Does your name date you?

[Lean'n'mean]

On the other hand, I knew of a guy who went by the name of "Brick" Mason.

He was a florist.

Makes sense......Florists do use foam bricks for flower arrangements.

 

[BlueTrain]

More likely he's thinking of going into the brewing business, which is not a bad idea.

 

[EstherWeis]

Well,
We have the habit of having 5 names here, don't ask me why.
I'm not bothering you with my full name.

Esther was a fashionable name when I was born.
So where double names.
My actual name is Esther Muriel, but no one ever calls me that.
(Thank god! )

I get asked quite a bit if I'm Jewish, but I'm not.

I know at least 4 other Esther's in my generation...

I adore my grandparent's names.
My grandpa's full name was Gaston Casimir but went by Stonne.
(That's as Antwerpian as you can get)
My grandma's was Clara Anna.
Both very typical for that time here in Belgium.

My German family has a bunch of great German names.
My grandpa was a Hans, my grandma was a Julia. My uncles, mother and aunt are very German as well.
Helga,Jutta,Jürgen and Hartmut.

My father's side are all official french names but go by another one.
Since one had to have an official French sounding name in Belgium.
Eduard goes by Ward, Bertin goes by Bert etc.

My sisters names are what they consider standard names of their time.

 

[Fading Fast]

Well,
We have the habit of having 5 names here, don't ask me why.
I'm not bothering you with my full name.

Esther was a fashionable name when I was born.
So where double names.
My actual name is Esther Muriel, but no one ever calls me that.
(Thank god! )

I get asked quite a bit if I'm Jewish, but I'm not.

I know at least 4 other Esther's in my generation...

I adore my grandparent's names.
My grandpa's full name was Gaston Casimir but went by Stonne.
(That's as Antwerpian as you can get)
My grandma's was Clara Anna.
Both very typical for that time here in Belgium.

My German family has a bunch of great German names.
My grandpa was a Hans, my grandma was a Julia. My uncles, mother and aunt are very German as well.
Helga,Jutta,Jürgen and Hartmut.

My father's side are all official french names but go by another one.
Since one had to have an official French sounding name in Belgium.
Eduard goes by Ward, Bertin goes by Bert etc.

My sisters names are what they consider standard names of their time.

I can't speak for others, but if you are willing, I'd love to hear the five part name which would make you the only five-part-name person I'd know. My dad thought middle names were nonsense (he had strong opinions about everything) so I have two names - my Christian name and my surname - and that's it.

 

[EstherWeis]

I can't speak for others, but if you are willing, I'd love to hear the five part name which would make you the only five-part-name person I'd know. My dad thought middle names were nonsense (he had strong opinions about everything) so I have two names - my Christian name and my surname - and that's it.

Well, your dad is right
I can't figure out why on earth we have 5 names, since we aren't religious or anything.
My full name is Esther Muriel Gerda Guido Alexander Weis.
That is a mouthful right?

 

[scotrace]

You must have a special issue, oversized driver's license, Esther.

Dorothy, Edith, Katherine, Grace, Clarence, Mamie, Oliver, Frank, Merle, Elden, Thomas-- all names from my family from people born pre-1930. They had nicknames like Tootle, Huntsley, and Poppy.

My uncle John Daniels, of course, carried the lifelong nickname "Jack." and of course, he drank the stuff.

 

[Fading Fast]

Well, your dad is right
I can't figure out why on earth we have 5 names, since we aren't religious or anything.
My full name is Esther Muriel Gerda Guido Alexander Weis.
That is a mouthful right?

That is so crazy, it's awesome. It's a name from an Ayn Rand novel - like her character "Francisco Domingo Carlos Andres Sebastián d'Anconia."

My other thought was does anyone ever say "God Bless you" after you say your full name?

Thank you for sharing - you are a good sport.

 

[vitanola]

d'Anconia? or are you referring to the clock company?

 

[Fading Fast]

d'Anconia? or are you referring to the clock company?

Since I don't have that full name in memory (thankfully), I copied and pasted it and, my guess, spell check changed it as I (clearly) didn't proof carefully. "Francisco..." used to hold the tile for "biggest mouthful of a name," but Esther might have have topped that as hers is a real-life one.

 

[vitanola]

I supposed as much. I've ended up posting far, far more risible things after a bout with Auto-correct. Actually, I think that the character's name may have been suggested to Miss Rand by the association with the clock company, which of course was founded as a subsidiary of the Ansonia Brass and Copper Company, a firm which traded until recently as Phelps, Dodge, & Co.
Or perhaps it ended up as a portmanteau of "Ansonia" and "Anaconda", another major non-ferrous metals firm with large interests in Chile and Peru. Naturally, although the mining concessions were in reality controlled by European and American capital, for the purposes of the book it would just not do to have a South American mining magnate with a surname like "Guggenheim", 'Phelps" or "Hanna".

 

[Fading Fast]

I supposed as much. I've ended up posting far, far more risible things after a bout with Auto-correct. Actually, I think that the character's name may have been suggested to Miss Rand by the association with the clock company, which of course was founded as a subsidiary of the Ansonia Brass and Copper Company, a firm which traded until recently as Phelps, Dodge, & Co.
Or perhaps it ended up as a portmanteau of "Ansonia" and "Anaconda", another major non-ferrous metals firm with large interests in Chile and Peru. Naturally, although the mining concessions were in reality controlled by European and American capital, for the purposes of the book it would just not do to have a South American mining magnate with a surname like "Guggenheim", 'Phelps" or "Hanna".

That's some smart insight into the origin of his name as my guess is you are right and the name didn't just spring forth fully formed from her imagination. Names are one of those things that she clearly put much thought into as you don't come up with Francisco..., Ragnar Danneskjold, Ellsworth Toohey or Domonique Francon - to name just a few - with casual effort.

