The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-09-15
ABOUT PEOPLES NAMES.
People Live Up to Them and Max,
Them Fit.

person will grow to look like
and be like his or her name. Alger-
mons and Reginalds of modern times
look the part, and owe a deep debt
of ingratitude to their parents. A
young man named Harold or Mont
morency would be justified in hiring
an automobile and running over his
aged parents as they are attempting
to cross the street on the way home
! from church.
But it isn't just the society-column
names that person will come to be
like. Take any name at random,
think of all the people you know
who are going by that nomination,
and see if they aren't all a good
deal the same type.
Name a girl Gertrude and then
call her Gertie for the first fifteen
years of her life, and she will newt
ably become victim of the psychol-
ogy OF the name. She will chew
gum, wear her hat on one side, and
giggle with slight provocation
Let us now consider for a moment
the names John and Ed. Can you
conceive of any man you know by
the name of John being named Ed?
To apply Ed. to a man who has
been named John all his life would
be as absurd as to take a staid-look-
ing minister, remove his black
clothes, shave off his white fringe of
whiskers, and then dress him up in
plaid cutaway coat, double-breast-
ed green vest, and brown derby.
John is stolid sort of person, in
cl1ned to smoke thoughtfully and
stand with his hands in his trousers
pockets while you do the talking.
Ed isn't that way at all Ed is a
Jaunty person. He breezes up, carry
ing, perhaps, baseball extra in one
hand, and begins to talk rapidly of
| batting averages, politics, or what
not. Like as not he has recently
heard some fool story that he tells
you almost before he's said good
morning. A man named Ed usually
wears his hat showed back on his
head. Not infrequently he wears a
cute little stubby mustache and car
ries slender cane that heightens the
air of jauntiness. Ed may be a bar
Der, real estate salesman, or a
broker. John would be found less
frequently in any of these vocations
He is more likely to be a street-car
motorman, plumber, or a bank
officer. 1t is an extremely rare thing
for John to have any sense of hu-
NOR.
The strangest name in the list is
William. A boy is christened Will
liam, but may be called Willie, Bill,
or the other variations. His charac-
ter will depend on which of the di-
minutives people get to calling him
by. If he should be called invariably
by the full name, William, the boy
will hn ct11Hin11S f,,1
working, dressing conservatively and
talking almost humanity. Call him
plain Bill and he may not study
much, but he will organize a baseball
team and have himself elected Cap
tain before he is 10 years old 1t is
when the boy William is called Will
that the situation is serious. Many
boys turn out all right in the end,
but they have much to overcome.
Throughout their early lives there is
strong tendency to revert to type,
that is, to look like the hero of
story in Sabbath school leaflet,
talk preeociously, and make puns
frequently. 1t will take him twice
as long to learn to chew tobacco as
those of his companions called Bill.
Frank usually means a, distinct
type. A great many livery stable
horses are named Frank, and there
are people who declare that Frank
was originally intended only for
horse name. This seems extremely
doubtful, but it must be conceded
that nine men out of ten named
Frank have a bland, quiet manner
like a horse, plod along without say
ing much, are reserved but kindly
disposed. Some time ago a friend
of mine made an investigation of the
names of bartenders. About Al per
cent. of all the bartenders he inter-
viewed were named Frank. This,
however, does not show that a man
named Frank will be any better bar
tender than one named Harry or
Fred. Neither does it show that be-
cause boy is named Frank he is
going to be a bartender when he
grows up. Every little while one
finds Frank selling life insurance
or clerking in a jewelry store.
People still name boys Roy and
Clarence. A boy by the name of Roy
runs the risk of getting fat and
pudgy, as if to make his appellation
look still more dinky by comparison.
Just as young Harold will take
naturally enough to lace collars.
Little Lord Fauntleroy suits and
spring heel shoes, so will lad called
Henry go in for hound pups as COM
panions, crave brass toed boots and
carry fishing worms in his breast
pocket. He will grow up to be
man who dresses plainly with a ten
dency to have his clothes too large
for him, and with a prediction to-
ward money rather than art or liter
ature or other highbrow stuff. No
body ever heard of Henry with a
hobby for old prints or rare bits of
china, but unless he guards against
1t, a Henry may carry a toothbrush
in his vest pocket and read George
b. McCutcheon novels.
George is still one of our leading
joke names. We call a colored wait
er George if we do not know his real
name, simply because it seems the
most natural name to call him. But
it is difficult to chart George out in
confined limits. The name has be-
come so common that scores of ex-
cellent men are named George.
However, if person answering to
the name George has developed
strictly according to type, he will
un TIGHT -Htffna