American Language Supplement 2 (109 page)

3
Mrs. Breckenridge Lambert, of St. Louis, tells me that family legend makes it of Indian origin.

4
I am indebted here to Mrs. Delia H. Biddle Pugh, of New York City.

1
Why
Marlynne
should be thought closer to
Lindbergh
than
Marilyn
is not explained.

2
Oklahoma City
Times
, Sept. 17, 1941, p. 12.

3
What Shall We Name the Baby?, edited by Winthrop Ames; New York, 1935.

4
Naming Your Baby, by Elsdon C. Smith; New York, 1943.

1
Jack and Jill; London, 1939, p. 17.

2
Improper Nouns, by J. H. Simpson, Toronto
Saturday Night
, March 16, 1935.

3
What’s In a Name?,
Hygeia
, March, p. 173.

4
The Laws of Manu, translated by G. Bühler; Oxford, 1886, p. 35. This code is supposed to come down from Manu, the creator of the world, just as the Hebrew Pentateuch is supposed to come from Moses. The existing version of the text was probably prepared in the second century of the Christian era.

1
Make a Name For Yourself,
Saturday Review of Literature
, Jan. 25, 1947, pp. 9–41.

2
Naming Your Baby; Evanston (Ill.), 1943, pp. 5–11.

3
Said Joseph William Carr in A List of Words From Northwest Arkansas, II,
Dialect Notes
, Vol, II, Part I, 1905, p. 102: “They are liked evidently because they lack dignity and formality and suggest popularity. Such names are useful in politics.”

4
Marshall
Democrat-News
, June 19. I am indebted here to Dr. W. L. Carter.

1
Our Given Names, Jan., 1855, p. 59.

2
But Commodore Allen George Quynn, U.S.N., reports in Who’s Who in America that his son is
Allen George VIII
. I am indebted here to Mr. Alexander Kadison.

3
My specimens come mainly from newspapers, and my heaviest borrowings are from lists of war heroes. I have been aided by the kindness of the persons mentioned at the head of the roll of girls’ names, with the addition of Paul Flowers, of Memphis, Tenn., and John P. Shepard, of Detroit.

4
Reported from Peoria, Ill., by Mr. Fred Hamann.

5
Christian Names in the Cumberlands, by James A. Still,
American Speech
, April, 1930, p. 307.

6
Reported from the South in Christian Names, by Katherine Buxbaum,
American Speech
, Oct., 1933, p. 73.

1
Christian Names in the Blue Ridge of Virginia, by Miriam M. Sizer,
American Speech
, April, 1933, p. 36.

2
Also
Bearle
.

3
Also
Berlyn
and
Burlin
.

4
Also
Burvine
.

5
Oklahoma City
Oklahoman
, March 15, 1942.

6
Buck?

7
Oklahoma City
Times
, March 13, 1942.

8
Oklahoma City
Times
, April 4, 1942.

9
Reported from the Tennessee mountains by Mr. Hayden Siler, of Jellico, Tenn. Common in Oklahoma in the form of
Cletus
.

10
From Long Grove, Okla. Also
Cloys
.

11
Colonel
Fred Docstader, of Fonda, N. Y., was inducted into the Army as a private at Albany, May 22, 1941.

12
A very popular name in Oklahoma. Also
Coe
.

13
Christian Names in the Cumberlands, before cited.

14
From Galveston, Texas.

15
Often used as a second name.

16
Oklahoma City
Oklahoman
, March 4, 1942.
DeLos
is reported from Los Angeles.

17
Perhaps from or for
DeWitt
.

18
Probably from
Doyle
, assimilated with
Royal
.

19
A very popular name, sometimes spelled
Dwain, Dwane, Dwaine, Dewane, Duayne, DuWayne
, or
Dee Wayne
.

20
This name is common all over the Bible country. Sometimes it becomes
Elza
or
Elzia
.

1
Christian Names in the Cumberlands, before cited.

2
Associated Press dispatch from Columbia, S. C., April 19, 1941: “
Esther Mae
may join the Army, but boys, don’t get excited if you hear the name at call some morning. He – and the gender is right – is awaiting classification with Richland county draft board.”

