New Britain herald., 1924-05-02
NAMES AS USED
 FOR OTHER SEX James Shepard Gives Instances Of
 Such UsageS
tBy James shepard)

tby James Snepafu.)
 It is we'll known to many persons that there are a fewSchristian names which have been used sometime as a mans name and sometimes as wom- ans name without any variation in form. Only few persons would eX- pect to find more than a dozen of such names. In the appendix to Webster's dictionary there is list of names or men and another list of women. Vivian is the only name which appears in both lists without change in form. After much research l have compiled list of siNty-siN of such names. Twenty-Five of these names are given in Webster's lists for one sex only.
 It is quite common to apply sub stantially the same name with slight variation in spelling to both male and The warrior prince of the heavenly host" and Michael, the younger daughter of Saul. A few other ex- amples of similar, yet distinctive male and female names are as follows:
 Abiel and Abi; Bela and Bula; Chester and Christina: Coral and Cora Elisha and Eliza: George and Geor- gia; Joseph and Josephine; Julius and Julia; Louis and Lois; Norman and Norma; Sehra and Sabru; Sylva and Sylvia; Victor and Victory; Xii menes and Ximena; Zina and Gina.
 The name of Christian is given by Webster as a name for msn only while modified form therof is given for women. In fact Christian was by no means an uncommon name for women in the early days of Conneeti- cut. In the index of men who served as soldiers from New York in the | Revolutionary War. there are fourteen men having Christian as a surname, and two hundred and twenty men having Christian as a given name.
 In preparing my list l discarded all names used in the fiction and the drama, using only real names of per- sons who have lived. either in the past or present age. Each name has been repeatedly used as a name for one sex and also used once at least as name for the opposite sex. Some of these names. like Give thanks and Sin--deny are now obsolete, but they were frequently used by the Puritans in the early part of the seventeenth century My readers will perhaps be be more surprised to learn that such names ever existed at all, than they will to learn that they have been ap- piled to both sexes. We have in Con- necticut an example of odd names which were bestowed less than seven- fy years ago. One MT. Bill Of Lyme named two sons from pharses which were largely in use during the early days of the Free Soil party. One son. was called Kansas and Nebraska Bill, and another was called Lecompton Constitution Bill.
 There a6 many names which ap- pear to have been applied to one sex only. So far as I know the names storm and Tempest have ben used only as names of men while Delight and Prudence have been used only as naJ1ies for women. My list of names which have been used alike for both sexes is as follows:
 Abijah, Allison, Amy, Anne, Annls, Augustine, Bede. Billy, Blaze, Caro- line. Catherine, Charity. Christian, Comfort. Constance, constancy, Coh- stant. Deliverance, Della, Dorcas Dor rance, Ethel. Evelyn, Experience, Fe- lix. Florence, Fortune. Frances, Fran cis, Fregift, Givethanks, Hazel, Hope. Humiliation, Humility, Increuse, Isa- dore, Jane. Jean, Leontine, Love, Mar guerite, Maria, Marie. Marion. Mar tha, Melatiah, Mercy, Obedience, Olive. Orange. Patience. Pearl'' Philip, Preserved, Rejoice, Rene. Repentance. eelah. Sidney. Silence, Sin-deny, Thankful, Violet, Vivian. Virtue.