Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1901-05-17
NAMING THE BABIES.
There Has Keen n Change In Modern
Selections That seems Quite
Commendable.

A clergyman who baptizes a great
many babies asserts that the fancy
names for girls which have caused 50
much disgust among sensible people
are going out of date. There are few
er Carries, Emmas, Elias, NAMES and
Sadies and more Carolines, Emelines,
Marys and Sarahs. This is pleasing,
as it indicates that parents are grow
ing in sense. English names should
be given to English-speaking people,
Diminutives are proper enough for
babies, but where is the young lady
Margaret who would sign her name
Maggie, Madge, Maud, or Peggie on q
business document? How many peo.
pie of middle age can remember u
Gladys in their early days? A lady
who had named her daughter Flora
afterward, at the girls request, en-
larged il to Florence, because there
were so many Floras among dogs and
horses. But respect for the English
language should be the first impulse
on naming child, says the New HaveI
Comm Palladium.
Among boys the selection of foreign
and outlandish names is far less com
mon. Now and then there is an Al
phonso or Aonzo. transported from
one of the Latin countries. but the
good old English names, such as have
been borne by the kings in all the
centuries, still stand the test of long
endurance. The king of England has
added to the respect in which he was
held by choosing the good old English
Edward instead of the one which hS
received from his Dutch father.
Among the Henrys, Georges
Charleses, Williams. Jameses, Ed
wards, and few others, are names
enough to fit out the largest families
of boys. Then there are few Bib,
names that are favorites. John. David
Peter, Stephen and Andrew being tn,
most popular. Greek names like Arts
tarchus, Demosthenes Anaxagoras
Themistocles and Sophocles are to,
lengthy for use in this hurrying age
A family in central New York saw the
name of Socrates in book, and name,
their son Socrates, accent on the sec
ond syllable, and by that pronuncia
ton he was known through long life
though his intimate friends reduced
il to Scrate. Probably nine-tenths O.
the people in the rural community il
which he lived had no more knowledge
than his mother. most excellent lady
who used to boast to her neighbors o
her "equinomical" habits, and one,
complained that she had a terribl,
Nashua in her stomach.
No mistakes will be made and moth
ing furnished to cause a laugh /
parents will give their children goo'
old English or Anglo-Saxon names
There are some very musical ant
sonorous names among the Spanish
Italians and old Romans, but the chill,
would not thank his parents in afte'
years if they compelled him to carr,
one of them through life. A little DO,
4
who was named Gamaliel and Away
called "Gammy' by his parents, shool
off the incubus very early by falsel
telling his teachers that he was John
His playmates and his neighbors sym
pathized with him. and his parents, re
| GREETING their mistake, let the ney
name stand. We had the story Of The
ophrastus and Theophilus Smith
few weeks ago, and of the comedy O
errors that followed their living /
the same row of flats because neithe
would get beyond the initial T. i
| signing his Christian, or rather hi
heather, name.
Give the baby good old name 50
lected from the language that yo
speak. The naming of child is on
of the most important incidents of hi
life. The man who, having been hand
capped by his own awkward nam,
afterward bestows it on his own so
for the sake of keeping il in the fan
ily," is guilty of an act that deserve
to be branded as crime, the effect q
which is more lasting than murder.