American Language Supplement 2 (106 page)

3
See AL4, p. 511 and 513.

4
Luther
stands in one hundred-and-fourth place on the Newton list. It is thus above
Mark, Vincent
, and
Christian
, and far above
Washington
, which has been dropping out of late.

5
The use of surnames as middle names is relatively common,
e.g.
, J.
Ramsay
MacDonald, Andrew
Bonar
Law and William
Ewart
Gladstone.

1
The anonymous author of Our Given Names,
Putnam’s Monthly
, Jan., 1855, p. 59, said that it originated among the Quakers.

2
Happy Hours
, reprinted in
Every Saturday
(Boston), June 8, 1867, p. 716.

3
An American who married a Bermudian lady tells me that when she adopted her maiden surname as a middle-name and returned to Bermuda her bank there refused to cash her checks and that when she applied for a renewal of her passport she had to resume her maiden given-names.

4
Aug. 3, 1938.

5
Cabell later restored the
James
White died in 1944.

1
Usually
Myron C
. and
William C
. in the United States.
Cf
. John
D
. Rockefeller.

2
He was named after Josiah
Quincy
, who had been associated with his father. John Adams, in the defense of the British soldiers implicated in the Boston massacre of March 5, 1770.

3
John Paul
Jones was originally
John Paul;
he added the
Jones
for reasons still undetermined.

1
Editor’s Table, Dec., 1859, p. 122.

2
Republican politicians are usually much more decorous than Democrats, not only in their names but also in their dress, rhetoric, and eating and boozing habits. See my Making a President; New York, 1932, pp. 8–9.

3
For this gentleman see
American Speech
, April, 1946, p. 84, n. 7.

1
p. 149.

2
Oklahoma City
Oklahoman
, Sept. 16, 1945. The name of a Baptist pastor, so appearing in a wedding notice. Apparently an abbreviation of
Columbus
.

3
A captain in the Regular Army, promoted from first lieutenant June 12, 1940.

4
On the faculty of the Georgia Teachers College, May, 1946.

5
Appointed a second lieutenant in the Marines, June 5, 1946.

6
The last seven were made ensigns in the Navy, June 5, 1946.

7
The last three are contributed by Mr. E. P. Rochester, of San Antonio, Tex.
Link
is apparently a shortened form of
Lincoln
. An eminent Arkansas statesman was the Hon.
Jeff
Davis (1862–1913). He was Governor of the State from 1900 until 1907 and one of its United States Senators from the latter year until his death.

8
The Hon.
Josh
Lee was a Senator from Oklahoma, 1937–43. While he was in the Senate he so described himself in the Congressional Directory, but in Who’s Who in America he appeared as
Joshua Bryan
. It is thus probably unfair to count him.

9
Public Records and Vital Statistics, Oklahoma City
Oklahoman
, March 7, 1946.

10
The last two are from a list of residents of Elwood, Ind., printed in
Life
, Aug. 26, 1940, p. 2.

11
From
Nelson
, possibly influenced by
Nils
.

12
The Hon.
Jed
Johnson, of Oklahoma, was a member of the Seventy-eighth Congress.

13
The Hon.
Nat
Patton is a statesman of Texas.

14
The last three belong to members of the Linguistic Society of America.

15
For
Washington
. I am indebted here to Mr. James F. Rennicks, of Camden, Ark.

16
Edd
Kiespert was charged with reckless driving in Oklahoma City, June 19, 1941.

17
The Hon.
Ned
R. Healy, of California, was a member of Congress in 1946.

18
The Hon.
Ollie
M. James (1871–1919) was a member of Congress from Kentucky, 1903–13, and a Senator from 1913 until his death.

19
An ensign in the Navy.
Congressional Record
, May 13, 1946, p. 5017.

1
Other examples:
Joe Ben
Jackson, a regent of the University of Georgia in Talmadge days;
Will
Rogers and his politician son of the same name;
Tom
Peete Cross, professor of English and comparative literature at the University of Chicago, to whom the Aug., 1945 issue of
Modern Philology
was dedicated. One from England: the Right Rev.
Tom
Longworth, bishop suffragan of Pontefract. The Hon.
Tom
Clark, of Texas, Attorney-General of the United States as I write, seems to have been baptized
Thomas Campbell
, but he switched to
Tom
as he rose in public responsibilities.

