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ArchivesRe: My column on Percy
in reply to a message by clevelandkentevans
Interesting, as always - thank you! For interest, I had a relative whose baptism record shows him as Percy, but his death certificate (when in his 50s) reads Percival. In the family, he was only referred to as Percy; perhaps a bureaucrat filling in the form decided that the "correct" version should be used ... I prefer Percy, but I don't perceive either name as particularly elite or aristocratic; rather the reverse. Solid, working-class names! Piers seems more exclusive than Peter, but I chose Peter for my son without hesitation.
And those Aubrey-type previously all-male names: I assume it's the -y ending that looks female, so can we expect girls named Antony, Gregory, Jeremy etc to appear? Or am I becoming too logical?
And those Aubrey-type previously all-male names: I assume it's the -y ending that looks female, so can we expect girls named Antony, Gregory, Jeremy etc to appear? Or am I becoming too logical?
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Obviously the social class connotations of names can be different in different countries and in different generations. Reginald, for instance, sounds like an upper class British name to Americans, but people in the UK do not have class associations with it. So thanks for the information that Percy is "solid working class" in South Africa. I don't think many Americans would describe it that way.
In the USA I think most names which end in -y and are originally derived from surnames will eventually turn mostly female. When Finley started to have an upswing about 15 years ago, it was mostly male in the UK but almost immediately started to be used frequently for girls in the USA. Anthony, Gregory, and Jeremy will not be in as much danger of changing because they were given names first and are the names of saints or Biblical figures -- though I certainly have occasionally seen Jeremy used as a female name in the USA.
In the USA I think most names which end in -y and are originally derived from surnames will eventually turn mostly female. When Finley started to have an upswing about 15 years ago, it was mostly male in the UK but almost immediately started to be used frequently for girls in the USA. Anthony, Gregory, and Jeremy will not be in as much danger of changing because they were given names first and are the names of saints or Biblical figures -- though I certainly have occasionally seen Jeremy used as a female name in the USA.
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