3
Oklahoma City
Oklahoman
, March 6, 1946.

4
A gallant soldier of Council Hill, Okla.

5
The name of a Tennessee statesman. It appears also as
Phynis
and
Finice
.

6
From LeFlore, Okla.

7
Also
Gerold, Jerrold, Jerell
, and
Jirl
.

8
Perhaps from
Gladstone
.

9
From Midwest City, Okla.

10
Death notice in the Oklahoma City
Oklahoman
, May 4, 1942.

11
The usual pronunciation of
Horace
in Alpine Tennessee.

12
From Stilwell, Okla.

13
Reported from Arnaudville, La.

14
Reported from Iowa by Miss Katherine Buxbaum.

15
Christian Names in the Cumber-lands, before cited. Common in Oklahoma.

16
Ivy
Lee (1877–1934), born in Georgia, was the press-agent of John D. Rockefeller I.

17
Oklahoma City
Oklahoman
, March 31, 1942.

18
Christian Names in the Blue Ridge of Virginia, before cited.

19
Oklahoma City
Oklahoman
, April 5, 1942.

20
Reported from Iowa by Miss Katherine Buxbaum.

21
Also
Koren
.

22
From Sapulpa, Okla.

23
Lemuel?
There is also
Lemul
.

24
Also
Lessly
.

25
Reported from Tennessee.
Lyman?
His middle name was
Beecher
.

26
Originally, this seems to have been a diminutive for
Alonzo
, but it now flourishes on its own.
Lonzo
is also common.

1
Also
Loid
.

2
Christian Names in the Cumber-lands, before cited. An abbreviation of
Columbus
. The bearer’s twin brother is named
Lem
.

3
Made an ensign in the Navy June 5, 1948.
Congressional Record
, June 10, p. 6710.

4
Found in Peoria, Ill., by Mr. Fred Hamann.

5
Also
Lyle, Lyall
and
Lyal
.

6
Reported from Iowa by Miss Katherine Buxbaum,
American Speech
, Oct., 1933, p. 72. His brother was
Verl
. Other forms:
Murrel, Mirl, Muirl, Merl, Myrl
and
Murl
.

7
Christian Names in the Cumber-lands, before cited.

8
Also
Murel
.

9
Christian Names in the Blue Ridge of Virginia, before cited. Maybe from Ananias.

10
Christian Names in the Cumber-lands, before cited.

11
Also
Obie
and
Oba
.

12
Reported from New Hampshire by Mr. Paul St. Gaudens.

13
From Tulsa, Okla.

14
Christian Names in the Cumber-lands, before cited.

15
Also
Odys
.

16
Found in Peoria, Ill., by Mr. Fred Hamann.

17
From Konawa, Okla. Also
Onis
.

18
Christian Names in the Cumber-lands, before cited. This name is very common in Oklahoma, along with
Orel
.

19
From Iowa.
American Speech
, Oct., 1933, p. 72.

20
Also
Orlin
.

21
Christian Names in the Cumber-lands, before cited. Reported from Iowa in the form of
Osey, American Speech
, Oct., 1933, p. 72. Also used as a name for girls.

