Does your name date you?

[Stearmen]

I have never meant a girl named Regina.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Great-grandfather Levi Elah Maddox. Grandfather and uncle named Denzel, but accented on the first syllable, unlike Denzel Washington.

 

[BobHufford]

I have an Uncle Virgil, but we call him Uncle "Bud".

 

[tuppence]

You don see many Susans or Jennifers in Australia any more

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

My name is the same as my father's and his was the same as his father's, but neither of them was called by the names on their birth certificates. My grandfather was called "Harry" (even on his second grade report card) and was born the same year as the better-known U.S. President who succeeded to the office on Franklin Roosevelt's death.

My father was called "Chick" by everyone, well, except his mother. "Chick" as a man's name is a solidly mid 20th Century phenomenon. Consider Chick Hearn, Chick Webb, and Chic Young. I have never met a contemporary called "Chick".

 

[tonyb]

I have never meant a girl named Regina.

Especially not pronounced same as the Canadian city.

 

[tonyb]

I knew at least one male contemporary named Kim back in Wisconsin a half century and more ago. I can't recall meeting such a person since.

I have met a couple of older fellows called Connie, though, which I assume is a nickname for Conrad or Constantine.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Everybody in the Era knew who Connie Mack was, and that his real name was Cornelius McGillicuddy. He's had several descendants down to the present day also named Connie Mack -- I think they're on the IVth one now.

There's a male cartoonist named Kim Deitch, and in the mid-70s the Red Sox had an infielder in their minor league system named Kim Andrew. But I've never met a male Kim face to face.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Another odd male name of the early 20th was Claire. Gen. Claire Chennault, commander the Flying Tigers, was a rare example.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Cartoonist Clare Briggs was another.

There was a major league ballplayer in the late 1950s named "Barbra."

 

[Fading Fast]

I've know both a George Carrol and a Carole George.

I met the Carole George two decades after first meeting the George Carrol and I always stumbled (in my head) on Carole George's name as my subconscious is constantly trying to flip it to the order I know from before.

 

[tonyb]

And we all know that the given name of the current president's late mother is Stanley, although she went by Ann, her middle name.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Gender-flipped names seem to have been a pretty common thing among baseball players. A quick browsing of the Baseball Encyclopedia reveals Gail Harris , Gail Hopkins, Anna Compton, Bonnie Hollingsworth, Sadie McMahon, Dolly Gray, Dolly Stark, Kitty Bransfield, and the discoverer of "Baseball Rubbing Mud," Lena Blackburn. And not to forget Negro League Hall-of-Famer Judy Johnson.

 

[Feraud]

My paternal grandmother's name was Rose. Or at least that was what everyone called her.. My parents named my sister Rosa after her. It wasn't until after my grandmother's death and folks looked at her birth certificate that we learned her name was Amelia. Would have been nice if my father ever spoke up and mentioned his mother's real name. That's the kind of guy my father is.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Famed vampire author Anne Rice was born Howard Allen O'Brien, jr., named for her father. I'd have changed my name, too.

 

[2jakes]

There was a Annie Rose Trueheart in the family.
Her mother was from England.

She was the sweetest, kindest woman I have ever known. Never heard her say
a mean word to anyone. Very sensitive of others & always made you feel good.

 

[TimeWarpWife]

Famed vampire author Anne Rice was born Howard Allen O'Brien, jr., named for her father. I'd have changed my name, too.

Well, that certainly explains a lot. My offline name definitely dates my birth year to the late 1950s or early 1960s. It's in the Patty/Debbie/Susie genre and it's just odd hearing middle-aged women of my era, myself included, being called these "cutesy" names. I used to hate my real name, preferring the era's nickname for it - akin to Patty for Patricia - and I always asked to be called by my nickname. Now I don't mind being called by my real name because it doesn't sound quite as dated.

 

[vitanola]

Cartoonist Clare Briggs was another.
"

My first boss, a wonderful man who had more positive influence on my life than any man but my father was named "Claire", short for "Clarence". Born in 1924.

In our generation we have Rose (1947) Robert (1961) and Richard (1963). My parents are George (1926) and Rose (1925). Uncles are Wilbur (1895) John (1905) William (1907), Theodore (1912), Anthony (1915) Phillip (1919) Joseph (1919), Georg (1924). Aunts are Blanche (1896), Olga (1909), Katie (1911) Mary Ellen (1913) Bertha (1922), Leona (1922), Muriel (1924). Grandparents are Joseph(1898) Bertha(1903), Simeon (Sam, 1869) Anna (1879),

 

[EngProf]

One of the heroes of the Golden Age of drag racing was Connie Kallita. I think his real name was Conrad.
One of our former mayors (Nashville) was Beverly Briley (male).

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

I've been researching for a book about an incident that took place in 1886 near my ancestral hometown of Kenedy Texas, a massive shootout much bigger than the OK Corral, but now forgotten. One of the principals was named Sykes Butler. The sheriff of Karnes County he murdered was named Fate Elder. Can names get any more Wild West than that?