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ArchivesRe: Washington's lack of usage in the US
in reply to a message by Septapus
Perhaps because George Washington owned slaves?
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So did Thomas Jefferson, and yet his name has remained relatively popular in the United States (always within the top 1000 and never fell out of use):
https://www.behindthename.com/name/jefferson/top
As such, I personally doubt that the name Washington fell out of use because George Washington was a slave-owner. Perhaps the reason is something much more "mundane" (for lack of a better term), such as the name being quite a mouthful with an awful flow (unlike names like Jefferson and Lincoln).
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But Jefferson is recognisable as a common patrynomic surname. So it fits in with modern surname as first name and -son ending trends. It can also serve as a more unique and less dated variant or way to honour Jeffery. (That being said if you name your son Jefferson I am going to assume you're a white supremacist until proven otherwise).
Whereas Washington is pretty much inseparable from the president. It's not a common surname except among African-Americans whose newly-emancipated ancestors chose it in honour of George. The only reason it ever got semi-regularly used as a given name was because of the US's ridiculous founding mythology, which thankfully most people see through now.
Also what do you think makes a better nickname or element: Jeff or "Wash"? 😄 While Wash/Washing might not be the worst common noun to be named, to me at least the association is pretty strong and weird to think of as a name (although tbf I'm sure there are now many little Drydens running around).
Whereas Washington is pretty much inseparable from the president. It's not a common surname except among African-Americans whose newly-emancipated ancestors chose it in honour of George. The only reason it ever got semi-regularly used as a given name was because of the US's ridiculous founding mythology, which thankfully most people see through now.
Also what do you think makes a better nickname or element: Jeff or "Wash"? 😄 While Wash/Washing might not be the worst common noun to be named, to me at least the association is pretty strong and weird to think of as a name (although tbf I'm sure there are now many little Drydens running around).
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Not only that, but while they're all long names, "Jeff" and "Linc" are good nicknames, but "Wash" is not.
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