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08 Nov 07 - 02:41 PM (#2189169) Subject: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk "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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08 Nov 07 - 02:46 PM (#2189174) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Peace Queen Elizabeth? |
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08 Nov 07 - 02:47 PM (#2189177) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk No, no.... "Queen" is a title, and Elizabeth is a common first name in many places, not just the UK. |
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08 Nov 07 - 02:47 PM (#2189179) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: John MacKenzie She's a bloody German, Peace. G |
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08 Nov 07 - 02:49 PM (#2189181) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Peace Herr Elizabeth? |
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08 Nov 07 - 02:51 PM (#2189182) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk 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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08 Nov 07 - 02:55 PM (#2189187) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: MMario 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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08 Nov 07 - 02:56 PM (#2189188) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Peace Herr Aethelrod? |
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08 Nov 07 - 03:01 PM (#2189194) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: John MacKenzie Herr today John tomorrow matey. G |
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08 Nov 07 - 03:03 PM (#2189197) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: pdq Basil? |
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08 Nov 07 - 03:04 PM (#2189198) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk 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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08 Nov 07 - 03:06 PM (#2189200) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: John MacKenzie Peregrine |
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08 Nov 07 - 03:09 PM (#2189204) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk 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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08 Nov 07 - 03:09 PM (#2189205) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Becca72 Percy |
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08 Nov 07 - 03:12 PM (#2189207) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Irene M Zebedee |
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08 Nov 07 - 03:15 PM (#2189209) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Wesley S Ian |
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08 Nov 07 - 03:19 PM (#2189211) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: bobad Winston |
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08 Nov 07 - 03:25 PM (#2189219) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: bobad 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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08 Nov 07 - 03:26 PM (#2189221) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Richard Bridge Giok Kelvin Rowan Calum Colm And NO Winston is almost exclusively West Indian or Ceylon |
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08 Nov 07 - 04:07 PM (#2189241) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: robomatic When I saw the thread title the name "Nigel" immediately came to mind. |
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08 Nov 07 - 04:12 PM (#2189247) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Sorcha 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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08 Nov 07 - 04:14 PM (#2189248) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Peace When I first saw the thread title the name Donny came to mind . . . . |
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08 Nov 07 - 04:17 PM (#2189251) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Victor in Mapperton Keith. |
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08 Nov 07 - 04:21 PM (#2189256) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Anne Lister 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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08 Nov 07 - 04:23 PM (#2189258) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Peace The capital letters in the post made me think of Donny Most. |
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08 Nov 07 - 04:25 PM (#2189259) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Jean(eanjay) 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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08 Nov 07 - 04:59 PM (#2189278) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk ...Rupert, and Adelbert... |
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08 Nov 07 - 05:05 PM (#2189281) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: jacqui.c 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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08 Nov 07 - 05:10 PM (#2189284) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk (sigh) |
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08 Nov 07 - 05:11 PM (#2189286) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Herga Kitty Humphrey? Kitty |
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08 Nov 07 - 05:14 PM (#2189290) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: David C. Carter St John-Pronounced-Synjun. Usually a middle name. As in-Nigel St John Farquerson. |
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08 Nov 07 - 05:14 PM (#2189291) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: artbrooks 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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08 Nov 07 - 05:17 PM (#2189294) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk Trevor! Great choice. It's very, very British. |
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08 Nov 07 - 05:21 PM (#2189295) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: pdq 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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08 Nov 07 - 05:36 PM (#2189306) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: RangerSteve Clive. |
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08 Nov 07 - 05:37 PM (#2189309) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Richard Bridge 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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08 Nov 07 - 05:38 PM (#2189311) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: artbrooks As in Peter Death Bredon Wimsey? |
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08 Nov 07 - 05:40 PM (#2189314) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Peace Art, he said middle name. The guy you mention HAS no middle name. |
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08 Nov 07 - 05:46 PM (#2189318) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Dave Swan I've never met a man or boy in the US named Ivor. |
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08 Nov 07 - 05:47 PM (#2189320) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: number 6 Ringo |
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08 Nov 07 - 05:58 PM (#2189332) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Dave the Gnome 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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08 Nov 07 - 06:07 PM (#2189341) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Richard Bridge Yes, Art. |
