The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #84356   Message #1556742
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
05-Sep-05 - 02:35 PM
Thread Name: BS: US personal names
Subject: RE: BS: US personal names
Azizi, I mentioned a book on African-American names by Kiester. Is it any good? There are internet sites, but I don't trust them.

Names- There are studies of name meanings and origins, but I haven't gone into them. Generalizations are often wrong since most people apply a name they like without knowing the meaning.

Lee, Leigh, Lea- both first and last name, both male and female as first name. The Chinese Li which often is spelled Lee. There are Chinese families here where children are inconsistent on Anglicized spellings of these names. Also Yi and Yee, etc.

The name Frank, which is in some cases but not always from Francis (in Spanish Francisco, but in Mexico and SW U. S. becomes the nickname Pancho becaue of F. (Pancho) Villa.
Many male-female pairings of names, e. g. Francis and Frances (Fran, Frankie, Francesca and other variants from Europe, etc,). Why are some girls named Mary Frances, doubling up on names? Brendan and Brenda.
Bre and Brianda (The latter the Spanish girl's name, often shortened to Bre as a nickname).
Hmmm, Mary, Marian, Maria and Mario?

I had a Spanish girlfriend in school whose given name was Immaculata Concepción (which led to all sorts of jokes from those of us who were non-Catholic or raised without religion). She always went by a nickname. A not uncommon name in Mexico.

This could go on.....!