The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-25

QUEER NAMES AND MECHANICS.
HHOw Some Peculiar NicI>nnmes Arc
Derived.

Derived.
From the Chicago Times-Herald.
! who names this child?" does not seem
to be as important a query asked at the
baptismal font as the more pertinent,
What name do you give this chnd?"
/ whereby ne shall be known individually in
the world of which he is to form a part.
! Ana there is this popularity about the at
! fair, give him what name his sponsors
| may, IL his comrades do not like it they
! will make ii over to suit their mental
! acoustics. The blessed infants may as
wen be christened Eleanor and william, 1t
! Will sound better at the time, but they
/ will have no other cognomens than Nellie
and Willie, though they live TO four-score.
! or, if the parents bestow short names that
cannot be abbreviated such as Ruth and
James, they will have the pleasure of
hearing them called Ruthie and Jimmy.
Even nations are n.cknamed The Amer
| leans go abroad and hear themselves call
ed yankees. The south applies the same
| term 10 the north, where it is again used
! to designate residents of New England. It
/ is hard to find the origin of the word au-
| thorlties differing, some attribUting it to
/ a corruption Of the word English" by the
| Indians, who called 1t ''yenghees," others
| giving It as an ancient dialect word which
in England means ''simpleton." And, in
! deed, It is always used as a humorous
term OF contempt. II was introduced in
| 1913 by a Cambridge farmer as a putting
! epithet when he was trying to sell a
| horse
England. or raj Their the Englishman, did
not escape a nickname. John Bull pei
sonifies the typical Engiisman as clever
| ly as the yankee does the original of his
! type And the Welshman is called "taf-
| fy" from the inability of che Welsh to
| pronounce "DaVy," their diminutive for
] fha fro zafr aF ETnIa d.
land Is not left without a nickname, for
the Scot is invariably dubbed Sandy"
| the diminutive of Alexander, or Saw
ny" from Alisaunder, as the name was
formerly spelled The Irishman has
Paddy" or Pat as nickname for Patrick,
| and Germans are universally known as
Hans" "Froggy" is the nickname of
the Frenchman. or Johnny Crapaud,"
| from the device of the ancient kings of
/ France, which showed three frogs.
Here are some genuine names bestowed
| upon their offspring by odd, unthinking
| o. ignorant parents, which have the merit
! OF being original enough to attract at
| tontion, A man named Jordan called his
| child River" at least it so stands on the
register of birth; but the sex of the I'M
fortunate is not designated. Either
| Spray" is the medical sounding name OF
young lady. During the time of the
| Chartist agitation an Englishman with
strong political feelings gave his laugh.
| ter name, or series of Names indicat-
| ing the craze of the time. He called her
Fanny Amelia Lucy Ann Rebecca Frost
| O'Cunnor Douall Luck Helberry Duffy
Oastler Hill" Whether the girl lived UP
| to her many names or died of them his
/ tory does not record.
A traveller who spent some time in the
/ wilds of Texas. says that he found fami-
lies who named the children to indorse a
sentiment after this peculiar fashion:
"One Too Many Harry" or Not Wanted
! James" 1t Is to be hoped that the names
| did not embarrass their owners with more
than one sense of superiority. The negroes
| of the south when left to their own meth
DDS Of naming their progeny, strive for
the most romantic and poetic or historic
| they can find, and a good long string of
| them, too. A colored girl in Laurens
county, South Carolina, is named Fair
Rose Beauty Spot Temptation Touch Me
| Not" The youths struggle under the
| patronymies OF George Washington
Henry Clay Benjamin Franklin Andrew
Jackson are so numerous as to excite no
comment.
1t has been-and Is yet--a fashion for wo-
men Of wealth who employ ladies' maids
TO give them foreign names, or names that
| they prefer TO the domestic article. One of
these maids, after leaving a place. said to
her friends: well, thank heaven 1 am
plain Mary Ann again! 1 do so hate that
| hdiho Guellds mlSSuS SdlQ Mary Ann
wouldn't do at all; she called II owtray,
or something like that, and said / must
be given some pretty, romantic name, that
would sound pretty for calling, so I have
been Luela for year and a half"
Occasionally cognomen is found to be
| too hoWery for ordinary use, like that of
| the young woman who applied for posi-
ton as housemaid, and when asked her
name said It was Birdie"
That won't do at ALL" said her employ
er;"we will call you by your last name in
stead. VIII you like that?'
"oh, yes, mem; there do be many calls
me by it now"
That will be more reserved where
there are young gentlemen in the family
| What is it?'
at do be Darling men,"
Charles Dickens was noted for his use
OF odd names, and he has had many iml-
| tators, but none who equaled or even ap-
preached him in his originality and hu-
NOR. In BLEAK House" Itself the most
/ suggestive OF names-the reader is treat
ed TO Tom All Alone, Terrier Tip, Cal
lows, The Brick ana other quaint bits Of
nomenclature. There. too Caddy Jelly
/ by Informs Esther that Young Mr. Mr.
| veytop's name is Prince. wish It wasn't,
! because II sounds so much like dog, bnt
/ OF course he didn't christen himself" Here
Is the concealment of art by art, the
complaint Of her lovers name being put
into the girls mouth by the creator or
the lover himself.
Parents cannot always be held RESPONSE
bic for the peculiar way In which names
that have been selected with great care
go astray In their intentions Theodore"
| gift OF Coo. as the meaning OF the name
implies, Ia shortened into Toad" and
there are tiSses when that seems nearer
the true signihcation than the original.
Esther, signifying a star, Is always a IA
vorite and popular name. A number Of
infants VIII this year be named for Eng
lands gracious sovereign And this re-
calls an incident OF the naming OF the
/ queen. when she narrowly escaped being
called Georgiana, after her grandfather,
the then reigning King George III. and
her uncle, the prince regent. afterward
| George Nv. II was a difference OF opinion
between the prince and her father, the
Duke OF Kent which resulted IN her re-
oelving the names OF A;exandrina Victoria
instead OF Georgiana Alexandrina. the
prince regent insisting that Georginana
should preccde the name Alexandrlna,
which was given 90 the infant In compll-
ment TO tho Emperor OF Russia. Her Ia
Their would not permit this but if he had