BS: British vs. American names

Subject: RE: BS: British vs. American names
From: C-flat
Date: 06 Jul 02 - 08:01 AM

The Scots seem fond of using surnames as first names i.e. Cameron Mackintosh or Finlay McDougal.
C-flat....whose real name is Merrick Hamilton(no denying MY Scottish ancestry!

Subject: RE: BS: British vs. American names
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 06 Jul 02 - 07:26 AM

Most of the Americans I have encountered were called José, Jorgé or Juan.

The women were mostly called Maria, Carmen or Juanita.

Murray

Subject: RE: BS: British vs. American names
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 06 Jul 02 - 06:47 AM

My grandfather's name was Walter and my grandmother's name is Marjorie. On the other side there was an Anne and a John. We all have really boring names Im Catherinejayne and my brother is Paul James most of the family has bog standard easy names I must admit that mine is rather long for one word but my poor cousin is called Arthur Edward Ramsay Ames poor kid!!!!

cat

Subject: RE: BS: British vs. American names
From: catspaw49
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 11:33 PM

Yeah, the Duke picked a winner alright.......Woulda' been real hard to be the Duke with his given name of Marion Morrison.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: British vs. American names
From: Little Hawk
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 11:18 PM

American names?

How about Kyle? There are so many Kyles now that you can spit out the window and probably hit one. (It was originally Scottish though, wasn't it?)

Josh is popular lately. Bubba is as American as you can get. Zeke is American hillbilly (short for Ezekial, I presume...) Same with Zeb and Rufus (the latter was usually given to black men). Then there's Lincoln and Washington and Jefferson and Jackson (as first names). These are salutes to American history.

Calvin used to be popular, but not anymore.

And Texas and Tennessee and various other names of states...

And Davy as in Davy Crockett.

And Merle (for a man), and Bert, and Mike, and Bob, and Dave, and Jim, and Ed, and Fred, and Bill, and John, and Cal, and Clint, and anything else like that that has just ONE syllable.

REAL Ay-merican men don't need a first name that's got more'n one syllable, pilgrim! Just ask the Duke. Matter of fact, John Wayne is the most all-out Ay-merican name that's ever been if ya ask me...

Now lock and load, shut yer traps, and MOVE OUT! We got a job ta do here and we're not goin' home till it's done!

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: British vs. American names
From: Celtic Soul
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 11:18 PM

Most popular Amurrican names, 2001:

Rank Boys Girls 1 Michael Emily 2 Matthew Samantha 3 Nicholas Ashley 4 Joseph Julia 5 Christopher Nicole 6 Anthony Sarah 7 Ryan Jessica 8 John Kayla 9 Daniel Olivia 10 Andrew Madison 11 Justin Brianna 12 Joshua Victoria 13 Kevin Amanda 14 James Lauren 15 Alexander Hannah 16 Brandon Alyssa 17 David Isabella 18 Jacob Alexis 19 Thomas Emma 20 William Elizabeth 21 Zachary Abigail 22 Christian Grace 23 Tyler Rachel 24 Jonathan Alexandra 25 Kyle Jennifer

And in the African-American community here in the states, amongst other more common names, you will also find many that are set from an internally defined set of rules. I have known a Keisha, JaQuan, Latisha, Jawanda, Nakisha, Shaniqua, LaTroy, Duwan, T'Keya, LeVonte, Sterlicia, etc.

Subject: RE: BS: British vs. American names
From: The Pooka
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 11:12 PM

My father-in-law's given name was Gifford. To me, sounds English. (He was as American as it gets. Midwesterner, U.S. Marine.) His wife was Gertrude: sounds American to me. / Why?? / We need some scholarly Mudcat uhhh errr, name-ologists, here. (What *is* that word annyway?)

Subject: RE: BS: British vs. American names
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 11:03 PM

My son has been an American-born Colin for 32 years now.:-) I've also got a "Kyrstie"....LONG before Kirstie Ally showed up!

