BS: The MOST British given name of all is...

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: Mr Happy
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 07:54 AM

Mountain Ash?

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 07:45 AM

My partner has an Aunty Doris, lovely woman too with a wicked sense of humour! Don't know any 'younger' people with the name though

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: GUEST,Santa
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 07:39 AM

Rowan is just another name in the flowers/nature group: I know one from Nottingham. Northern perhaps, because of the spread of the tree, but not just Scottish.

The question said British names: Arthur is certainly about as British as you get but were UK names really meant? Anything ending -bert or -ric is going to be specifically English. (Robert the Bruce just shows how Anglicised the Scotish Lowlands were.) The Anglo-Saxon female names do seem to be unfashionable now, but I gather there was a spate of "Anglo-Saxon pride" in the 19th century, so perhaps we're just at the end of that rather than a rather longer chain.

Which are the original British names - can they be identified with current Welsh/Cornish/Breton names or have they changed too much with the times?

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 07:32 AM

It's had it's day.
G.

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: Moses
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 06:41 AM

Has anyone mentioned Doris?

Not a popular name nowadays but, as I have a couple of friends of this name who are a 'certain age', it seemes to have been well used between 1900 and 1950.

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: GUEST,Dazbo at work
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 06:28 AM

Hermione seemed to baffle most USians when reading Harry Potter.

There certainly seem to be many given names used in the US these days that seem to me to be either made up, spelt in weird and wonderful ways or have peculiar capitalisation.

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: Teribus
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 06:15 AM

Always thought that Vivian was the female version of the name, the male form being Vyvyan. But most of the "typical" British names mentioned are "Norman" in origin, Colin is Scottish in derivation. Torquil is Norse Viking from Torkil.

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: Mr Happy
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 04:42 AM

For 'catters in the colonies, 'Famous 5' here:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=g_TiqoEw4sQ

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: ard mhacha
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 04:39 AM

What no Norman, In the north of Ireland, Myrtle, Heather,Violet,Daphne,all Protestant ladies, and I may have left the odd plant out.
In most cases we can tell the religion of the person by their name, Cecil, Samuel [wee Sammy],Howard, Stewart,Robert[full title], Campbell, lots of surnames used as first names by the Protestants,Wesley,Ivor, Trevor,William, and there`s more. The Catholic ladies,Aine, Attracta,Aileen,Bridget,Brid,Deirdre,Dervla,Dymphna,Eilis,Ethna,Finola,
Ita,Roisin, and there is lots more.
The Catholic male can be, Aloysius,Art,Barney,Benedict,Brendan,Cathal,Conor,Donal,Dermot,Eugene,
Jarlath,Kieran,Kevin,Killian,Lorcan,Malachy,Manus,Oisin,Patrick,Seamus,and many more.

The above name with a few exceptions are the recognizable brands of the north of Ireland divide.

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: Megan L
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 04:38 AM

What about Euphemia, Hortensia and Eulaly oh and has anyone mentioned Horatio?

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: Mr Happy
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 04:37 AM

From'Famous Five' - 'Uncle Quentin!'

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: rich-joy
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 04:33 AM

Rowan, do you recall that TV comedy skit in Oz from the 70s, where the Supermarket Supervisor, (possibly) Noeline Brown, reeled off the list of Aussie sheilas, with a request to "come to the checkout, pleeeeze!"
e.g. noelene jolene raylene kaylene shirlene lurlene marlene sharlene paulene doreen gaylene darlene .....
It was very funny in broad Strine!


Cheers! R-J

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 04:30 AM

There's an old lady up the road from here called Ada, now that's a name you don't hear often these days.
G

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 04:29 AM

Well, yes, I would have expected Rowan to be pretty well purely Scottish. I never met a Rowan in Australia in the 3 years I lived there.

But in the home counties I did know a family with three daughters and a love of the classics. Their three daughters were Theucydida. Lulubelle (not so british!) and - wait for it - Candida!

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 04:17 AM

My Grandpa was called Walter. Harry is also short (don't know how) for Henry. I've known an Alfred, Beatrice. My Grandma is Marjorie. I know a couple of Penelopes....one is on here although it is her middle name.