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08 Nov 07 - 06:10 PM (#2189343) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: bankley Cedric....? |
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08 Nov 07 - 06:23 PM (#2189351) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Dave the Gnome 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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08 Nov 07 - 06:29 PM (#2189354) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Anne Lister 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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08 Nov 07 - 06:44 PM (#2189361) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk 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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08 Nov 07 - 06:56 PM (#2189368) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Herga Kitty 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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08 Nov 07 - 07:13 PM (#2189375) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk 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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08 Nov 07 - 07:23 PM (#2189381) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Ebbie 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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08 Nov 07 - 07:28 PM (#2189384) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: TheSnail Hilary, male and female. |
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08 Nov 07 - 07:33 PM (#2189387) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: artbrooks 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) |
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08 Nov 07 - 07:44 PM (#2189397) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: number 6 what's with the Brits naming their male child .... Viv ?? biLL |
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08 Nov 07 - 08:23 PM (#2189417) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: The Walrus 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 |
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08 Nov 07 - 08:36 PM (#2189419) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: TheSnail artbrooks Heard of Hilary Clinton? Oh yeah. Wasn't she married to someone? Any male Hilarys? |
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08 Nov 07 - 08:43 PM (#2189421) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Greg B What about Colin? --- Gregory William Vincent Bullough (how do you pick up one like that in California?) |
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08 Nov 07 - 09:52 PM (#2189452) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Sorcha 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? |
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08 Nov 07 - 10:01 PM (#2189456) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: GUEST,JennieG wasting time at work Roderick Jasper My British-born grandfather had a sister named Remillion...surname Eldridge, quite a mouthful methinks Cheers JennieG |
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08 Nov 07 - 10:04 PM (#2189461) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Sorcha Knew a man whose Persona re enactment name was Evelyn Deth. He was kinda weird anyway. |
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08 Nov 07 - 10:23 PM (#2189469) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: TRUBRIT 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... |
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08 Nov 07 - 10:33 PM (#2189474) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Rowan 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 |
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09 Nov 07 - 12:11 AM (#2189516) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: GUEST,Phil I think ARFUR is terribly British |
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09 Nov 07 - 02:49 AM (#2189536) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: akenaton 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 |
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09 Nov 07 - 04:14 AM (#2189564) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: John MacKenzie 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 |
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09 Nov 07 - 04:17 AM (#2189568) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Catherine Jayne 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. |
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09 Nov 07 - 04:29 AM (#2189572) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Richard Bridge 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! |
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09 Nov 07 - 04:30 AM (#2189574) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: John MacKenzie 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 |
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09 Nov 07 - 04:33 AM (#2189575) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: rich-joy 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 |
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09 Nov 07 - 04:37 AM (#2189578) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Mr Happy From'Famous Five' - 'Uncle Quentin!' |
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09 Nov 07 - 04:38 AM (#2189579) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Megan L What about Euphemia, Hortensia and Eulaly oh and has anyone mentioned Horatio? |
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09 Nov 07 - 04:39 AM (#2189580) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: ard mhacha 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. |
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09 Nov 07 - 04:42 AM (#2189582) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Mr Happy For 'catters in the colonies, 'Famous 5' here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=g_TiqoEw4sQ |
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09 Nov 07 - 06:15 AM (#2189622) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Teribus 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. |
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09 Nov 07 - 06:28 AM (#2189625) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: GUEST,Dazbo at work 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. |
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09 Nov 07 - 06:41 AM (#2189631) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Moses 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. |
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09 Nov 07 - 07:32 AM (#2189657) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: John MacKenzie It's had it's day. G. |
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09 Nov 07 - 07:39 AM (#2189665) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: GUEST,Santa 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? |
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09 Nov 07 - 07:45 AM (#2189667) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Catherine Jayne 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 |
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09 Nov 07 - 07:54 AM (#2189674) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Mr Happy Mountain Ash? |
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09 Nov 07 - 08:15 AM (#2189689) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: fat B****rd Doris ? You don't get many Pearls and Glorias in the UK these days. I had an Auntie Rena, whose birth name was actually Victorina. Apparently my French forebears had a short list of Christian names and didn't include girls. |
