Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-07

names of colored children, and our African
brother sometimes harks back to the barbarous
luxury OF his tropical origin.
Names of the Presidents
DURING the presidential campaign of 1908
each of the leading candidates bore the
name of William, and much to-do was made over
1t; though 1T was less remarkable than that they
should have had different names, seeing that
William IS of the CommOneSt of Christian
names. and with the exception of James and
John have had more William Presidents
than any others, and the same number of
Williams as Johns. There have been five
Jameses three each of John and William, two
of Andrew and one each of other names. The
parents of Presidents did as well could be
expected in naming their babies-if you can
imagine President of the greatest Republic
the world has known ever having been a baby
and all of them had good names, Bible
names, John. James, Andrew, Zachary.
Abraham, Stephen (Mr. Cleveland dropped it
when he came into office, and Ben jamin,
being in the majority. George and Theodore
are royal, Ulysses heroic, and Martin, Frank
lin Millard Rutherford, and Chester, of family
origin.
In the Mayhower contingent which sailed
for these shores from Plymouth, England, in
1920, there was not one individual man or
woman, who had double name.
One hundred and fifty-six years later, there
were only three double names among the
signers of the Declaration of independence,
Robert Treat Paine of Massachusetts, and
Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot
Lee of Virginia.
The first five Presidents of the United States
were without double names, as were the first
five Vice Presidents. John Quincy Adams
was the first of double name among the Presi-
dents, and there were only eight like him, Hair
rison, Polk, Grant. Hayes, Garfield, Arthur,
were more modern in their naming. The sixth
was Daniel ID. Tompkins, and there were thr-
teen others; that is, nearly half the Vice Presi-
dents were double named.
Even yet the double naming has not wholly
possessed the land. though among literary per-
sons the writer who has not double name to
sign in full to his writings IS rather handi-
capped.
Of our twenty-seven Presidents, seventeen
were named according to the old English law
controlling the naming of children; that IS. only
one name could be & ven to child Coke in his
" First Institute" says, And regularly it is
requisite that the purchaser be named by the
name of his baptism and his surname, and that
special heed be taken to the name of baptism;
for that man cannot have two names of bap
tism, as he may have divers Surnames."
Most Names Haphazard
MOST of our ancestors. outside of the roval
AVA line. got their family names in haphazard
fashion, either from their occupations their
environment, and these might vary according
to crcumstanccs,-the son of gardener might
become a weaver another son might become
blacksmith, third might become a carpenter.
and the peculiar condition would be presented
of young Weaver, young Smith, and young Car
penter being sons of old man Gardener,-but
the names given by baptism could not be
changed, except at confirmation and for good
and valid reasons.
At present in this country man may legally
have only one surname. although in the noun
tain regions of Kentucky, Tennessee, North
Carolina, and Virginia (more early English. by