Great Falls daily tribune., 1920-03-31

here the other day.
Il want to change my name" he said
sadly. I'm q locksmith. have my
name on the door-B. Ware--and Gus
toners are always cracking jokes and
pretending to be afraid Of me. People
even come in just to make silly puns and
take up my time"
"Why don't you write your first name
out?' suggested the attorney.
''Oh, that would be worse. My names
Barry Ware-it sounds like bow-wow.'
The lawyer drew up q petition for the
young man to be called Barry Ward, and
! in three weeks the change was effected
to the clients joy.
The lawyer who told us this story
| says that business in changing names has
been humming ever since the war. Fam
lilies who have been in this country for
four generations and who prided them
selves on their American qualities woke
up in 1916 and 1917 to find that their
German-soundinE patronymics were re-
garded with disfavor If not with suspi-.
cion. There was just one remedy and
great many took it. German names
were legally turned into English equiva-
lents, or were replaced by plain Ameri-
can Smith, Carter or johnson.
In some cases, owners OF German
names desired changes as a means OF
showing that they were not hyphenated
Americans. In others, it was a matter
of business. Such names as Kaiser and
juring their trade, as Americans regard
| ed them as German firms, and were
prejudiced by the war associations.
Names besides those of German sound
| sometimes have an undesirable effect on
business. and such names seem to De
discarded by their owners in greater
numbers than ever before. These are
ohiofr ho "a nrvfocoa Of tho Russian.
Greek, Italian and Salavic languages.
| Some of these combinations contain the
best part of the alphabet and defy pro-
nunciation, let alone spelling.
A name like Zacharula Panagopoulous,
for instance, is musical and mouth h-tllllng,
and in its own country would place. the
owner at no disadvantage. But over here
title of such length is handicap. and
the last name is usually shortened to
| something like Pagas
Then, there are names of unmistakable
Anglo Saxon origin, which are unfortu-
nately bestowed in individual cases. or
are in themselves undesirable. .The. name
Cheatham. an example OF the former
type, is not unpleasant in sound and
would cause a scientist no annoyance.
But lawyer or merchant with such q
name might be an object Of endless chafi.
Occasionally a clever man makes capt.
tai Of peculiar name. as the man named
Easum who once advertised "Easun's 8
Pills" all over town. But as a rule the
odd name which suggests amusing com
PARSONS is regarded as something to put
up with. like awkward hands or stiff
neck.
The majority Of names brought to
court for revision are surnames. Now
and again, however. a Christian name
which has worried the owner like an old
man Of the sea. is happily discarded. 1t
ents who give their children ridiculous
names merely to crafty an overdevel-
oped sense of humor.
A governor OF certain states, oy
name Hogg. will always be remembered
for the fact that he named his two daugh-
ters Ina and IRA. At least one Of these
girls. we are told, married early. thereby
spelling the point OF fathers little Joke. =
Still more outlandish Is the record In
British history of father who desired to
name his child Beelzebub. When the boy
was brought to church to be christened.
the bishop. refused to bestow the name
upon him. saying that it was not a fit
name to be sanctioned by the church.
These are extraordinary. cases, but
year with weird names handed down as
family heirlooms. A boy labeled Adel-
bert. Aquilphar or Alphonse may remain
so in the nursery. but when he gets out
at school he almost always demands a
nickname for himself and gets it by force
or strategy. A large number of petitions
for changes in given names are based on
his friends by the name he has to use for
legal and public purposes.
The process Of changing an undesirable
name is simple. Here in Washington all
you have to do is to. file petition with
the supreme court Of the District of CO.
lumbia. stating that it wastes too much
of your friends time, to call you by your
may have for the change. You must
swear that you are not abandoning your
old name to avoid debts or any demands
against you. Then you have a notice Of