Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-05-29
TASTE AS TO NAMES.
CONDITIONS ON WHICH THEIR GRACE
 AND BEAUTY DEPEND.

CONDITIONS ON WHICH THEIR GRACE
 AND BEAUTY DEPEND.
 .,Tsaasaanred by Happy Rss6x-Pa-
 4ontM 4tupidity-Initials-Seh Of
 Names for Children.
 Tastes differ as to names, of course, and it is impossible to draw line, with all the sheep on one side and all the goats on the other. Some people think that John and James are excellent names while others con slder them ugly and commonplace. Names like Charlotte and Clarence are admired by some and detested by others. But whatever disagreement as to particular names may exist, it will be found that there is very little difference of opinion as to the pleasant or un- pleasant sound of any one's full title, be the same double, triple or quadruple in it's con struction.
 The grace and beauty of a full name or title depend on certain uncompromising con- ditions. It should be rhythmical; it should not be tautological; it should contain suffi- cient quantity of vowel and consonant sounds; it should be easily pronounceable; it should not suggest unpleasant associations For example: u) Three long monosyllabic names in succession, like "John Paul Jones'" !" are not as desirable as combination of long and short quantities, like "Oliver Wendell Holiness" G) Pathological names, like "John Johnson" or civilian Williams, i" are an abo- imitation. g.) ''Ella Ellis" is too monoton- ous; it would be better to name the child "Ksate" or Marian" H) "Henry Wads- worth Longfellow'' satisfies all the foregoing conditions, but it is not easily pronounced. The words do not run together smoothly, as in "James Russell Lowell" 5) Benedict Arnold" sounds well, but no one would be apt to give that name to an infant
 soFTENED BY PREFIX.
 Since these conditions are SO obyiou. and so easy of fulfillment, and since the choice of names is so wide, the prevalence and per- sistence of harsh, awkward names must be a constant source of wonder and disgust. Even when the surname is commonplace, as in the case of the noble army of Smiths" and Browns" or even hopelessly uncouth, as in "Potts" or "Hogg," it can be softened and uransfdgured by happy prefix, just as ingen- 1ous decorators beautify bare walls and un- lovely articles of furniture. Thus Sydney Smith" and Goodwin Smith" and Ballard Smith" are good names at least in this that the ''Smith" part is overshadowed and as it were, eliminated by the prefxes which are so uncommon that they engross the attention.
 But many parents are so stupid about this that one would think they were hardly older than their babies. It is incredible that any Christian should be baptized Judas Iscar- lot" but read the othes day that one of Roscoe Conkling's ancestors rejoiced in the name "Ananias." What could have possessed the parents of that unfortunate individual to name him after the typical liar of all time9 As we'll might they have called him sApol- H-on' or '.Beelzebub."
 Again, thOmatter of initials comes in for consideration as 8 feature of minor, but still appreciable, importance. No matter how smooth or high sounding ones name may be. it will dull the edge of his self satisfaction if the initials spell some offensive word. The composer of "Pinafore" has very pretty name-"Arthur Seymour Sullivan"-but he always drops the second of the three words. and very brief investigation will sle--- renson why.
 EUPHoN1oUs AND WE'LL BALANCED.
 By all means let the children have eupho- nious, well balanced names. If the surname be short and abrupt, the baptismal names should be pollysyllabic and flowing, and vice Akza- A true ear and just sense of propor- kHw5e ri1cnre wise decision in sjEaay aease. Keeping in mind the five conditid dsssalkeady mentioned, one will find, on further and more critical examination of the subject, that the best possible triple combinations, rhythmi- cally, are either W a long monosyllable fol- lowed by trochee (or spondee) and dactyl, or @ dactyl, followed by a trochee (or spon- dee) and long monosyllable. In other words, if the surname be a monosyllable, it is well for the first name to be of three syllables, and the second name of two syllables; but if the surname be a dactyl it is best led up to by a monosyllabic first name and a dissyllabic second name. Of the second combination "Oliver Wendell Holmes" is a splendid ex- ample, coinciding with all the requisite con- ditions, while excellent specimens of the first combination are found in "Ralph Waldo Emerson" and "John Greenleaf Whittier D which may be considered practically perfect names, satisfying the demands of proportion and rhythm, containing an agreeable variety of vowel sounds, and being sufficiently smooth in pronunciation, while not deficient in strength, which should pertain to every masculine appellation.
 Trochaic surnames, which are the most numerous of all, are not so easily balanced as the foregoing. Three trochees in line is a frequent combination, and not bad one by any means. Thus, Edmund Clarence Sted man" is very good name, viewed from all points; but rhythmically Frank Dempster Sherman" and George William Curtis" may seem little more satisfactory. Certain com binations are conspicuously awkward, as, for example, the three successive monosyllables already alluded to, in the case of "John Paul Jones'" dactyl followed by an iambus, as Frederic Eugene" and dactyl followed by a monosyIlable and a troehee as taTheodore Dwight Woolsey." It will be found desirable as general thing, by the way, to select @ word of two syllables for the middle name.- New York Commercial Advertiser. Out on the Fly.
 The frisky, festive, pesky fly
 Is with us once agaln;
 He makes the sleepy church folks sigh And gives the baldheads pain. = Say, fly,
 Oh, why re-:- Did you not e'er remain
 In winter quarters high and dry!' New York Journal