My Dad's family: Alecta (what?), Winnifred (nody would do that to their kid today), Edward (not heard as often now, but not rare either), Floyd (my dad, with a middle name Calvin because my grandmother heard it in a song about a mining disaster and liked it... the name, not the song), Phillip and Phyllis (the twins) and the youngest Cathleen (a common name in the family.. there where 3 cousins of theirs with the name).

My grandfather's family had some old names too, not necessarily the names themselves, but in the nicknames... Walter (called Toddy), Alex (Sandy), Teresa (Tess), Alonzo (Bing)(???), Albert (Ab)... I forget the others, about half a dozen more.

My buddy named his sons Will and Jack. Jack is not short for anything; that's his given name.

Why is 'Jack' usually considered "short" for 'John'?