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09 Nov 07 - 08:21 AM (#2189696) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Grab De'ath is a surname - if it's used as a middle name, it'll either be a hyphenated that's lost its hyphen or some similar notation to track ancestry, or maybe a nod to some friend or relative. From here there are apparently 9589 people with that surname. LH, you're unlikely to find anyone in Britain named "Lester". At most it'll be "Leicester" (*) and that'll be as a surname. On reflection, I think the rule of male names involving a Q being posh English is not too far off. Which leads me to my nomination: Farquhar Mind you, surnames are another thing altogether. My personal favourite is from round my way: Fitzherbert-Brockholes. You wouldn't get *that* anywhere else! Graham. (*) Pronounced "Lester", of course... |
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09 Nov 07 - 08:24 AM (#2189700) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Trevor Thomas I am a Trevor, and no, it's not the sort of name Americans tend to use. It's Welsh in origin. There was however, a famous American boxer called Trevor Berbick - it's not unknown. People have mentioned Bert as an English name, but along with Ernie, (another English name) they were as American as can be on Sesame Street! |
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09 Nov 07 - 08:47 AM (#2189732) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: John MacKenzie Lester Piggot? |
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09 Nov 07 - 08:53 AM (#2189738) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: GUEST,Santa Lester Simpson. But it isn't common. |
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09 Nov 07 - 08:54 AM (#2189739) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Emma B Lester Simpson? |
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09 Nov 07 - 09:10 AM (#2189749) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Emma B Ops just beaten to the post there! I would say Wendy has to be a purely British name as it was "invented" by J. M. Barrie for his play Peter Pan. |
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09 Nov 07 - 09:14 AM (#2189754) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Richard Bridge David Lester - quite a well known copyright lawyer |
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09 Nov 07 - 09:35 AM (#2189765) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: GUEST,Nigel One would point out that Nigel is not common. Bloody Oiks! |
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09 Nov 07 - 09:42 AM (#2189770) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Desdemona If we're talking English, as opposed to "British," I'd have to vote for something like Aelfric, or Aethelfreda, or maybe good old Edith! ~D |
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09 Nov 07 - 09:45 AM (#2189773) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: TheSnail Algernon. |
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09 Nov 07 - 09:55 AM (#2189779) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: John MacKenzie Surely those are Saxon names that begin with Ae like that, and they're originally from Germany. G |
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09 Nov 07 - 10:00 AM (#2189783) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Desdemona Ah, but "English" was originally a heavily inflected, Germanic language; something like 80% of the most commonly used words in modern English are still Germanic in origin, despite the Norman invasion, centuries of loan words, etc. ~D (showing my geeky English major roots) |
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09 Nov 07 - 10:33 AM (#2189819) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: GUEST,Santa Alfred would do for a good English name that has lasted. Or Edwin? Oswald was around until recently but not many people called Hengist and Horsa nowadays. It occurs to me that Frederick is another Germanic version of Alfred - does that imply two different Teutonic roots/routes? My mother was Winifred. Sounds Anglo-Saxon, but possibly related to Guinevere, which has British roots - unless old Geoffrey didn't know the difference when he wrote out the old tales. |
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09 Nov 07 - 10:39 AM (#2189822) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Greg B What about Ivor Biggin? |
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09 Nov 07 - 10:47 AM (#2189828) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Desdemona My dog's middle name just happens to be Winifred, which was suggested by my Anglo-Saxon scholar partner...someday we're planning to get her a sister called Edith! ~D |
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09 Nov 07 - 10:50 AM (#2189832) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Mr Happy SIT! - Well! Fetch, Stay! |
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09 Nov 07 - 10:56 AM (#2189836) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk My goodness! I've set loose a monster here. Wonderful work, ladies and gentlemen. Now let me explain what I was after in this thread. I was not after names which ONLY are found in the British Isles. No indeed. I was not necessarily after names which are very common in the British Isles either. I was simply after names which are MORE common in the British Isles than they are in most other places, particularly North America.....names which, when heard by a North American, immediately suggest "someone from the British Isles". That's it, period. So, "Lester", for instance may not be all that common a name in England, but I suggest that it still sounds more like an English name than it does like an American name. You follow? We Canadians, by the way, had a prime minister named Lester Pearson, but it's a pretty uncommon name in Canada. Here are some typically American names: Tex Hank Zeke Billy Bob Billy Joe Thelma Mae Daisy Mae Emmy Lou Wyatt Jake Elvis Alvin Maizy Mavis Blanche (Note the popularity of the rustic approach for male names...the USA has always been besotted with all forms of frontier primitivism and cowboy mythology, plus a healthy dose of Southern romanticism for female names a la courtin' Daisy Mae neath the Magnolia blossoms, and all that...) ;-) |
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09 Nov 07 - 11:03 AM (#2189842) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: GUEST,Dazbo at work Wendy wasn't an original name created by JM Barrie. There are quite a few Wendys in censuses taken before Peter Pan came out (and they're not the names of young girls but of fully grown women so it had been around for at least 30 years before Peter Pan. I believe it is a diminutive form of Gwendoline. There have been very few true Anglo Saxon names that have come down the ages mainly the ones already noted, Godgifu being a favourite of mine (IIR the correct spelling) meaning gift from God. |
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09 Nov 07 - 11:27 AM (#2189863) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Emma B Precisely the reason for putting invented in inverted commas Dazbo! The name Wendy is probably a diminutive of the Welsh name Gwendolynbut, in this instance, it is believed to be derived from the phrase "friendy wendy," used by a child named Margaret Henley, whom Barrie befriended in the 1890s. In modern name meanings Wendy is often described as meaning friendly. |
