The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-03-31
Frederic Haskin's Letter
CHANGING NAMES.
Especial Correspondence Of Tho Arg,

Washington. D. c. March "a
young man dropped into a lawyers
Office here the other day.
81 want to change my name" he
said sadly. I'm a locksmith. l
have my name Oh the door-B.
Ware-and customers 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 petition for
the young man to be called Barry
Ward, and in three weeks the
change was affected to the clients
Joy.
The lawyer who told US this
story says that business in chang
ing names has been humming ever
since the war. Families who had
been in this country for four gener-
atoms and who prided themselves
on their American qualities woke
up in 1916 and 1917 to find that
their German-sounding patronymics
were regarded with disfavor if not
with suspicion. There was just one
remedy, and a great many took it.
German names were legally turned
into English equivalents, or were
replaced by plain American Smith,
Carter or Johnson.
In some cases, owners OF Ger
man names desired changes as a
means of showing that they we're
not hyphenated Americans. In
others, it was a matter Of business.
Such names as Kaiser and linden
burg, the owners stated, were injur-
ing their trade, as Americans re-
garded them as German firms, and
were prejudiced by the war asso-
Citations. ..-
Names besides those Of German
sound sometimes have an undesir-
able effect on business, and such
names seem to be discarded by
their owners in greater numbers
than ever before. These are chiefly
the masterpieces Of the Russian,
Greek, Italian and Slavic languages.
Some of these combinations con-
tain the best part OF the alphabet,
and defy pronunciation, let alone
spelling.
A name like Zacharula Panago-
poulous, for instance, is musical
and mouth-filling. and in its own
country would place the owner at
no disadvantage. But over here, a
title of such length is handicap,
and the last name is usually short
ened to something like Pagas.
Then, there are names of un-
mistakable Anglo-Saxon origin,
which are unfortunately bestowed
in individual cases, or are in them
selves undesirable. The name
Cheatham, an example of the for
mer type, is not unpleasant in
sound, and would cause a scientist
no annoyance. But a lawyer or
merchant with such a name might
be an object of endless chaff.
Occasionally a clever man makes
capital of a peculiar name, as the
man named Easum who once ad-
vertised "Easum's Pills" all over
town. But as rule, the odd name
which suggests amusing COMPARE
sons is regarded as something to
put up with. like awkward hands
or a stiff neck.
The majority Of names brought
to court for revision are surnames.
Now and again, however, a Chris
tan name which has worried the
owner like an old man Of the sea.
is happily discarded. It is hard to
get the point-of-view Of parents
who give their children ridiculous
names merely to crafty an over
developed sense Of humor.
A governor Of = certain state,
BY name Hogg. will always b re-
membered for the fact that he
named his two daughters lima and
urA At least one Of these girls.