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BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
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Subject: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk Date: 08 Nov 07 - 02:41 PM "Nigel" It has to be. You won't find anyone in North America who would name a boy Nigel even if they were paid well to do so, but it's still a common name in the UK. It's classically British, in my opinion. Another of that sort is "Lester", but I don't think it rates quite as high as Nigel. Can anyone come up with any other given names, male or female, that come to mind which are pretty much limited to people born in the UK? |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Peace Date: 08 Nov 07 - 02:46 PM Queen Elizabeth? |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk Date: 08 Nov 07 - 02:47 PM No, no.... "Queen" is a title, and Elizabeth is a common first name in many places, not just the UK. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: John MacKenzie Date: 08 Nov 07 - 02:47 PM She's a bloody German, Peace. G |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Peace Date: 08 Nov 07 - 02:49 PM Herr Elizabeth? |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk Date: 08 Nov 07 - 02:51 PM Ja! Und you s'ought zat you vun ze var, didn't you? Vee haf you verschtunkener Englanders right vhere vee vant you. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: MMario Date: 08 Nov 07 - 02:55 PM I know several Nigel's all born and bred in the US. LH - you need to widen your horizons. For truly UK names I think you're going to have to go with Aethelrod or somesuch. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Peace Date: 08 Nov 07 - 02:56 PM Herr Aethelrod? |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: John MacKenzie Date: 08 Nov 07 - 03:01 PM Herr today John tomorrow matey. G |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: pdq Date: 08 Nov 07 - 03:03 PM Basil? |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk Date: 08 Nov 07 - 03:04 PM Now, Mario...don't make the mistake of taking my sweeping generalizations about such trivial matters at all literally or seriously, please...!!! ;-) They are made merely in the spirit of fun, not as an attempt to prove my omniscience. Deliberate overstatement is simply a way of making a light conversation more entertaining. I suggest viewings of numerous Woody Allen interviews on Youtube to make you more aware of how and why this is done. Woody always overstates wildly when he generalizes, and it's not by accident, because his tongue is set firmly in his cheek at all times. I still say that Nigel is a name that simply reeks of the UK and only the UK, regardless of whether there are a few people born and bred in the USA and in other countries who bear the same name. Hell, there are people born and bred in the USA with any damn stupid, ridiculous name you can imagine or invent. I bet there's some kid out there somewhere called "Darth Vader" ----------....just add the surname of your choice and call him "Darthie" for short. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: John MacKenzie Date: 08 Nov 07 - 03:06 PM Peregrine |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk Date: 08 Nov 07 - 03:09 PM How about Bert or "Bertie"? It's not exclusively British, but I think it nevertheless hollers "UK" like a plate of "bangers and mash" and a mug of warm ale sitting alongside a game of darts. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Becca72 Date: 08 Nov 07 - 03:09 PM Percy |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Irene M Date: 08 Nov 07 - 03:12 PM Zebedee |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Wesley S Date: 08 Nov 07 - 03:15 PM Ian |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: bobad Date: 08 Nov 07 - 03:19 PM Winston |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: bobad Date: 08 Nov 07 - 03:25 PM Mohammed overtakes George in list of most popular names By Sarah Womack, Social Affairs Correspondent Last Updated: 2:02am GMT 21/12/2006 Mohammed, and its most common alternative spelling Muhammad, are now more popular babies' names in England and Wales than George, reflecting the diverse ethnic mix of the population. The Office for National Statistics said there were 2,833 baby boys called Mohammed in 2006. The name is 22nd in the list of most popular boys' names, moving up a place from last year. Spelled Muhammad, it is the 44th most popular name and enters the top 50 for the first time along with Noah, Oscar, Lucas and Rhys. There were 2,833 babies called Mohammed born in 2006 and 1,422 called Muhammad. The total exceeds the number of Georges (3,386) or Josephs (3,755). The list of popular babies' names for 2006 also shows that the cult of celebrity is changing the baptismal tide. There were 38 babies called Cruz (after David Beckham's third child) this year, raising the name from 1,508th to 650th. There were 14 Peaches (after the daughter of Bob Geldof), raising that name from 4,509th to 1,561st. Jack has been the top boys' name for 12 years but Olivia has risen three places from last year. Last year's top girl's name, Jessica, dropped to number three, There are just three new names in the top 50 girls' names list - Imogen, Sophia and Anna. The ONS said some of the girls' names gaining the most popularity this year were Evie (21), Freya (23), Poppy (30) and Jasmine (31). As usual, the boys' top 50 is more stable, but Harrison jumped six places to number 36. Alfie, Cameron and Henry all rose five places to numbers 16, 30 and 39 respectively. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Richard Bridge Date: 08 Nov 07 - 03:26 PM Giok Kelvin Rowan Calum Colm And NO Winston is almost exclusively West Indian or Ceylon |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: robomatic Date: 08 Nov 07 - 04:07 PM When I saw the thread title the name "Nigel" immediately came to mind. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Sorcha Date: 08 Nov 07 - 04:12 PM Evelyn for a male. But Nigel has to be first, with Basil, Percy and Bertie running close behind. Zebedee doesn't strike me as British at all. More an American/US Pilgrim or American Frontier/Western name. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Peace Date: 08 Nov 07 - 04:14 PM When I first saw the thread title the name Donny came to mind . . . . |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Victor in Mapperton Date: 08 Nov 07 - 04:17 PM Keith. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Anne Lister Date: 08 Nov 07 - 04:21 PM What if we turned the tables and asked for the most US name ....I can think of a few that would be highly unlikely to occur over here in the UK. Cecil for a girl, frex, or - my personal favourite, and I did meet the woman in question - Treelight. Admittedly she wasn't given her name by her parents (it "came" to her in a vision) but it was very difficult to use her name in natural conversation. I don't think I've ever met a Donny and relatively few Nigels (although those Nigels I HAVE met tend to be good musicians). |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Peace Date: 08 Nov 07 - 04:23 PM The capital letters in the post made me think of Donny Most. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Jean(eanjay) Date: 08 Nov 07 - 04:25 PM Whilst Robert is associated with Scotland other names ending in bert used to be popular in Britain, Cuthbert, Herbert, Egbert, Albert... |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk Date: 08 Nov 07 - 04:59 PM ...Rupert, and Adelbert... |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: jacqui.c Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:05 PM Many years ago at a UK holiday camp my kids teamed up with a little Texan girl who announced; "Ma name is Tinkerbell Martin". |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:10 PM (sigh) |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Herga Kitty Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:11 PM Humphrey? Kitty |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: David C. Carter Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:14 PM St John-Pronounced-Synjun. Usually a middle name. As in-Nigel St John Farquerson. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: artbrooks Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:14 PM My first thought was Trevor. I knew a kid once who was born during the Tolkien craze of the late 1960s...his parents named him Bilbo, and you can imagine what he was called in school. At some point he renamed himself - John. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:17 PM Trevor! Great choice. It's very, very British. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: pdq Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:21 PM Bob Hope was born Leslie Townes Holt in England. There aren't that many men in the US named Leslie, and the ones who are usually have to fight. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: RangerSteve Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:36 PM Clive. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Richard Bridge Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:37 PM I can't imagine anyone not Welsh being named Daffyd. I had a friend at university one of whose middle names was Claringbold. Then there's the other rare middle name Death or De'ath. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: artbrooks Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:38 PM As in Peter Death Bredon Wimsey? |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Peace Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:40 PM Art, he said middle name. The guy you mention HAS no middle name. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Dave Swan Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:46 PM I've never met a man or boy in the US named Ivor. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: number 6 Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:47 PM Ringo |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Dave the Gnome Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:58 PM Not sure about the first name but around Salford the most popular second given name is 'Yer lickle bleedor' - As in 'Come 'ere, Chardonay yer lickle bleedor' or 'Brooklyn yer lickle bleedor, I'm gonna batter yer' Now, Giok, I do take exception to "She's a bloody German,". If we were to take that attitude with everyone here there would be NO British at all! Well, no English anyway! Hmmmm, maybe that isn't such a bad thing? Cheers Dave The Polish, Russian, Welsh, Englishman:-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Richard Bridge Date: 08 Nov 07 - 06:07 PM Yes, Art. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: bankley Date: 08 Nov 07 - 06:10 PM Cedric....? |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Dave the Gnome Date: 08 Nov 07 - 06:23 PM Oh - and I have this real odd thing with the name Nigel - Everytime I hear that somewhere is expecting gales I always associate it with Nigel. Something to do with a couple I knew called Gail and Nigel. 'The east coast is expecting severe Gails and Nigels'. Mind you, whenever my unix server says 'starting tracing and logging' I see 'starting Tracy and Roger' and every time I meet someone called 'Les' I think I should be speaking French. Maybe I am mad. Maybe it is you... :D |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Anne Lister Date: 08 Nov 07 - 06:29 PM Of course there's always Torquil. I did know a Torquil once. He was very posh and Scottish. Or Tarquin. Must be the "qu" part ... automatically makes you posh. Like Quentin. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk Date: 08 Nov 07 - 06:44 PM By God, we are getting some wonderfully classic British names here! Marvelous! Not too many female ones, though. How about Daphne? Does anyone get named Daphne any longer in the UK? And how about Penelope? Aside from Penelope Rutledge, I haven't heard of many Penelopes lately. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Herga Kitty Date: 08 Nov 07 - 06:56 PM Little Hawk - I think the names Daphne and Penelope both come from Greek mythology, so classic but not especially British.... Daphne (from Listen with Mother - are you sitting comfortably?) Oxenford and Penelope (to the Manor Born) Keith were pretty quintessentially British though! Kitty |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk Date: 08 Nov 07 - 07:13 PM Yes, that's true, Kitty. Traditional British society has had a long and passionate love affaire with the names that came out of classical Greece and Rome. Another example is the name Portia, a good Roman name, but favored by patrician families in England. And the British warships that bore Roman and Greek names! HMS Justinian, HMS Neptune, HMS Hermes, HMS Agamemnon, HMS Achilles...the list goes on and on. This was because the British saw their empire as the natural inheritor of the ancient glories of Greece and Rome, destined like the Greeks and Romans before them to dominate the world of their time...and for awhile they did. The Americans took over that role from about 1944 on...with some disagreement on the part of Russia and China, of course...but that was good for the role: Every great empire needs some worthy external enemies in order to maintain its innate sense of drive and purpose...if it succeeds in defeating all of them, then its own decline and collapse is often not too far in the future, because it becomes unwieldy, inefficient, overextended, and tends to fall under its own weight. That happened quickly with the Greek empire, much more slowly with the Roman Empire, quite slowly with the British Empire (which was unusually well administered), quite quickly with the Soviet Empire in the 1980's, and now I think it is definitely beginning to happen with the American Empire as well. But I digress.... |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Ebbie Date: 08 Nov 07 - 07:23 PM I've known lots of Berts in the US- one is a brother in law of mine. From Arkansas. Not Trevor *neither*. A neighbor of mine has that name. When I was traveling through Canada by train a couple of years back I met an English couple. Delightful people. Sure enough, his name is Dudley, a name that I think of as British through and through. Tabster, I met the coworker of a relative and upon introduction, this woman told me confidently, You can call me 'Punkin'. No, I couldn't. |
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Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: TheSnail Date: 08 Nov 07 - 07:28 PM Hilary, male and female. |