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09 Nov 07 - 11:56 AM (#2189886) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Rusty Dobro GregB at 10:39: did you mean Ivor Biggun, wearer of cheap suits, Martin-mangler extraordinary, subject of a 'where are they now? feature in the current 'Mojo' magazine, and generally good sort? If so, I have the honour to stand alongside him in his latest band, the Trembling Wheelbarrows, at least until the restraining order takes effect. I have a sneaking feeling, though, that this might not be his real name. Oh, and a new UK book on unusual names mentions my own forebears, a father and son both named Grimwood Death. |
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09 Nov 07 - 12:03 PM (#2189892) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Grab LH, don't upset Spaw now by missing "Bubba" and "Cletus" off your list... Actually, one sure way of telling Americans from their names is if they're called John Johnson the third, or John Johnson Junior. The only person who gets to be called "the third" or whatever in Britain is the reigning king/queen. If a son is named after his dad (which is not uncommon in more rural areas), one or the other will either use a diminutive version (eg. "Edward" vs. "Eddie" vs. "Ted"), use their middle name as their given name, or simply be known to the world as "Ed" and "young Ed" (or maybe later on, "Ed" and "old Ed"). Graham. |
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09 Nov 07 - 12:18 PM (#2189899) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Dazbo Sorry Emma, didn't notice the inverted commas. ( no longer at work :-) ) |
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09 Nov 07 - 12:25 PM (#2189907) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk Someone mentioned Clive...a very British name, I think. Then it occurred to me that Owen is also rather British-sounding. Then you have Clive Owen! Perfect. |
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09 Nov 07 - 12:29 PM (#2189911) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Desdemona Okay, LH, I see what you're looking for now, and I think I can provide it, because my very own cousins, Juliet and Derek, have a daughter named Georgina...now that's what I call a "British" triple threat! ~D |
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09 Nov 07 - 12:43 PM (#2189919) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk Perfect, Desdemona! ;-) |
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09 Nov 07 - 02:08 PM (#2189986) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: ard mhacha LH , Owen Celtic from Eoin same pronunciation. I left out the most common name in the nationalist north of Ireland ,Sean. |
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09 Nov 07 - 05:46 PM (#2190169) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Banjo-Flower Gerald Gerry |
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09 Nov 07 - 05:48 PM (#2190170) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: PoppaGator When I spotted the thread title, the first name to come to mind, for me anyway, was "Trevor." The first Trevor I ever met in person (here in the states) was a coworker who had been born in South Africa. Not England by any means, but more-or-less "British" from the US standpoint. (He was certainly of British ancestry ~ not a Boer or an African.) While I had never previously known a Trevor in person, I did recognize the name as a boy's/man's name. At my next job, I had an employee named Trevor, but this was (and still is) a female Trevor. Very attractive, and very aristocratic, from a wealthy and prominent family. Made me wonder if upperclass Brits named their daughters as well as their sons Trevor, or if this was a strictly American affectation ~ ?? One name mentioned only briefly and obscurely in one of the preceding posts struck me as just the kind of quintessentially British names LH was asking for: Rhys. |
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09 Nov 07 - 06:26 PM (#2190188) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Liz the Squeak The best known male Hilary has to be son of the Socialist MP, formerly known as Sir Anthony Wedgewood-Benn, AKA Tony Benn MP. His son Hilary is the Enviroment Minister. My grandmother was named Ethel Winifred - a very English sounding composite. LTS |
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09 Nov 07 - 06:41 PM (#2190206) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: folk1e most Brittish give their kids a "christian" name! |
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09 Nov 07 - 07:38 PM (#2190239) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: JennieG Forgot to say in my post the other day....my British-born grandfather's first names were Christopher Hiram. Christopher I can understand - it sounds British - but Hiram? I always think of Hiram as being a 19th century Amurk'n entrepreneur out to change the world, not someone who was born in the British Isles in the 1880s. Then there is his sister (also mentioned in my post) Remillion. Heavens only knows where that came from. Cheers JennieG |
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09 Nov 07 - 07:56 PM (#2190251) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Greg B Owen? Well, then, me cousin was Welshman Daniel Owen, poet laureate to none other than good old Queen Vic herself. First Welshman to write a novels in native Welsh in the 'modern' era. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Owen I have the fortune (or misfortune) of being his very image. My understanding is that his mother ran the bawdy house in his native Mold, Clywyd, where he is immortalized in the town square. |
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10 Nov 07 - 12:06 AM (#2190330) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Rowan Richard didn't meet too many "Rowan"s in his stay in Oz; for the first 20 years of my life I was uncomfortable with the fact that I was the only example of Rowan I'd heard of. When I got to uni I found I shared my given and surname with someone in the medical faculty and about 30 years later come to the conclusion my mother may have met him while pregnant with me, liked the sound of it and 'pinched' his name for me. Since then I've met several, some female. Very few seem to have had a Scottish connection. And, Mr Happy, your reference to Mountain Ash tempts me to some thread drift. Around 1900 some foresters from New Zealand did a bit of a tour of the othe Australasian colonies, starting with Tasmania. Tassie foresters took them to see the Florentine Valley, where the tallest eucalypts towered 300' + into the sky. "What are they?" asked the NZers. "Swamp gums" answered the Taswegians. "Do you have any seed?" asked the NZers. "No" answered the locals. The next stop for the tourists was Victoria, where they found out the Forests Commission had a huge collection of all sorts of seeds. "Do you have any swamp gum seed?" asked the NZers. "Take as much as you like!" answered the Victorians. Which is how NZ got about 30,000 acres of Eucalyptus ovata which rarely grows more than 30' high, is straight for no more than 2' and is difficult to burn. What they wanted was Eucalyptus regnans, called mountain ash by the Victorians. This cuationary tale was told to all aspiring biologists at Melbourne Uni as an injunction to use scientific binomials. Some other reflections on names mentioned above; Doris, Edith, Enid, Mamie, Mae and Thelma are (or were, before they died) aunts of mine Wendy is the mother of my daughters Ivor (one pronounced Eyevor and the other pronounced Eevor) is the name of two friends (both Aussies) of mine all of which Little Hawk may (probably correctly) regard as the Britishness of Oz PoppaGator, I'd always associate "PoppaGator" with the US and "Rhys" with the UK, although we have plenty of the latter (and none of the former) in Oz. Cheers, Rowan |
