euphonlc
quality only. 1t is true that an
odd name may be remembered,
but the associations with ii Will
not be pleasing. The idea of oddi-
ty or affectatIOn may attach to the
shadowy of personality built up in
the mind of the pablo. Under This
rule hyphenated names, especially
hyphenated Christian names like
Floyd Jones Robinson, are to be
avoided. Writing the first given
name with an initial and The second
in full is also evidently opposed to
correct scientific principles. 2.
The best form of name is a dactyi
and a srondee, like Jeremy Tay-
lor.n Every ore has heard Of the
shakespeare of divines," and has an
idea OF an agreeable personality at
lached TO the name. Had his name
been Charles TayIorlt is far within
bounds to say that his reputation
would be about one-third Of what
il is now, 3. If the surname is not
one that can be treated according
TO the above rule, it should be fitted
with a given name, such as TO bring
the combination as near as possible
in the above length and cadence as
| Sidney Dobell, Ellery Vane, Henry
Ward Beecher, Dante ROssetti,
Theodore Watts aud the like, or,
otherwise, to TWO long syllables,
like Mark Twain OF Bret Harte.
The subdivisions of this branch Of
The subject are too numerous TO be
given, but all rest on principle No.
,. The phone value of the sur
name is, under our custom, the con-
trolling element IN practically ap,
plying the science of names. The
great value of names beginning
with Mac or . is evident, because
they so readily combine with The
ordinary Christian names. Any
one would be fayorahly disposed to
Arthur O'ConnOr, for instance. A
boy pervades our quiet neighbOr-
hood SIMPLY because his name is
Johnny MacW orther, He is not in
any respect a remarkable boy, but
his name forces him into promi-
nence by its phonic value. There
are some ten or twelve boys who
are comrades, but he and another
dactyle-sDOndee boy, Emory Wat
son, are the only ones ever spoken
of. No doubt there are others who
do as much mischief and make
more noise, but these two reap all
the fame.