2
Given-name is an Americanism, traced by the DAE to 1827 and apparently in use in New England some time before. The NED Supplement’s first example of its use in Great Britain is from a Scottish novel by S. R. Crockett (1860–1914), published in 1895. In England
Christian-name
is still in general use, though it has been omitted from many official forms since World War I as a result of protests by Jews. See Strange Names, London
Observer
, Sept. 6, 1936.

3
Dispatch from Washington, April 12, 1945. I am informed by Mr. Truman’s secretary, Charles G. Ross, that the full name of his paternal grandfather was Anderson
Shippe
Truman and that of his maternal grandfather
Solomon
Young.

4
There is some conflict in testimony regarding Grant’s given-names. His father, Jesse Grant, said in The Early Life of General Grant, New York
Ledger
, March 14, 1868, that he “was christened
Hiram Ulysses
, but was always called by the latter name.” When he was appointed to West Point, the congressman who named him, one Hamer, mistakenly entered him as
Ulysses Simpson
, misled by the fact that
Simpson
was his mother’s maiden name and that there was another son named
Simpson
in the family. “My son,” said the father, “tried in vain afterward to get it set right by the authorities.” Hamlin Garland says in his Ulysses S. Grant: His Life and Character; New York, 1898, pp. 30–31, that when Grant set off for West Point and noted that his trunk bore the initials H.U.G., he feared that the other cadets would nickname him
Hug
, and so registered as
Ulysses Hiram
. This seemed to pass official scrutiny, but when he proposed to change further to
Ulysses Simpson
permission was refused. But he told the other cadets that
Ulysses Simpson
was his true name, and they nicknamed him
Uncle Sam
and
Sam
. I am indebted here to Mr. Lloyd Lewis, who refuses on the advice of counsel to choose between these discordant stories.

1
Mr. Stephens, like Mr. Truman, got his middle initial by compromise. His mother desired that he have no given-name save her own surname, but family pressure induced her to consent to
J
, derived from
James
and
Jefferson
, the given-names of his two grandfathers.

2
Dr. Cowan tells me that his father, whose given-name was
James
and who was the son of another
James
, favored bestowing the name on
his
son, but that the son’s mother objected. They compromised on the initial, with the understanding that its bearer could fill it out later if he so desired. He says: “I never considered the matter of sufficient importance to do anything about it.”

3
He writes: “My father’s name was
David Roland
Scott. I was given his two initials as a given-name. The problem of translating it into written language was left to me. The form I use was not a matter of positive choice but rather the result of unwillingness to use any other form.”

4
Editor & Publisher
, Feb. 1, 1947, p. 17: “Christened
Elizabeth Jane
, she grew up as
Betty Jane
. In the business world she signed interoffice correspondence
BJK
, and from that achieved the pen-name of
Bj
.”

5
He was christened
Edward Legget
, but always used
Ed L
. To the list might be added
Will-A
Clader, of Philadelphia (AL4, p. 517), and
Will-B
Hadley, of the same city. Men without any given-names at all are by no means unknown. One was Dr. Gatewood, a Chicago surgeon. See Dr. Gatewood Dies; Never Had a First Name, New York
Herald Tribune
, May 24, 1939. Another was Tifft, who carried on business in New York under the style of
Tifft Bros
. for many years. He wrote to me in 1939: “I have never had a first name, nor considered one.” A third who uses no given-name is Arki-Yavensonne, manager of the Hotel Fensgate in Boston.

1
I take these examples from the
Congressional Record
, June 10, 1946, pp. 6707–11. I am indebted here to Mr. H. Bartlett Wells.

2
I am indebted for a copy of this regulation to Major-General Edward F. Witzell, the Adjutant General.

3
I am indebted for this to Dr. Joseph M. Carrière, of the University of Virginia.

4
For these I am indebted to Mr. Lockwood Barr, of New York author of a history of clock-making in Bristol, Conn.

1
These were unearthed from New Hampshire records by Mr. Paul St. Gaudens.

2
The last four were found at the Ontario Female Seminary, Canandaigua, N. Y., in 1841 by an English traveler, J. S. Buckingham. I am indebted here to Mr. Charles J. Lovell.

