Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-05-06

| light on the state Of civilization OF a
| country. Essays have been written on
| the names prevalent at different times
| In vnilous placer, and whole books on
names. their origin, aud significance.
| An inquistive searCher for materinls
has Investigated the first catalogue OF
| young women studying at Radcliffe
college, recently published. and what
he has found out may prove OF Interest
In showing what names we actually
give our girls.
There are ils OF these young persons,
all belonging to narrow section or
the country, New England and the
neighboring middle states. as only
~ are from the West or South Boston
with the towns within easy reach by
railroad. Is the home OF the greater
number. They are presumably all be-
tween the ages OF eighteen and twenty
two or three years. SO that their given
names indicate the tastes of their
SPONSORS about twenty years ago.
Their family names, OF course. are Of
no Importance, az their parents cannot
be blamed for them. and besides we
must assume that these young women
will have the opportunity to change
their last names II they do not like
them, while 1t Is unusual to change
Christian name.
Several things attract notice In the
Radcliffe list. One Is the small num-
Der Of Christian names, only 555 among
ii3 girls, which gives only one girl In
three second name. This is In
marked contrast with the European
practice; no self-respectng French or
italian parent would think of bestow-
ing less than half dozen names on his
child, while the Portuguese allowance
Is dozen. and for princesses some
times reaches two dozen, as the AL
manac de Gotha shows. The variety
OF names. too. Is very small. there be-
ing only 100 to divide among them all.
Another noticeable fact Is the scarcity
OF pet names and dimlnWtives; there
are but fifty-two, and the number Of
curious formations, apparently OF home
manufacture, Is but a dozen or SO.
These young women have been brought
up, II would seem, to write out their
names In full and to reserve the forms
OF cndearment for their intimates.
The names themselves deserve the
attention OF prospective parents. By
far the most frequent Is the best-be-
loved name throughout Chrlstendom,
Mary; this belongs to one girl In every
eight. or II the forms May and Marion
be included, TO more than one In six.
Next. but at n long interval, about
twenty OF each, come Elizabeth. Fran
ees. Helen. Edith. Alice; then, num-
bering dozen or more, Anne. Sarah.
Louise. Mabel, Katharine, with n X,
Caroline and Charlotte, Florence, Mar
garet. Harriet and Henrietta, and
Grace. With one or two exceptions
these are dlEnihed, pleasant sounding
English names, with no suggestion OF
mere prettlness; names that their
possessors will find to wear well in the
rough usage OF life as well as in Its
sentimental episodes. The same can
be said of seventy or eighty more
names Of less frequent occurrence in
the list, many appearing only once or
twice, such as Lucy, Emily. Dorothy.
Rose, Agnes Constance. Faith. Olive.
Susan, the poets Laura and Beatrice,
julia, Della, and Celia, and quaint old
names like Mellicent and Winlfred
Merely pretty names are few; the cpl
dennis OF Mabel seems to have been In
full swing twenty years ago: and
there are some Ethels, Amys, Estelies,
Evelyns and Adelines. but not many.
From Puritan community an
abundance of scripture names might
be expected, but they are lacking. The
imperlous wife of the first patriarch is
the favorite, curlously enough; then we
IND, very few Of each, Martha, abb
gan Tin the Bostonese form Abby,
Esther. Eva, Ruth, Rebecca. Miriam,
Mahala. There is no Rachel or De-
borah or Judith Magdalen, a favorite
name in Catholic countries, appears
once In the nondescript shape, Magda-
line, A Beulah shows that Bunyan Is
not wholly forgotten. The classics
furnish only n Cornelia, an Arethusa
and Euphrosyne. 1t seems strange
that these last two names should be
when applied to snucy
frigate and yet absurd for an English,
speaking girl One joyful parent has
revived the old Puritan name Delight.
while another.less fortunately inspired,
has called his girl Happle. Nothing in
literature or history can account for
these eccentricities: Alxora, Philura.
Philinda, Florinn, Melora, Luenna,
Elva, Velma. They must have sound
ed well to some one, but 1t was cruel
to helpless babes to burden them with
such names for life.
The godfathers and godmothers OF
tne hadcilHe young women, on the
whole. showed unusual discretion and
taste. We doubt II many similar
lists can show fewer sins of commits
sion.