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10 Nov 07 - 12:15 AM (#2190333) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Rowan Yes, Rich-joy, I think (but couldn't swear to it) that it was the Mavis Bramston Show. And John Clark did a beaut hour's doco on the origins and development of the Australian Accent on the ABC (Oz, for you USers) last Thursday night; I confess I fall into the camp that maintains there are regional differences in the Oz accent. I always associate "coool" with Victoria and SA and "Kewl" with NSW and Qld. I can't do phonetic symbols but I'm sure you'll understand, even if my attempts mystify nonAussies. Cheers, Rowan |
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10 Nov 07 - 12:32 AM (#2190339) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Metchosin I know of two men named Lynn, both originally from Saskatchewan. I've never heard it used elsewhere. Is it of English origin and more common in the UK? |
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10 Nov 07 - 12:34 AM (#2190341) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: JennieG Rowan, I think Rich-Joy's wonderful litany of names came from The Naked Vicar Show on ABC radio in the 70s - from memory it ended with: Maybelline, Marlene, and my name's Kay! I work with a Marline, pronounceed Marleen. I enjoyed the ABC doco and I agree with you, there are regional differences in the Ozzie accent. I thought those SA women were wonderfully up themselves...... Cheers JennieG |
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10 Nov 07 - 01:58 AM (#2190351) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: rich-joy Despite the popular view that it's a very Aussie name, I've always found the "Sheila"s I have heard of, to be from the British Isles (as opposed to the "small s" descriptive term "sheilas", which is kinda like older terminology for "chics" downunder in Oz .....) "Algernon" had got my vote for feeling most British - until I discovered it was a French word to do with moustaches - and came over with William the Conquerer, along with Percy!!! Yeah, Rowan and JennieG, the Oz regional difference thing gets my vote too! Upon moving to the state of Queensland some years back, I was struck with the common-usage pronunciation "Quoinsland"!!!! Cheers! R-J |
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10 Nov 07 - 01:31 PM (#2190580) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Bob Hitchcock My Father's full name was "Albert Charles Leslie Hitchcock", a very English sounding combination, but everyone just called him Bert. Tarquin and Quentin always strike me as very English along with Orson. I knew a man in our village in Sussex many years ago whose last name was Cart (a shortened version of Carter I expect) I told him he should name his son Orson, he was not amused. Bob. |
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10 Nov 07 - 02:54 PM (#2190622) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: fumblefingers Robin |
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10 Nov 07 - 03:06 PM (#2190638) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Backwoodsman "Then there's the other rare middle name Death or De'ath." I think you'll find that it's Irish, Richard. |
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10 Nov 07 - 03:09 PM (#2190643) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: GUEST,Bert on Kelly's machine. I don't know about MOST but the BEST is certainly Albert! I used to be called Little Bert, 'cos I was taller than my Dad and he was Big Bert. Bertie. |
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10 Nov 07 - 05:14 PM (#2190724) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Ebbie "Orson Cart" lol |
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11 Nov 07 - 03:47 AM (#2190999) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Liz the Squeak JennieG - Remillion seems to be a dark red dye used to imitate the blood of Christ in religious artwork (statues and icons usually) and has been around for several hundred years as a given name. It's probably linked to vermillion, the more popular red pigment. If you Google Remillion you'll get a link to the 'behind the name' website which has a couple of people also looking for ancestors named Remillion. Maybe you're related? LTS |
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11 Nov 07 - 02:36 PM (#2191345) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Nigel Parsons Metchosin: Lynn as a man's name. Lynn Davies Gold medal winner in the long jump 1964 (Tokyo) Olympics. And anyway, what's wrong with 'Nigel'? |
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11 Nov 07 - 02:57 PM (#2191367) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk There's nothing wrong with Nigel, it's just very British, that's all. |
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11 Nov 07 - 11:34 PM (#2191698) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: GUEST,JohnB Refering back to your first post, I have a friend named "Nigel Lester", known him for over 40 years now. Commonly known as "Nige" middle name "Howard" My vote would be for my rather commonly used monica. JohnB |
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12 Nov 07 - 07:33 AM (#2191843) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Anne Lister Followers of "Old Harry's Game" on BBC Radio 4 will know that in a previous series there was the revelation that God's real name was Nigel.... I'm puzzled by some of the contributions above. Lester Simpson and Lester Piggott aside, I'd assume any Lester to be American, myself. Lynn is a man's name, reasonably frequently found here in Wales. Trevor as a girl's name? Never heard it here. Have met an American female Cyril, though - I was very confused. I've known two male Vivs here, not necessarily spelled with extra "y"s but generally Vivien rather than Vivian. Other confusing first names here in Wales include Ceri (male or female, and sometimes spelled Kerry). |
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12 Nov 07 - 12:02 PM (#2192018) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Little Hawk "Kevin" also seems rather British to me, but there are a great many Kevins in North America. |
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12 Nov 07 - 12:22 PM (#2192023) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Alec Wayne? (Not common but not ultra rare either) Clement? (Never common & now almost defunct) |
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12 Nov 07 - 02:28 PM (#2192109) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: PoppaGator When I was 10-12 years old in New Jersey, one of the most prominent high school athletes in the area was a fellow with the first name of Lynn. I thought his name was extremely weird, annd thought that perhaps his athletic prominence might have been prompted by a need to "prove his manhood" ~ not unlike Johnny Cash's "Boy Named Sue." (Of course, this was years before that song came out.) LH: I am quite sure that Kevin is an Irish name, not British. |
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12 Nov 07 - 02:43 PM (#2192118) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: ard mhacha LH, Kevin 12th century Irish Saint, ancient monastery dedicated to the Saint in Co Wicklow. |
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12 Nov 07 - 02:49 PM (#2192125) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Dave the Gnome Ahhhh - But it doesn't follow that he was Irish does it? wasn't St Pat a Welshman, Ard? ;-) Would whoever said that Mohammed was in the top ten of boys names in the UK care to back that up? I suspect that someone has been spinning you a yarn - easily disproved! I looked it up and in 2007 said name was at number 22! I was quite surprised at that. The 2001 cencus gives the split of religions in the UK as follows - Christianity 42.079 71.6% No religion (Incl. Jedi) 9.10 15.5 Refused to answer 4.29 7.3 Islam 1.59 2.7 Hinduism 0.559 1.0 Sikhism 0.336 0.6 Judaism 0.267 0.5 Buddhism 0.152 0.3 Other 0.179 0.3 Total population 58.789 100.0% All I can assume is that there are either a lot of non-Moslems use the name or an exeedingly high proportion of Moslem males use it! Anyway - boring stuff out of the way. Roderick now has my vote as well. Can't help but chant 'Welease Woderwick'... :D |
