The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-26

baptized Margaret, may not write her
name Marguerite, or Margaretta or
Margarethe, than that her parents, in
the elementary age of style, should
call her Maggie The French version
may to her friends seem affected, who
knew her in the Maggie" days; that
is all There is no moral objection
against the fad of maidens who were
christened Mary. adopting the spelling
of Mae" only that it is extremely
idotic. Why any girl in her senses
should want to lose the fair name of
Mary, with its blessed spiritual signi-
ficance as connected with the gentle
Christ-Mother, in the cOntorted,
meaningless absurd tumble of MAE"
passes comprehension. May" is sweet
and SUNNY and dear, and in my mind
is ever connected with one fair and
lovely woman. soft of voice and ten
der of heart and hand. Therefore all
other women with that name are
sngularly interesting. Mae" is nothing
but an irritating combination of let
ters and as if it We're not enough in its
absurdity. some foolish maiden has de-
vised the horror "Maie" which she and
her followers, similarly endowed. scrib-
BILE in an illegible sprawling hand at
the foot of their letters.
Now If one isn't entirely satisfied
with her baptismal name, as her par
ents finally agreed upon it. let her look
up some logical variation of it as given
in foreign tongue and adopt it.
For instance, If the maiden Mary
thinks her name too common and the
French Marie, objectionable, she may
adopt the pretty, quaint Polish ver-
sion "Marya" or the dignified Marian,
both of which are correct variations,
but one cannot but beg her to avoid
Mae" as she would a pestilence.
Katharine is another name that has
been over-worked and tortured in the
past two or three years. 1t has really
been so frequently used in the German
spelling. which is not given the Ger
man pronunciation of "Katerena," or
the Greek in which the 9TH" is sounded,
that it is almost desirable to go back
to the sweet old-fashioned" Catherine"
of good English birth bringing in it's
train memories Of lofty halls and cas-
ties and a ghostly procession of kings
and noble knights. There is good
authority for the Italian "Caterna, +"
for the Russian "Ekaterina," or "Ye-
katerina," the Catalina" of Spain, the
simple "Katerina" of Sweden or the
charming Irish Kathleen" but never
in any language on earth for the futile,
distorted Kathryn" now so popular
and which, while it seems Saxon, is
in fact, nothing. A name should have
some logical significance if not his
torical or of sentimental application.
as to flower, or an attribute, such as
"Watstill," the gentle appellatiOn
which was one of the endurable va
garies bequeathed by the Puritans.
mabel" is always musical and indi-
cative of its derivative meaning love
ly.' 1t is a corruption of the French
"Amiable" or "Amabel," as IL was first
written, and thus is a charming change
on the name, but elaborated into MA
belle" it Is affected and ugly,
In contrast may be mentioned the
name of sarah" which in its signi-
ficance of "a princess" has a certain
stately sound The girl who bears it
has just as good authority for dropping
the "h" as in keeping that letter, since
in English, Dutch, French, German,
Italian and Spanish Sara" is sane
toned. The same is characteristic OF
Sophia" which is sophie" in many
tongues and Sofia" in Russian and
Spanish, If Florence" Is too familiar
the owner may adopt the Italian Flor
enza" and the girl who in old times
was "Lottie" and more recently
charlotte" may with perfect propri-
ETY. and elegance call herself Car