Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 August 1890 — FASHIONS IN WOMEN'S NAMES [ARTICLE]

FASHIONS IN WOMEN'S NAMES

Aids to a Rough Guess as to the Age of their Possessors, Boston Transcript. Fashions in men’s names change somewhat but not as women’s. John, Charles, George and William reign in 1890 as they, did in 1790. But the fashions in women's names change every ten or fifteen years. It is possible that the sociological New Zealander will find that the feminine key names of this century, so to speak, arc about as many in number as the §decades. Just what was the favorite woman’s name at the very opening of the century is. hard to guess off-haDd, but the listener may venture to say that the Nancy epoch was about the first worthy of record in the century. Among the ogtogenarian ladies of the Listener’s acquaintance the name of Nancy seems to have a very prominent place, further on down the century came the fashion of double names —possibly an old fashion revived—and we find Martha Anns. Mary Janes and Ann Elizas in nearly every family. Perhaps this epoch would be best described as the Mary Jane epoch of our feminine nomenclature. It is a little hard to locate these things in years, but the Listener would say, at a guess, that the Lucy epoch began about the year 18 5, and was closely followed by the Helen epoch, which left the name of the beautiful daughter of Leda scattered broadcast over the country. Somewhat after the reign of Helen came the most singular, unaccountable epoch of all, the Ella epoch. The use of the name of Ella goes back, as closely as the Listener can locate it. to about the year 1850, though there may have been earlier examples. Where the name “Ella” came from is a mystery, The authorities put it down as a corruption of the name of Eleanor, which in its turn was corrupted from Helen. It appears to have no recognized place either in history or fiction, though evidently it was borrowed from a fourth- rate popular novel. It is. at any rate, without meaning, without associations in the past, without any other reason for existence at its beginning except that it pleased many people’s fancy. Now it no doubt has a recognized existence, since beautiful and good, women have borne it. and, like all other names that women ever bore, it is sanctified with that other name of mother. The real Ella epoch did not set in as early as 1850: probably it was at its height about the year 1860. People thought it so pretty! But it is sadly out of fashion now. There was an Ida epoch that came in somewhere along there, probably just after the Ella epoch, though the two names ran pretty closely together. The name of Ida is a good and ancient one. though most of the people who took it up doubtless thought they had hit upon something quite new. Most of the Idas of the time about 1861 were named for a character in a i opu lar story or for one another. But following the Ella and Ida period there came another girl name which attained almost extraordinary rage; the Edith epoch, indeed, survives almost to -th® present day. itetween~lß6s and 1875 about half of the girl babies were christened Edith, and the crop is ripening fast now, as a matter of course. Look at the high-school cati logueand see how they bristle with Ediths, an ancient Saxon name, i-nd a pretty one, disused for centuries and revived all at once—a happy revival, if iibad not been overdone. Then came th_ Maud and Mabel epoch; these name? have to be hyphenated, because neither ever seemed able to stand up without the other They were a great rage in their turn. The main crop -s Mauds and Mables will hardly matm« before another five years, though the earlier sowing* ere ripe u) ready Since then we have had the Marjorie revival—an exceedingly pretty natm that, and better and more Englisl than either Maud or Maa^l— and n j we are threatened with a Gladyepocli.