FASHIONS IN NAMES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 235, 27 June 1908, Page 11

FASHIONS IN NAMES.

There is a fashion in Christian names as in t most other things (says "The Lady"). Those, that are prevalent in one generation are jften quite out of flavour in another. There ire, of course, some exceptions, as in tho < case of those that seem to be hereditary in ] certain families, and. some that throughout ; ill changes continuo to hold their own, such as, for instance, tho feminine names of Mary and Elizabeth, and the masculine ones of : Edward or John. But in a whole schoolful I of children nowadays it would be raro to find ■ a Fanny, a Rosa, or an Eliza. Yet all these names "were in the first ,rank of fashion a few decades ago, as the signatures of many elderly women attest. It is curious, too, to note how' after a certain lapse of years there comes a revival'of names that have been laid aside, and the Kittys and Bettys of Georgian times are now finding aristocratic bearers, wlioSe 'lead, if ono may judge by precedents, is sure to'find a following. 'A great and not ; unwelcome change would these exquisitely simple names make among 1 the overflow of more fanciful appellations that obviously owe their modern vogue to the widespread reading of the weekly novelette. This does not imply that those names, or, at least, some of them, are not pretty, but that over use has mado them too , common. Tho sense of sound as well as that of taste can be made to cloy with overladen sweetness. It is not too much to say that names given to children at baptism concern their person- . ality through life almost as much as the shape of their features or .the colour of their hair. ■ But whilp tho parents have no clioico in tho latter,' tliey can mako the former as beautiful or as ugly as they will. It is" Strange how often the surname is left out of lonsideration when, tho Christian ono is chosen. That seems to be a pity, especially or boys, who, unlike girls, do not bhange their surnames in after life. These, when very short, plain, uncouth, or common-place, may bo much improved by carefully-considered baptismal ones being placed before them. On tho other hand, surnames borne by or derived from noble families take the plainest, simplest names with distinction, and give in equal proportion. This in a measure may bo duo to tho hereditary .usage of these names. Sarah comes with sonorous effect and perfect suitability before Spencer-Churchill, because of its associations with the first and famous Duchess ,of Marlborough. 1 Jane Seymour has also a pleasant sound in itself, and as a reminiscence, of a Queen Consort of England is hereditary in the families of tho Marquises of Hertford; whilo Rachel and l'hilippa, by reason of their pathetic historical associations with tho ancestry of tho Duke of Norfolk, aro honoured names in the noble house of Howard. Mary takes the proud name ofilamilton with perfect harmony as to sound, and, in token of the loyal adherence of tho premier Scottish ducal family to the cause of hapless Mary Queen o' Scots, has been in voguo to the present day. Mary is the commonest yet most Royal of all names. Few aro there among Royal women, who do not bear it as ono in the often lengthy list of their baptismal names. As the invariable prefix to anothei —as Marie Louise, Marie Thorese— it has always distinguished tho Archduchessea (bj birth) of Austria.