Subject: RE: BS: British vs. American names
From: The Pooka
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 11:01 PM

*Lance*? Goodness gracious. / Mine's a real Amurrrican name: Joe. Regular Joe, y'know. (Yeah right.) So is the Threadstarter's (regardless of his Pondside), sez I: Jim. Now in British that would be James of course. / But then I'm citing nicknames: thread-drift already, already. / Hmm "nicknames": wot about Nicholas? What's that? / Wife & I gave son a real all-American name: Brendan. :) No, a Saint he Ain't.

Subject: RE: BS: British vs. American names
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 10:48 PM

Well, let's see.... I know folks with many of these names. There's Colin Healey who is a fine fiddle player over here, the tenor in my gospel quartet is named Derek, I also know folks named Maurice, Trevor, and Noel(Paul of Peter, Paul, and Mary is actually Noel Stookey as most folks know. And then, there's Mavis Staples, and I know a woman over here named Zoe.

Then, there are all the other names that certainly didn't originate here like Gunnar, Romer, Zolton, a;; of whom are people I've known.

What are "American" names? Got me there. Maybe Marilyn? or Lance?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: British vs. American names
From: catspaw49
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 10:45 PM

Jim, I think you've been leading a sheltered life. I have known someone (not famous types, just people I have met) with all of the names you list with the exception of Ivor and Cyril. My grandfather was named Rexford and he had a brother named Lamphear. All were Americans, but I do get your point. I always think of Nigel, Cyril, and the like as Brit and of course Reg as Canadian...LOL.

Then again, I grew up in a town where there were folks named Angelina (Scaffidi), Giuseppe (Perillo), and Orelio (DeNatoli).

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: British vs. American names
From: firínne
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 10:39 PM

As far as I know it's short for Marjorie.

Subject: RE: BS: British vs. American names
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 10:38 PM

G'day Jim,

Of course, the original Monty Python routine was loosely based on one of their erstwhile Cambridge colleagues ... a 'Bruce' indeed ... but not Australian - rather from New Zealand, where the (very Scottish) name Bruce is more common.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: BS: British vs. American names
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 10:22 PM

I think you mean Marge Simpson, short for Marjorie. Is Madge short for something?

Subject: RE: BS: British vs. American names
From: firínne
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 10:07 PM

Well.........there's Cybil Shepherd, the actress, although she spells it with a C, and there's Madge Simpson...........they're Americans!!!

Subject: RE: BS: British vs. American names
From: Celtic Soul
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 10:06 PM

Uuuuuuuuummm....no American "Colin"? How 'bout Colin Powell? I have a friend who's sons name is "Cullen" as well.

As for Reginald, oh, yes...we have them. We just call them "Reggie" (as in the ballplayer, Reggie Jackson).

I also know a Mavis, a Sybil (Sybil Shepherd beind a famous one), and a Zoe. I also know an Isolde.

You're right about most of it though. You won't hear most of those names often over here, if at all.

I think the names made it here, but as with the culture and accents, your side of the pond went one way, and we another.

Subject: British vs. American names
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 09:52 PM

There was a Monty Python sketch portraying a bunch of Australians, and every one of them was named Bruce. Certain names do carry connotations of nationality.

For example, I never heard of an American man named Basil, Cecil, Clive, Colin, Cyril, Derek, Desmond, Ivor, Leslie, Maurice, Nigel, Noel, Percy, Reginald, or Trevor. Those names all sound British to me, but I suppose they could also be Australian or Canadian.

Likewise, I've never heard of an American woman named Daphne, Madge, Mavis, Sybil, or Zoe.

(As you can see, I've been collecting these for a while.)

Since the most common American given names are mostly British or Irish in origin, it seems odd that these names never made it over. I suppose they must have arisen in Britain after the bulk of emigration to America took place. Can anyone confirm this?

Has anyone else noticed any interesting patterns of naming? How do others view American names?