 

[2jakes]

These are names that date me to my childhood days & friends I knew.

Googie, noonoo, peewee, chuca and sonny.

 

[LizzieMaine]

That's some smart insight into the origin of his name as my guess is you are right and the name didn't just spring forth fully formed from her imagination. Names are one of those things that she clearly put much thought into as you don't come up with Francisco..., Ragnar Danneskjold, Ellsworth Toohey or Domonique Francon - to name just a few - with casual effort.

Fred Allen was the king of names in the Era -- Sinbad Brittle, Faulkner Q. Pinghree, Kenny Dank, Fallstaff Openshaw, Ossip Knothole, Pansy Nussbaum, Titus Moody, Socrates Mulligan, the list goes on and on. Allen was nonplussed when "Sinbad Brittle" turned out to be a real person, who accosted him on the beach in Maine one day and demanded to know who sent in his name.

 

[EstherWeis]

That is so crazy, it's awesome. It's a name from an Ayn Rand novel - like her character "Francisco Domingo Carlos Andres Sebastián d'Anconia."

My other thought was does anyone ever say "God Bless you" after you say your full name?

Thank you for sharing - you are a good sport.

Well, I introduce myself as Esther

The full name is only on official documents.
They do say all of them at your wedding, and they have to say them about 4 times. It was hard not to start laughing, since the mister only has 2.
Even the officiant started to crack up the last time she said all of them.

It's not that unusual to have that many names here.
Mine is just one more since my parents couldn't decide.
My mother was the only one that ever called me Muriel, and even she stopped after a while.

Well, in southern countries people do have 2 last names, mother and then father's last name.
So that can end up being a mouthful as well.

 

[GHT]

I get asked quite a bit if I'm Jewish, but I'm not.

Don't you find that kind of impertinence annoying? Both you and your husband have biblical names that could be construed as Jewish, so what? The way some people question others, it gets me so cross, what does it matter what you are? And why does that kind of question always come with a tone of voice that implies that Jews, or any other ethnic race are some sort of head shrinkers. Tina and I were at a 40th birthday party, held on a Sunday afternoon, so that families could attend, it was many years ago. The kitchen had been turned into a makeshift creche but nobody really did anything to amuse the kids, so I kept them busy with card tricks and various silly games. Almost every parent there said: "Oh you would make a great Dad." A harmless remark, probably meant as a compliment, but inwardly I found it very impertinent.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The best response to "Are you Jewish?" that I ever heard of came from Charlie Chaplin: "I have not that honor."

 

[HudsonHawk]

Speaking of names:

"Every time I sign a ball, I thank my luck that I wasn't born Coveleski or Wambsganss or Peckinpaugh." - Mel Ott

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

In naming customs, from the 17th to 19th centuries, Old Testament names were very common for boys. Think Isaac Newton, Abraham Lincoln, Samuel Adams and so forth. After the beginning of the 20th they dropped off for gentiles except for a few: David, Jonathan, Joseph among some others, but those were also the names of Christian saints. From the early 20th on, an Old Testament name often indicated that you were Jewish while a Minor Prophet name or one of the more obscure Old Testament figures, meant either Jewish or a member of a rural fundamentalist or African American church: Amos, Nahum, Zebediah, Jeremiah, Zebulon, Boaz, Hiram, Omri, Nimrod and others. For some reason, nobody ever names a son Cain. Recently, these obscure OT names have been making a comeback. I know a boy named Caleb and there are a couple of Joshuas hereabout. I have yet to encounter a Jehosaphat.

 

[EstherWeis]

Don't you find that kind of impertinence annoying? Both you and your husband have biblical names that could be construed as Jewish, so what? The way some people question others, it gets me so cross, what does it matter what you are? And why does that kind of question always come with a tone of voice that implies that Jews, or any other ethnic race are some sort of head shrinkers. Tina and I were at a 40th birthday party, held on a Sunday afternoon, so that families could attend, it was many years ago. The kitchen had been turned into a makeshift creche but nobody really did anything to amuse the kids, so I kept them busy with card tricks and various silly games. Almost every parent there said: "Oh you would make a great Dad." A harmless remark, probably meant as a compliment, but inwardly I found it very impertinent.

Well, it does sound pretty Jewish, so can't blame them really.
But I see what you mean. There can be a certain tone involved. But not intentional most of the time.
I just politely go no I'm not.

People can be pretty clueless, some will blurt out everything without thinking of the consequences.

 

[LizzieMaine]

In naming customs, from the 17th to 19th centuries, Old Testament names were very common for boys. Think Isaac Newton, Abraham Lincoln, Samuel Adams and so forth. After the beginning of the 20th they dropped off for gentiles except for a few: David, Jonathan, Joseph among some others, but those were also the names of Christian saints. From the early 20th on, an Old Testament name often indicated that you were Jewish while a Minor Prophet name or one of the more obscure Old Testament figures, meant either Jewish or a member of a rural fundamentalist or African American church: Amos, Nahum, Zebediah, Jeremiah, Zebulon, Boaz, Hiram, Omri, Nimrod and others. For some reason, nobody ever names a son Cain. Recently, these obscure OT names have been making a comeback. I know a boy named Caleb and there are a couple of Joshuas hereabout. I have yet to encounter a Jehosaphat.

My nephew's a Caleb, and there's a Zebulon among our theatre-staff alumni club. My memory being what it is, I used to occasionally call him Zechariah, Zerubbabel, and Zebu. Fortunately, Zebulon has a sense of humor.

I always thought "Nimrod" was a bad choice for a name -- "a mighty hunter in opposition to the LORD." It's like naming a little girl Jezebel, who was thrown from a balcony to be eaten by wild dogs. If you're going to use Bible names, it's a good idea to brush up on your Bible first.