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12 Nov 07 - 03:23 PM (#2192147) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: gnomad I feel it is valid, as Bobad proposes in his post of Nov8, to add together the alternative spellings of what is essentially the same name. As Dave mentions Mohammed is ranked 22 by the DNS, but Muhammad is also there at 44. Someone do the sums please, I've gone off arithmetic. Just as an aside; Mohammed seems to have been pretty consistent, rankings for 2002-6 being 22,22,20,23,and 22. I suspect the explanation is as Dave suggests: that a high proportion of male moslems have one variation or the other as their first name. That would certainly fit with my experience when working in Bradford with a large customer base among the whole community [almost everyone of working age needs a bank account]. |
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12 Nov 07 - 04:45 PM (#2192194) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: PoppaGator Back on the 7th, Rowan observed that he would "always associate [the name] PoppaGator with the US..." First of all, um, thanks! I suppose that my pseudonym is definitively American, although the thought had not occurred to me before. An African or Australian would be "PoppaCroc," right? And no European country provides habitat to that kind of big scary reptile. My real given name is Thomas, which is not especially indiciative of any English-speaking nation to the exclusion of the others, or even (given alternate spellings, e.g., Tomas) of any corner of "Christiandom," or Western Civilization. In my case, I'm named after a long line of Irish forebearers, but we were all (putatively) named for an English Catholic saint, Sir Thoms More. |
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12 Nov 07 - 05:16 PM (#2192220) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Rowan G'day again PoppaGator. PoppaCroc? Hmmm. Kakadu, probably still the biggest of the Northern Territory's National Parks and adjacent to Arnhem Land, is blessed with a number of rivers, full of crocodiles (mostly "salties", Crocodilus porosus) and there are a few places where there are "freshies" or Johnson River crocodiles (C. johnsonii), which are smaller and 'safer'. But the two biggest rivers there are the Alligator River and the East Alligator River, so named because the naming was done by some Pom aboard HMS Alligator in (I think) the 1830s. Given we have no alligators (they're all in the New World) it gets very confusing for tourists. Bringing the thread drift back closer to the notion of naming, grandparents get called lots of 'familiar' and 'diminutive' names; Poppa is one I'd associate with the US more than with anywhere else, although it's not uncommon here in Oz. Perhaps this is because I associate the parental familiars "Mom" and "Pop" with the US, whereas in Oz it's usually "Mum" and "Dad"; I suspect the later is the most common usage in the UK too. This leaves the field open to "DaddyCroc" as your Oz equivalent, pace the Oz rock band "Daddy Cool"! Cheers, Rowan |
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12 Nov 07 - 08:20 PM (#2192382) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: robomatic Ethelred Abernathy |
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12 Nov 07 - 09:32 PM (#2192414) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Greg B Friend of mine's name is Lynn. He was a US Navy test pilot. Tough as nails. From South Dakota. His dad? Leslie. |
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13 Nov 07 - 12:33 AM (#2192464) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Rowan My mother's three brothers were, in birth order, Archibald, Cyril and Leslie; all in Oz but "British" by inclination. Cheers, Rowan |
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13 Nov 07 - 01:28 AM (#2192478) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: JennieG In Oz Lynn or Lyn is short for Lynette, a popular girls' name. I went to school with a few....work with one.....know others..... Lindsay (m) or Lindsey, Lyndsey (f) can also be shortened to Lin or Lyn. Cheers JennieG |
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13 Nov 07 - 01:53 AM (#2192484) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Rowan And somtimes Lynne is the full name of the lady; at least two in the Oz folk scene. Cheers, Rowan |
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13 Nov 07 - 02:41 AM (#2192490) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: ard mhacha Dave a correction on Kevin`s origin, 12th century monastery, 7th century Saint. |
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13 Nov 07 - 01:59 PM (#2192872) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Mr Red I can tell you one of the rarerest - so rare I know of only one living soul with the name. cresby.com I am willing to be proven wrong just tell me where/when/who. |
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13 Nov 07 - 03:00 PM (#2192908) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: GUEST,Neil D Here is a piece of deep British given name trivia. What was Inspector Morse's given name? And no, it's not Inspector. |
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13 Nov 07 - 03:41 PM (#2192936) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Bee-dubya-ell I am so far from being British that I can't even spell "UK", but I have relatives named Nigel, Colm, and Rowan. BTW, according to this site, there is nobody in the US named Archibald. |
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13 Nov 07 - 04:18 PM (#2192970) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Kaleea I've only encountered the name Poindexter when I met a feller from the UK, but never in the USA. (except for that silly board game from the sixties, of course!) Ah, Rowan, I was wondering if anyone would mention Archibald, as I've never met one from the USA. What about Sterling, Eustace, Godfrey, Osgood, or Jocelyn? |
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13 Nov 07 - 06:15 PM (#2193072) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Santa Stirling as in Moss, Sterling is the currency but I wouldn't put it past someone to use it. |
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13 Nov 07 - 06:28 PM (#2193080) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Dave the Gnome Endevour. aparantly, Neil D. Good name... :D |
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13 Nov 07 - 06:44 PM (#2193104) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: PoppaGator Thanks, BWL, for the link to "HowManyOfMe.com." Since I have a relatively rare last name ~ there are more of us in County Mayo, Ireland, than in the entire US ~ I tried my name (first + last) and those of my immediate family. They apparently don't know about one of my sons, since they turned up zero persons with his name. There are three of me and two-to-five each of the other family members. When I Google my name, the person who comes up most frequently is a dead guy of about my age who was murdered in the early seventies; now I know why some old classmates I encountered at a reunion a few years back seemed so surprised to find me alive and kicking! The next-most-prominent bearer of my name is a high-ranking Catholic priest in the Maryknoll order. I appear once or twice, but only if you go as far as the second or third page of search results. |
