Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-08-27
THE NAMING or NAMES.
Wfiou. Reasons otea Tor Nlay d lion.
kansas Cliy start

lknnsuH CITY start
In this world of ours there IL no end
~ giving names Everything that ~
~ desirable 20 dir,inguiah from uthcr
similar offsets. from babies Co noun.
i1lns. from Che least unto Tie greatest,
must be named. Tho North American
continent ana especially the portion
embraced IN the United States. hos
been. FOR the last two centuries, the
seat ~ nn extensive ana unparalleled
naming business WHOM tho white
people arrived on thcao rhnrF ihHy
brought extensive ianruagea with thcm.
The natives. whose places they took.
had very limited yucahuiariCf, two.
three or four hundred words. and bod
done little toward giyinE names exc. pt
% the most prominent natural objects,
and thrlr work had generally On hH
done over again with extensive ndll-
lions.
The newcomers nilcd the continent
with new nnmea. The most numerous
names ~ towns hnd cities la the Unit
"a states and those which have been
oftrnuHt repeated and longest kept came
from ENGLAND. This WIS because the
names were familiar simple and orig
lnaliy meant something The tfrml.
nations ham" "tpn." stead" wick
and "nold" IA the old time had n rlgul-
~
ned home. birmingham. the home of
nlrminr. either man. family or tribe,
aud sn on through the catalogue. And
that leads up 60 the general rule that
q name. when applied. should tell some
thing and mean something, nH. for rN-
ample. oxford. now known In England
Tor n great university. but before that
n. the ford where the cattle crossed
the stream.
The use ~ names In the United States
that mean nothing. tell nothing. CONE
momoratc nothing. indicate nothing and
are not even rhythmlcal or mclodious,
II n great calamity. n II recorded oi
a certain railroad company that, have
Ing large number ~ new stations %
name. syllnhleH were written on slips
~ paper md drawn out ~ q hat, thrrr
TO u station. ana hence such names as
Ki-o-to and po-duuk-ul were scattered
along Tor three or four hundred miles.
These are specimens ~ The meaningless
and HtnHclCfH names used o. the NUM-
ber OF several thousand In the United
Statc1.
plnrrccnhle names should not be
applied D. any natural objects With
out special md convincing reason.
Prairie DOG creek may convey 60 fus
turr generations the name ~ the ilHt
town Ia the nGrhburh1d and a. lnhlh-
itnnta. hut Dos creek IA aa bad 80
skunk river, q leading wnicrcourae IN
Iowa. skull creek, Dry creek. sand
creek. Skeleton creek and the like per-
pctunte the ldtus ~ hot winds and
masaacrca. hTcy show the lack of Inn
aginhiinn and taste In the manners
Wild aud simple people do better than
this, Tor to tho north u river the
French Vlyagurn named "Qu'Appello"
---"Wha CallHT' because of the myHier-
ioua noises like human voices. heard
under the lee,
Classical nnmea were moro IN de-
mau1 nfty or sixty years ago than
begun 81 make FUN 0f them. Rome,
Athens. C1rlnth were made the app
pCllati0na 81 little towns that never
grow up 10 their big names, AL re-
minded bahoidcrH on the learned party
who named his nTiteSclplo African
vs." and had the modification 20 sec
u occupied by cnlorcd folks and de-
generate into "Nlggorinwn.'
From ghr sad lessons N tho past the
Americans. who have yet much n1m-
Ing 10 do. should faHteu ON nothing
which requires a name, an ugly,
meaningless. absurd. protentiouH. unln-
ttiiglhlo, unpr0nounccahle. Disagree
able designations ~ "a often urged
that lndlan names should he topt nr
urpllcd, but this should depend upon
Indian names arr easy ~ 90 speak,
hut the Indian names " Maine. drawn
out In sausHf like prOlXlty, nre nol-
thcr names which refer o. the lucal
scenery, like that ~ Rlp Van Wlnklo'H
NllnEe uf Falling Waters, there arr
names ~ fair Wamen and brave mon tn
" great industries ma frfat works.
From an these should he chosen those
which fan trlpplugly frDm the tongue.
are pleasant IN the Listening ear and
have meaning 20 the brain ana TO the
heart
Il may also be added mat tho rule
which applies o. localities and towns
holds good also o. objects and under
inNngs within the cunmunhNfs, and
the chief fault 10 b. aVuidod in an eases
IL The choice ~ NAMES that suggest
nn,hlng, and, thai convey not the
slightest intention ~ the motive which
influenced their selection.