3
New England: Indian Summer – 1865–1915; New York, 1940, p. 149.

4
Oddities of Personal Nomenclature, reprinted in the
Eclectic Magazine
, April, 1882, p. 533.

5
Many examples are to be found in Belles and Beaux of 40 Years Ago, by J. Marvin Hunter,
Frontier Times
(Bandera, Texas), March, 1944, pp. 269–73. In the
Century Magazine
, March, 1888, pp. 809–10, E. W. Denison complained bitterly against “the strange fatuity which makes grown-up women, and business women at that, announce themselves to the world as
Jennie, Mattie, Maggie
, etc.,
ad
nauseam.” “How can they help seeing,” he demanded, “the increased dignity of
Jane
and
Martha
and
Margaret?
” This fashion did not last long.

1
I am heavily indebted here to Miss D. Lorraine Yerkes, of Chicago, a diligent collector of American onomastica. She has got together a collection on cards, mainly gathered from newspapers and telephone directories, that runs to many thousands of examples, and has generously put it at my disposal. I have also had access to an unpublished Prolegomena in Arte Onomastica, by the Right Rev. J. B. Dudek, whose previous studies in American English contributed so much to the various editions of AL4 and to Supplement I. Various other readers who have helped me are mentioned in the footnotes to the following list. Others who should be added are Mrs. Ethel Austin, of Granby, Conn.; J. C. Bibb, Jr., of New Orleans; Miss Alice S. Emery, of Taunton, Mass.; Frank Field, of Johnson City, Tenn.; Mrs. J. P. Gardner, of Lexington, Ky.; Miss Marjorie Gardner, of Baltimore; Lester Hargrett, of Washington; William S. Hoffman, of State College, Pa.; Miss Charlotte Matson, of Minneapolis; James Cowden Meyers, of Ridgewood, N. J.; Mrs. Charles I. Mosier, of Gainsville, Fla.; Mrs. Douglas Rigby, of New York City; Miss Elizabeth Rigby, of Putney, Vt.; Mrs. John W. Robertson, of Livermore, Calif.; E. P. Rochester, of San Antonio, Texas; Hyder R. Rollins, of Cambridge, Mass.; Mrs. Fred. Schmitt, of Oak Park, Ill.; Mrs. F. W. Schnirring, of New York City; Miss Esther Smith, of Lonaconing, Md.; Mrs. Wellman Topham, of Belmont, Calif.; Mrs. Mary M. Webb, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Howard M. Wilson, of New York City.

2
Reported from Cortez, Colo., by Mr. Don Bloch, 1945.

3
Oklahoma City
Times
, July 24, 1945.

4
From
Alice
or
Elise
. Other forms:
Aleese, Allece, Aliece, Alyce, Alys, Aylisse
.

5
Probably from
Alfred
. Also –
Alfredia, Alfretta
.

6
One of the many forms of
Aileen
. Others are
Aleyne, Alieen, Alleen, Allene, Alleyne, Aleene, Aeileen, Erleen, Erlene
and
Ilene
.

7
Found in Jacksonville, Fla.

1
Reported from California by Mrs. G. A. Meek.

2
Probably from
Andy
. An analogue is
Andrice
.

3
Anah, Aner
and
Anner
are also reported.

4
This is one of many analogues,
e.g., Anajean, Analon, Anajoe, Anamarie, Aniceta, Anliza, Anneene
, etc.

5
Divorced in Oklahoma City, Oct. 11, 1945. Other forms are
Anneice, Annice
and
Annyce
.

6
Found in Jacksonville, Fla., 1945.

7
A new spelling of
Irene?

8
Found in Jacksonville, Fla., 1944.

9
Found on Cape Cod by Mr. Gustavus Franklin Paine.

10
Armistice
is also encountered.

11
Divorced at Oklahoma City, March 6, 1946.

12
From
Inez?

13
From
Ursula?

14
Enrolled at the State Teachers College, Florence, Ala., 1938–39. On the same roll were an
Adrene
, a
Waltherene
, an
Olene
, an
Olgalene
and a
Willene
. At the same time an
Ethelene
was enrolled at the similar college at Troy, Ala. Simultaneously the Sam Houston State Teachers College at Huntsville, Texas, had an
Earlene
and a
Haleene
.
Arthuree
and
Arthuritus
are also recorded.