Silly names not just the forte of dazzling urbanites?

[mongers]

Because earlier I was having a go at some genealogy, perhaps my first serious go, and looking at the census/births/deaths/marriage records it appears throughout the mid to late 19th century there were only ever about 6 or 7 Adam Carter* in the whole of England and Wales during that period, which is very surprising, to the point I thought there must be errors in the database.

I dug a bit into my dad's line a little while ago. That was a complete waste of time. He's Welsh, and apparently the Welsh have only six names that they use before they get lost. My great-grandfather's name was Meredith Williams. In the tiny town that he lived in (pop. ~ 500), there were something like 20 other Meredith Williams'. His father's name was James, and his mother's name was Mary Katherine, but she went by Elizabeth. (WTF??) There were at least three other couples named James & Mary Katherine Williams, and another several James & Elizabeth Williams. Talk about a nightmare trying to find which one is the progenitor of our line.

When my wife's grandfather immigrated to Canada from Wales his last name was Pritchard-Williams.  When he landed in Canada the immigration officer told him it was too long and so assigned the last name of Williams to him.  Each of his sons then carried the Pritchard name as a middle name and one of our sons has it as a middle name as well.


@Cal, my maternal grandfather's name was Harry.

[jimmy olsen]

Derek seems still relatively popular in the states. Not that common, but not unusual either.

I have a friend my age called Derek, but you don't see names repeated in subsequent generations. Typical names in my year at school include Darren and Anneka (two of each in my class alone) but those names seem to have died out entirely.

Given that the most popular athlete in New York City over the last seventeen years has been Derek Jeter, I have to assume that Derek is still a relatively popular name in the states.

[Caliga]

Given that the most popular athlete in New York City over the last seventeen years has been Derek Jeter, I have to assume that Derek is still a relatively popular name in the states.

[jimmy olsen]

Given that the most popular athlete in New York City over the last seventeen years has been Derek Jeter, I have to assume that Derek is still a relatively popular name in the states.

People tend to name their kids after famous people like athletes and movie stars.

[Viking]

What's interesting to me is how all the nicknames are taking place of the original names.

Also, I see where John went to. Got absorbed by Muhammad.

I think it got absorbed by Mohammed.

Living in a Muslim country must be confusing as hell.

A friend of mine that went to uni in Cairo told me that if you go into a lecture hall and shout "Achmed!" half the guys turn their heads and if you immediately follow with "no, I meant Abdullah!" the other half turn their heads.

They all have nicknames. It's as bad as chinese guys picking english names, only the arabs pick arab names. The is one of the reasons the FBI can't track many of these guys down. They all have the same birth name, then they have a kunya (convoluted version of patronyms) and a nickname and a nom-du-guerre. I can sympathise what with most guys in iceland being named either Jón or Guðmundur it gets confusing since the result is that most people have one of four last names.

[CountDeMoney]

People Black People tend to name their kids after famous people like athletes and movie stars.

Hence my old downstairs neighbors, who named the teenybopper's kid "Kobe Jordan"...three months after Kobe's rape arrest.

[Syt]

In the early 90s, it seemed every second boy in Germany was named "Kevin". It has since become a name associated with lower class proles. (Similar to mispronounced French names, like Chantal or Jaqueline - Shun-tull and Shuck-uh-leen respectivle.)

[Pedrito]

We named our daughter Lola, a name which quite a few people in our area had never heard of.

Isn't Lola usually a nickname for Dolores?

L.

[Syt]

We named our daughter Lola, a name which quite a few people in our area had never heard of.

Isn't Lola usually a nickname for Dolores?

L.

It was in Lolita.

[derspiess]

We named our daughter Lola, a name which quite a few people in our area had never heard of.

Isn't Lola usually a nickname for Dolores?

L.

I had not heard it used that way here, but my wife was familiar with that usage in Argentina/Spain.

[Eddie Teach]

Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl with yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there.

[Caliga]

I had not heard it used that way here, but my wife was familiar with that usage in Argentina/Spain.

This is the only person I've known named Lola:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVXmMMSo47s