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 04:14 AM

Hey at least we don't call kids horny, or Randy as you do.
With things the way they are in this PC obsessed country, anybody who comes over here and says, "Hi I'm Randy" is likely to be arrested for sexual harassment.
G

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: akenaton
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 02:49 AM

Bobad's message is slightly out of date, Muhammed is now in the "top ten" boys names in the UK.

Does anyone find that even slightly disturbing?..Ake

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: GUEST,Phil
Date: 09 Nov 07 - 12:11 AM

I think ARFUR is terribly British

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: Rowan
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 10:33 PM

Richard Bridge seems to think that my name is found only in UK. Sigh!

Actually most of the list of putative UK names (Nigel, Trevor etc; even Tarquin) seem to occur with a fair frequency here.

But it's a long time since I came across (in Oz)
Cyril
Cecil
Cedric
Evelyn (a bloke)
Vivian (ditto)
Peregrin (as distinct from Perry).

My sister's names are Roslyn & Hilary and I know various wome with Penelope, Daphne, Prue and even Prudence (as well as the other virtues like Faith, Hope, Charity and Verity) so I wouldnt count them as particularly UK. Don't see Beryl, Molly, or Polly often these days in Oz, either.

Savannah (as a woman's name rather than a vegetation type) I associate with the US, along with Duke and Earl as given names.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: TRUBRIT
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 10:23 PM

Art - Peter Wimsey - my favorite sleuth!!!!!!

Bil - Viv is the shortened name of Vivian which, while not common in the UK for a male - is certanly not uncommon...

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: Sorcha
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 10:04 PM

Knew a man whose Persona re enactment name was Evelyn Deth. He was kinda weird anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: GUEST,JennieG wasting time at work
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 10:01 PM

Roderick
Jasper

My British-born grandfather had a sister named Remillion...surname Eldridge, quite a mouthful methinks

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: Sorcha
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 09:52 PM

Oh yes, there are Colins in the US, but they are called Colons usually. If you want a Colin, you need to spell it Collin.

American names...Tom, Dick, Harry, Jimmy, Billy Bob, Mary Jane, Mandy Sue, Betty Lou, we seem to be enamoured of the 'ie/ee' sound.

Mary,Kathy, Shirley, (wasn't Shirley a male name first), Tommy, Dickie, Rusty, Billy...etc ad nauseum.

Not sure about the UK or rest of the world but creative spelling is the newest thing in names here.

Jade has turned into Jada, Jaeda, Jaydea, Shayda,Jayedah etc....just make up any combination of sounds and name your kid.

Me first...DeJaynee Reevon.And that is not even that unusual anymore.
'Most' of these creative spellings seem to belong to black American people, or is that a racist comment?

I've seen the name Deon spelt Deeawwn. Maybe because the parents really can't spell? Or are they just being creative?

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: Greg B
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 08:43 PM

What about Colin?

--- Gregory William Vincent Bullough (how do you pick up one like
            that in California?)

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: TheSnail
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 08:36 PM

artbrooks

Heard of Hilary Clinton?

Oh yeah. Wasn't she married to someone? Any male Hilarys?

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: The Walrus
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 08:23 PM

Emma,
Amelia,
Violet,
Rita,
Nell (as a name, not a contraction)
Herbert,
Albert

Any of those qualify?


Little Hawk,
"...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..."

An interesting theory, except that, at the time (late 18th/early 19th Century) most maritime nations named some, or all, of their fleet after classical characters, which could cause problems with captured ships pressed into service, for example the RN had, at the same time, a Nymph, a Nymphe (ex French) and a Nymphen (ex Danish)[OK, not classical names, but the first examples which came to mind].
It's worth remembering that 'the Classics' were an essential part of any European Gentleman's education.

W

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: number 6
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 07:44 PM

what's with the Brits naming their male child .... Viv ??

biLL

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: artbrooks
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 07:33 PM

Can't use that one, Snail. LH's rule is names that are pretty much limited to people born in the UK. Heard of Hilary Clinton? (ok - so she spells it with two Ls)

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: TheSnail
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 07:28 PM

Hilary, male and female.

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.

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....

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

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.

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.

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

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: bankley
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 06:10 PM

Cedric....?

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 06:07 PM

Yes, Art.

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:-)

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: number 6
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:47 PM

Ringo

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.

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.

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?

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.

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: RangerSteve
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:36 PM

Clive.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:11 PM

Humphrey?

Kitty

Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:10 PM

(sigh)