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13 Nov 07 - 07:55 PM (#2193139) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: GUEST,ythanside Mycroft Cholmondeley-Featherstonehaugh (the latter encumbrance pronounced Chumley-Fanshaw) could only be of British parentage. |
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14 Nov 07 - 04:06 PM (#2193798) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Mr Red That site confirms that there are no clones of me in the US as far as they know, first or surname. That only leave one measley semi-detatched brick ediface in Cheltenham and me. It's a lonely old world. |
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15 Nov 07 - 11:00 AM (#2194448) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: GUEST,Neil D Good job Dave. |
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15 Nov 07 - 04:36 PM (#2194745) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Rowan Kaleea, I've come across a couple of Oz Godfreys and more than a couple of Jocelyns but the most frequent occurrences in Oz of the ones you mention (excepting Jocelyn) are as surnames. And, again, it's Stirling rather than Sterling. More generally, although Little Hawk asked for names that were British, from a US perspective, the examples on the thread indicate the influence of British heritage in Oz names is still extensive. When we had our first child, a daughter, her mum wanted names from out of our joint family trees; she'd been genealogically ferreting around hers between proper jobs. The two we liked most had already been picked by my brother (who, at that stage, knew nothing about the family beyond our grandparents) for his two daughters; such is life. What we noticed about our ancestries (hers 4th generation Oz with lots of English and Irish, mine First & Second Fleet with some English, some Scottish and a bit of French) though, was how limited was the range of names for the male parts by comparison with the female parts, pace Dariel Fo. The range of women's names was at least twice and almost thrice the range of men's names. At least, we found that interesting. Cheers, Rowan |
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15 Nov 07 - 05:10 PM (#2194789) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Richard in Manchester My brain is still fighting a losing battle trying to grasp Herga Kitty's phrase "quintessentially British". Something that is equally typical of the English, the Welsh and the Scots? I'll take the quest to find the Holy Grail, any day.... |
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16 Nov 07 - 04:11 PM (#2195542) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Herga Kitty Richard - so how come you left the Irish (who have revelled in classical allusions) out of your post on quintessence? I read "MOST British" in the thread title as meaning the most concentrated essence of British, not English. Kitty |
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16 Nov 07 - 05:29 PM (#2195588) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: PoppaGator Most Irish do not self-identify as "British," but I believe that the average Scot or Welshman readily accepts that designation (although, of course, they would balk at being described as "English"). Scotland and Wales, of course, share the same island with England. Perhaps that helps them feel British. Also, while the Celtic peoples of those two nations endured conquest, and a degree of discrimination, by England, their subjugation was hardly as severe nor as long-standing as that suffered by Ireland. |
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16 Nov 07 - 06:39 PM (#2195620) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Rowan PoppaGator, while what you say is generally true, I sometimes wonder about the self identification of those in Northern Ireland. On top of that, I also suspect the particulars of self identification of people living in the various parts of the British Isles have changed over the last 2-3 generations, which is long enough to capture such changes but still be within the living memory of any family member. And, although the notions of self identification have been so thoroughly canvassed elsewhere, in other threads, that we don't need to get into such diversions on this thread, I also suspect that parents choose names for their offspring for a huge variety of reasons; self identification (in the "wishing to" as well as "wishing to avoid" senses) will be only one. Using my daughters' naming process as a personal example, both their mum and myself have single-syllable family names (OK "surnames") and hers is particularly percussive; we wished to avoid given names that might have effectively augmented the percussiveness. We also wished to avoid names that easily became diminutives, those that led to unfortunate combinations of initials and those with initials that might cause confusion on letterrs addressed to them in our household; we weren't too keen on feminised male names either. Being in Oz, ethnic or other forms of self identification received no conscious consideration at all (though, if the Japanese had won in 1942 I might be writing differently) but I can imagine that, where self identification (in terms of 'allegiance' to a particular subgroup) is taken seriously, it might receive slightly higher prominence when choosing names. Aliases chosen in adulthood are a different matter. Cheers, Rowan |
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17 Nov 07 - 08:33 AM (#2195878) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Michael Can't remember if we've had Ralph, with its two pronunciations:- Ralf and Rafe (as in Ralph Vaughan Williams). Also the difference between the UK & US pronounciations of Colin:- US- Colin Powell was Coalin where as in the UK the Coll rhymes with doll. Mike |
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17 Nov 07 - 10:29 PM (#2196441) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Celtaddict Besides Cyril, Nigel, Trevor, and Cecil, I always think Malcolm sounds very British. Agatha and Cecily do too. And in the US, naming daughters by names traditionally male or traditionally surnames has been enormously popular for a generation and more, so there are plenty of females called Hunter, Tyler, Madison; also names fairly commonly in the US go from male to female (Vivian, Frances, Leslie) but almost never go from female to male. |
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18 Nov 07 - 12:19 PM (#2196789) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: DMcG My (British) father-in-law's middle name was Welborn. How does that rate? |
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19 Nov 07 - 07:20 AM (#2197342) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: ard mhacha Any Percys yet?. |
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19 Nov 07 - 07:30 AM (#2197344) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Mr Red FWIW I typed-in Felicia and that name is 518th in popularity in the US. Which did surprise me. The one I know used to get a bit of stick (sic) over it. So rare I have never seen it in the UK. |
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19 Nov 07 - 12:12 PM (#2197568) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: GUEST,Nancy King at work Santa, my Dad, who was born in Canada, was named Sterling. Named for a favorite uncle. |
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19 Nov 07 - 12:28 PM (#2197584) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Anne Lister Are we talking past or present? Because you're highly unlikely to find any Agathas or Cicelys these days, and I suspect still fewer Percys! |