22
Also
Othul
.

23
A major in the Army from Oklahoma.

24
Marriage Licenses, Oklahoma City
Oklahoman
, March 11, 1942.

25
Reported from the Tennessee mountains by Mr. Hayden Siler, of Jellico, Tenn.

26
Pronounced
Plez
. An abbreviation of
Pleasant
, a favorite given-name. Sometimes spelled
Ples
.

1
Buried at Oklahoma City, Aug. 9, 1940.

2
Not a feminine form of
Rollo
. Borne by a member of the 80th Congress.

3
Roland?
Sometimes spelled
Rolin
or
Rollin
.

4
From
Ronald?
Also
Ronell
.

5
Oklahoma City
Oklahoman
, Jan. 8, 1941.

6
Solon?

7
From
Solomon?
Or
O sole mio? Salomica
is also reported.

8
Tulsa dispatch, May 4, 1942.

9
Christian Names in the Blue Ridge of Virginia, before cited.

10
Apparently from
Theophilus
, a saint’s name. Also
Theople
.

11
Encountered in the Army by Mr. Hugh Morrison.

12
From Ellisville, Miss.

13
Reported from Lake Village, Ark., by Mrs. Helen F. Gaines, 1940. His brother is
2 S
.

14
From
United States of America
. Reported from New Jersey by Mr. Henry Burnell Shafer, of Haddon Heights.

15
Very common in Oklahoma. Also
Verl
and
Vurl
.

16
Reported from Detroit by the New York
Times
, Aug. 17, 1945.

17
Christian Names in the Cumber-lands, before cited.

18
From Greenville, Miss.

1
Apparently pronounced as one syllable, for it is often spelled
Burl
or
Byrl
.

2
Ora
Jones Married
Ora
Jones, by Manuel Prenner,
American Speech
, April, 1942, pp. 84–88, and Dec., 1942, p. 282.

3
One of the attorneys for Jahveh, at the trial of Scopes at Dayton, Tenn., in 1925, bore the name of
Sue
, though his he-ness was manifest. In 1941, according to Prenner,
Case and Comment
, the lawyers’ magazine, unearthed male barristers named
Slare, Velma, Shirley, Ormie
and
Gail
. In the Seventy-ninth Congress there were two members of the House named
Clare
, one male and one female. See Bulletin on
Hon
., by H. L. Mencken,
American Speech
, April, 1946, p. 81. For a he-
Ruby
of eminence see Supplement I, p. 532.

4
Captain
California
C. McMillan, of the Coast Guard, retired in 1938 after 36 years service, and died in San Francisco, Dec. 4, 1946.

1
On June 29, 1940, the United Press reported from Springville, Utah, that a filling-station there had both a
Taylor Burt
and a
Burt Taylor
on its faculty. Mrs. James Nye Ryman, of Houston, Texas, tells me that the number of surnames in use as given-names in that great State is augmented by the custom of naming boy babies after the doctors who deliver them.

2
Lloyd Lewis says in Sherman, Fighting Prophet; New York, 1932, p. 517, that Sherman was christened simply
Tecumseh
, but that
William
was later prefixed at the suggestion of his foster-father, Thomas Ewing.

3
Sherman was defeated by Joseph E. Johnston at Kenesaw Mountain, near Marietta, Ga., June 27, 1864. Dr.
Malvern Hill
Price, a Washington physician, maybe preceded Landis, for Malvern Hill was fought on July 1, 1862. I am indebtec here to Dr. John B. Nicols, of Washington.

4
I am indebted here to Mr. Thomas E. Street, of Enfield, N. C.

5
I am indebted here to Mrs. L. B. Bailey, of South Frceport, Maine.

1
I am indebted here to Lieut. Col. Frederick Bernays Wiener of the Judge Advocate General’s department of the Air Force. The general’s niece, Elizabeth Lewis Gist, married David Edward Finley and became the mother of
States Rights
Gist Finley, general superintendent of the Chattanooga Electric Power Board. Roger Butterfield says in The Millionaires’ Best Friend,
Saturday Evening Post
, March 8, 1947, p. 80, that he is known in the family as
States
. I am indebted here to Messrs. Alexander Kadison and Simon Hochberger.

2
Borne by
Erdis
Robinson, a distinguished citizen of Columbus, O. He thus explains its origin: “My father was a pioneer in engineering education and an inventor. When I, his only son, was born, he felt that no ordinary name would do for me, so he invented one. He proceeded thus: He opened at random a book on mechanical engineering and with eyes closed touched the page with his pencil point and recorded the letter struck. Another page, another letter, and so until he had a long line of letters. Of this series he chose the first five letters in sequence that formed a pronounceable word. The result was
Erdis
.” Private communication, March 28, 1940. The late Dr.
Lewellys
F. Barker (1867–1943), the Johns Hopkins consultant, explained in his autobiography that he was christened
Lewellys
because
Llewellyn
, which was traditional in his family, had become trite in his native Ontario.