I am fascinated by sociological history, particularly by genealogy and I was Googling some of the family folks yesterday and thinking about how different the world is today, and yet not, in some ways.
Names go through cycles, clearly.
On both sides of my family I have ancestors born in the late 19th century named "Nannie."
I have an ancestor on the Henderson side who was named Pleasant Thurmond, and his wife was named Mary Magdalen Thurmond.
My great grandfather was named Alexander Hamilton Thompson, and his wife's name was Annie Lou Lewis, on the marriage license. I found out recently she was of French descent and her name was actually Augustine Lougene Lewis. I wonder if that had any influence on the names she chose to give her children?
My grandfather Algernon was born in 1888 and he died before I was born. I was never around him or any of his siblings. If I had been, their names would have fascinated me: Roy, Chillie, Algernon, Olean, Glenn (female), Nannie Lou, Woodfin (Uncle Wood)
On my Hasty side, my grandfather Bob had siblings named normal names like Charles, Gordon, Arthur, and Frank. He also had sisters named Effie and Eulemma, known as simple "Lemma."
My grandmother Cordelia went by her middle name. Her first name was Eula. She hated it. Her sister was named Cephier Rowena (known as "Ceph"). Grandmother Cordelia had an uncle named Joshaway Beall, who was a doctor and who served in the Georgia state legislature. Cordelia had an aunt named Mary Beall Traylor who had 5 children, two of whom were named Alonza and Alpha. Alonza named one of his children Artemecia.
Celebrities nowadays like to give their kids odd names.
Nick Cannon, whose main claim to fame was once being married to Mariah Carey, has 11 living children by 6 different women. His children's names are Monroe, Moroccan, Golden, Powerful, Zion, Zillion, Zen, Legendary Love, Onyx, Rise and Beautiful Zeppelin. He had a son named "Zen" who died last year.
Alicia Keys is married to a man named Swiss Beatz, and she has two sons named Egypt and Genesis.
The Kardashian gals have named their kids some interesting ones too: North, Saint, Chicago, Psalm, Reign, True, Dream, Stormi, Wolf [which is being changed to something else, probably Lynx, or something equally boring]
One nice thing about being born to mega wealthy parents is they will likely go to school with kids who have equally bizarre names, and their security guards will prevent any bullying.
My own name, Dee, has always been a source of annoyance to me. I wanted something normal, something I could find on a keychain at Stuckeys, like Susan or Linda. I was named (in spirit) for my grandmother Cordelia. If I had a dollar for every time some has asked me "What's Dee short for?" or "What's your real name?" I would be rich.
I am a tail end Baby Boomer. In the period from 1945-1962 -- the Baby Boom years after WWII -- we were mostly given names like William, Thomas, Stephen, Karen, Michelle, Lisa, etc. -- all solid, conventional names. I never encountered a child named Powerful Queen or a boy named Psalm. If such a child had appeared in my class they would have been unmercifully teased.
In my very amateur poking around into family histories, though, I have encountered some really weird names that my ancestors thought were just fabulous. Like my Hasty cousin who was named Queen Victoria Hasty.
Here are some other Hasty gems: Lula Vada, Conna Belle, Lucy Odessa, Anice Ophelia, Arizona [who went by "Zonia"], Roney Claude, Ora Belle, Viola Kell
In Summary: Giving kids weird names has been going on for centuries and likely will continue!
left, Aunt Oline
right, Uncle Wood