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19 Nov 07 - 12:57 PM (#2197611) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Celtaddict I had understood the original question to be, what given names sound the most 'British' to people (presumably, non-British English speakers, such as Americans & Australians). I do understand that names that sound 'teddibly teddibly' British to us are likely to sound quite dated to you on the Eastern side of the Pond, and in fact may never even have been all that common. On the other hand, I don't think I have ever met a Tex, Hank, Daisy Mae, or Elvis, though I do not doubt that those names shout 'American' to someone over there. (I do have a nephew named Zeke, though he is the only Zeke I have ever known.) |
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19 Nov 07 - 02:14 PM (#2197656) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: PoppaGator I know several real-life American Hanks. No Elvises or Daisy Maes, though. "Tex" is almost invariably a nickname, and I've known a few characters who occasinally answer to "Tex," but for whom that is not their primary identification. |
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19 Nov 07 - 02:59 PM (#2197698) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Blowzabella Slightly off-topic but I think that one of the most badly done to names in the history of the UK is Mabel. It speaks to us of nhs spectacles and pinnies but is, in fact, a Norman name, originally pronounced Ma-belle. How different and how lovely. |
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19 Nov 07 - 04:22 PM (#2197776) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Rowan And was the name of my paternal grandmother, who pronounced it Maybelle Cheers, Rowan |
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20 Nov 07 - 10:52 AM (#2198319) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Stu Abernathy Welsh I would hazard a guess, as the prefix 'Aber' means 'mouth of'. Not sure what a Nathy is though. "Also, while the Celtic peoples of those two nations endured conquest, and a degree of discrimination, by England, their subjugation was hardly as severe nor as long-standing as that suffered by Ireland." Not as long standing? Where did you get that from? Wales has suffered incursions and invasions by the Irish, Romans, Scots (invited by Vortigern), Normans and finally the English. The idea that the Welsh 'got away' with less severe subjugation than the Irish is ridiculous - just because it happened a long time ago and Meibion Glyndŵr stopped burning down holiday cottages years ago doesn't mean that everything's hunky dory in the most oppressed kingdom in the Isles. |
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04 May 08 - 03:02 PM (#2332747) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: TRUBRIT Actually my daughter in named Penelope and called (by me at least ) Penelope...... |
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04 May 08 - 04:37 PM (#2332813) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Gurney Thread creep. Has anyone else ever noticed that most Trevors seem to be boffins? I've never met one less than clever. Sometimes odd, or even peculiar, but not stupid. My parents were Cyril and Doris, but they caught religion, so I'm Christopher, my siblings are named after saints, too. I understand Elvis and Duane are English names too, But not much used there. |
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04 May 08 - 04:53 PM (#2332827) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Uncle_DaveO I used to know a labor lawyer named Lynnville G. Miles, known as "Lynn". This is in the US, Indiana to be exact. He would have been born in Indiana or Illinois, I think, probably not earlier than 1910 and not later than 1920. I started to write this post thinking his name was Lynn, because that's how everyone actually addressed him, but only thought of "Lynnville" in writing that first paragraph. Does that count? Dave Oesterreich |
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04 May 08 - 05:31 PM (#2332859) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: McGrath of Harlow I'm a bit puzzled where little Hawk got the idea that Lester is a name you'd ever be likely to find in England, or even in Scotland or Wales. There was the jockey Lester Piggott, but apart from him, the only Lesters I've ever heard of have been North American - for example the jazz musician Lester Young, and the Canadian prime minister Lester Pearson. |
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04 May 08 - 05:56 PM (#2332879) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Penny S. Having taught for forty years, I can safely say I've never come across an Elvis or a Duane. Aaron pronounced Arran, after Elvis, but not the King himself. When I started teaching, boys had boring standard names, John, Peter and so on, and girls had pretty names, Natalie and Gemma. Boys then got a little more different, and girls became very American. One year we had four Alicias, all spelled differently. Elysha (It began with E anyway), Alisha, and I can't rememeber the other one. Life has got hard for teachers, because this children are a) insulted if it's their name, and b) think the teacher's daft if the teacher can't pronounce it. There has been a class difference in names abservable until recently. Posh families have fancier boys names, and especially those names which the lower classes think are girls' names. Evelyn, Jocelyn, Hilary, Vivian, and a few others which escape me for the moment. Their girls tended to be more ordinary. Apart from the odd Penelope. In the days of service for young women, there would be renaming of young women who were thought to be bearing names above their station. I have heard of it in my own family, but can't remember who - perhaps my grandmother Rhoda, and it also happened to a friend's relative. I would certainly have been renamed. Penny (short for?) |
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04 May 08 - 07:36 PM (#2332927) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: McGrath of Harlow Duane, no - but spell it Dwayne and it's all over the place. At least that's probably how it's spelled. |
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04 May 08 - 08:04 PM (#2332942) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Don Firth Alistair and Georgina? Don Firth |
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05 May 08 - 01:50 AM (#2333095) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: GUEST,dianavan Yes, Hermione tops the list. Now that we have exhausted the British list, how about Scandanavian names? My Danish grandmother was Sina and one of my aunts was Walborg. I've never heard either name in N.A. |
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05 May 08 - 02:02 AM (#2333098) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: GUEST,dianavan On the other side of the family, I have an aunt Mopsy. Other than Peter Rabbit's sister, does anyone have a clue to the origin? |
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05 May 08 - 02:34 AM (#2333108) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Backwoodsman "There was the jockey Lester Piggott, but apart from him, the only Lesters I've ever heard of have been North American - for example the jazz musician Lester Young, and the Canadian prime minister Lester Pearson." What about my erstwhile sailing-and-singing pal, Lester Simpson? Derbyshire born and bred. Thought you were supposed to be a bit of a Folkie, McG? :-) :-) |
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05 May 08 - 02:38 AM (#2333109) Subject: RE: BS: The MOST British given name of all is... From: Backwoodsman "Aaron pronounced Arran" Only pronounced Arran since it became popular with the Brickies-Arse-With-Thong-Showing, Tyler-Morgan and Chardonnay-Madonna types, Penny. Where and when I grew up it was 'Air-ron'. |