The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1921-08-06
ALTER Names TO
AVOID RIDICULE
Washington Lawyer Says Bust
ness Has Been Humm:ny
Ever Since War.
MANY GERMAN NAMES SHED

Some Are Turned Into English
Equivalents and Others Are Re-
placed by Plain American Names
Simple to Make Alteration.
Washington.-A young man dropped
into lawyers office here the other
day.
II want to change my NAME" he
said sadly. "I'm, a locksmith. I have
my name on 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.
ooh, that would be worse. Ny
names Barry Ware-it sounds like
bow-wow."
The lawyer drew up a petition for
the young man, to be called Barry
Ward, and in three weeks the change
was effected to the clients joy.
Many German Names Changed.
The lawyer who told us this story
says business in changing names has
been humming ever since the war.
Families who had been in this coun-
try for four generations, and who
prided themselves on their American
qualities, woke up in 1916 and 1917
to find their German sounding pat
ronymics were regarded with disfa-
vor 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 German
names desired changes as means Of
showing they were. not hyphenated
Americans. In others, it was a matter
| of business. Such names as Kaiser
and Hindenburg, the owners stated,
| were injuring their trade, as Ameri-
| cans regarded them as German, firms
and were prejudiced by war associa-
| lions.
| Names besides those of German
sound sometimes have an undesir-
able effect on business. 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 combina-
lions contain the best part of the al
phabet and y defy pronunciation, let
alone spelling.
Occasionally clever man makes
capital of peculiar name, as the
man named Easum, who once adver-
tised 'Easum's pills" all over town.
But as rule the odd name which sug-
gests amusing comparisons is regard
ed as something to put up WITH like
awkward hands or stiff neck.
Most names brought to court for re-
vision are surnames. Now and again,
however, Christian 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 par
ents who give their children ridiculous
names merely to crafty an override
veloped sense of humOr.
l. - Fathers Little Joke.
A governor of a certain state, by
name Hogg, will always be remem-
bered for the fact that he named his
two daughters Ina and IRA. At least
one of these girls, we are told, mar
! ried early, thereby spelling the point
Of the. fathers little joke.
Still more outlandish is the record
in British history of father who de-
sired to name his child Beelzebub.
When the boy was brought to church
l to be christened the bishop refused to
bestow the name upon him, saying it
was not a fit name to be sanctioned by
the church.
The process of changing an unde-
sirable name is simple. Here in Wash
ington all you have to do is to file a
petition with the Supreme court of
the District of Columbia, saying it
wastes too much of your friends time
to call you by your proper name, or
whatever reason you 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 the
change of name printed in a local
newspaper once week for three
weeks. At the end of that time, if
nobody comes forward to object-and
nobody ever does-the court formally
grants your petition and you go forth
with whatever name you have picked
out. Considering how easy it is, we
wonder that there are SO many people
. with names that are unmelodious to
! say the least.-Frederic A. Haskin, in
Chicago Daily News.