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ArchivesRe: Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature
in reply to a message by December Kat
Thank you very much for sharing!
It's a great read and a brilliant insight into the story of English names. In particular, it's fascinating to analyze Bardsley's personal opinions about names, and his perspective from 1880.
It's fun to see that some names he considered obsolete, forgotten, or weird ended up being revived in the following century. For example, he notes that Joan was relegated to the lower classes and became obsolete by 1880 in favor of Jane… but by the 1920s Joan was a Top 5 name!
At a certain point he laments the loss of Avery, Drew, Audrey, Austin, Joyce, Gillian, Gavin, Olive, Barbara... little did he know!
His discussion of surnames being used on women in the 16th century, which is noted as a curiosity, is also very prescient.
I particularly liked when he talked about the rise and fall of Dolly and speculated that it "would turn up again" 1990. Considering the nickname name trend in the UK was starting at the time and, in fact, it ended up reentering the UK charts in 2012… he wasn't completely far off!
It's a great read and a brilliant insight into the story of English names. In particular, it's fascinating to analyze Bardsley's personal opinions about names, and his perspective from 1880.
It's fun to see that some names he considered obsolete, forgotten, or weird ended up being revived in the following century. For example, he notes that Joan was relegated to the lower classes and became obsolete by 1880 in favor of Jane… but by the 1920s Joan was a Top 5 name!
At a certain point he laments the loss of Avery, Drew, Audrey, Austin, Joyce, Gillian, Gavin, Olive, Barbara... little did he know!
His discussion of surnames being used on women in the 16th century, which is noted as a curiosity, is also very prescient.
I particularly liked when he talked about the rise and fall of Dolly and speculated that it "would turn up again" 1990. Considering the nickname name trend in the UK was starting at the time and, in fact, it ended up reentering the UK charts in 2012… he wasn't completely far off!
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