My father was born in 1915 and his middle name was Diamond. He always said it was a family name (which I took to mean a surname) that only the men took on. However, having studied his family tree I have found no evidence of this. Also, his mother tragically had a little girl who died before she was 2 years old called Ruby, so I think she just liked the names and the meanings behind them. I was nearly called Diamond as a first name according to my mum, but my father didn't like the idea of a girl having the name.