Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1903-09-18
What 8 in a Namep

Much or little, as its owner ennobIes
or degrades it, is the proper answer to
the title question. There NAV be
much more in name than it's verbal
origin suggests. For instance, a "Ba-
ker" need not be a kneader of bread :
a Smith one familiar with the An
VII Chorus" or other harmonies in
Trovatore; a Hill suggestive of a
mountain top, or the Whites, Browns,
Greens or Blacks present a kaleido.
scope OF color, Tor individuality estab-
fishes the merit OF whatever means Of
identity are employed, the same as q
trademark the grade of product as
we'll as its stability and merit. Very
few people would associate the name
of Rosenthal with a valley of roses,
however beautifully poetic the smile
may appear, or OF Taylor with lap
board or goose, on account OF their
p'ebeian sound.
1t is TO disassociate, as far AS posi-
BILE, names from their accidental, or
incidental, origin, that we note the in
congruity of some names familiar to
our readers. to justify protest against
associating the name OF Murphy with
potatoes, be they, large or small, sweet
or "Irish," few in hill, like those
noted in the old song running
"Pototoes they grow small,
Over there, over there,
An they eat their tops an all
Over there"
which goes to minor lament quite as
much out of proper tune as the words,
or OF the varieties which yield eight
hundred bushels to the acre on some
of our fertile uplands.
There always has been a semi-con.
sciousness with the writer that proba-
bly, the Murphy family were entitled
to higher plane than the one sug.
gested as above-literally below the
surface-but not till now have we had
an assurance OF the fact. A friend has
handed us flattering clipping from
leading Eastern paper, which throws
considerable light upon the matter,
and rescues the Murphy family from
continued obscurity.
The original name, the veracious
journal premises. is The O'Molchoe,"
and it asserts that its descendants have
been permitted to resume the olden
spelling, direct from the crown. The
excerpt is as follows:
Murphy is a name worn by many
thousands of American citizens of Hi
bernian origin. Few, if any, probably
are aware that the ancient Irish render
ing of their patronymic is "O'Morchoe."
The O'Morchoes reigned as kings in
Wexford in ancient times, and until
1779 the chief of the family, or rather of
the clan, was known as THE O'Mor-
choe." For some reason the name was
then corrupted into Murphy. But few
years ago the senior lineal descendant in
the male line of the kings of Wexford
secured permission from the crown to
resume the old name and title of The
O'Morchoe, and was presented as such
to the throng at the levee held the other
day at Dublin Castle, along with The
O'Connor, Don Lord Lieutenant of the
County of Roscommon; The MacDer.
mott, The O'Donoghue and The O'Brien,
who figures in the peerage as Lord In.
chiquin. The crown comedies officially
this prefix of The" to the chiefs of the
houses that in olden days exercised SOW
ereign sway in the Emerald Isle, and
the wives of these chieftains are accord
ed both officially and at court the prefix
of Madam" instead of MRS"
With regard to the Lord Lieutenant
of Roscommon, the Don" appended to
his patronymic is not q surname, but a
title, concerning the origin of which
there is some dispute, but which is evil
IDENTIFY derived from some Spanish an.
cestor, the family name being O'Connor.
The O'Morchoe has large estates in
Wexford, is very rich, much interested
in the history and in the fortunes of his
family, and will doubtless be glad to
hear from all those bona fde members
thereof who are established in this coun-
try.