No longer something about Mary
MINE was a common name when I was a child. I didn’t mind; I think children like to fit in. So though Catherine was the second most popular name for a girl in 1970, having a popular name caused me no particular trouble.
That is, it should be said, until I met the principal of my secondary school, a nun who was both inordinately stern and incapable of focusing clearly in any one direction due to having one glass eye (truly).
When she strode into our classroom and barked out the name “Catherine” while her gaze zig-zagged confusingly around the room, four Catherines would shakily rise to their feet every time, conscious that this would infuriate the crabby principal but unable to face the risk of being seen to refuse to stand up if you were the Catherine she meant.
We weren’t alone in our plight. Our school was crammed with Marys (the top name of 1970), Annes, Bernadettes and Maureens. Our brothers’ names also came from a small pool; they were typically called John, or Joe or Pat or Brian. A wider range of Biblical names was starting to gain currency, but remained essentially exotic. Being called Rachel or Sam made you seem edgy. When a boy called Isaac showed up at the local community school, it caused a minor sensation.
This has been on my mind after a survey released last week underscored how much things have changed in terms of Irish names. The genealogy firm Ancestry detailed the outright collapse in the use of the name Mary in particular in the last century. An astonishing 11,314 babies were named Mary in 1917. Only 64 girls were named Mary last year, while there were 184 baby Catherines (are we possibly on the up again?) and only five Annes.
Meanwhile, the number of girls called Emily rose from 148 in 1917 to
459 last year; it now tops the ranks of popularity. Also in the top 10 are Grace, Lily and Lucy – names virtually unknown in Ireland a few decades ago.
Patrick has also taken a hit; there were 5,627 babies named Patrick in 1917 but only 369 in 2013 and 300 in 2017. The biggest boy’s name is now Jack, at
685 last year (and just three in 1970). Now I can get behind a bit more variety in name choices but I am also starting to feel a tad bored with our current range. Ancestry produced a list of names considered extinct (because nobody has been given them for five years) and they are largely fabulous.
For girls they include Gertrude, Ethel, Eveline, Muriel, Gladys, Sheila, Marion, Doreen, Wilhelmina, Doris, Edna, Letitia, Margaretta and Fanny; for boys it’s Herbert, Norman, Cecil, Bartholomew, Leslie, Cyril, Reginald, Donald, Sylvester, Wallace and Garrett.
I think we can agree some of these are best forgotten (Gertrude? Fanny?), but surely most of the rest are perfectly serviceable.
Can we not save them from extinction? Will anyone step up? Let’s hope 2018 brings us a few baby Sylvesters and Muriels. Or at the very least a posse of Annes.
Job caring for critters is not to be sniffed at
NEWS this week that a Russian town has appointed a cat chief to mind its stray cats (I would apply but it pays practically nothing) reminds me of my favourite ever job advert back in 2016 – for a hedgehog officer.
Inspired to check back on this novel occupation, I can report that the hedgehog officer hired by Suffolk Wildlife Trust for an initial two years in 2016 is still in her role. She has appointed several Hedgehog Champions to raise awareness of hedgehogs in urban gardens and – it would seem – successfully improved living conditions for the spiky critters.
The trust told the BBC: “The project was a success and identified so many more opportunities to improve urban habitat for hedgehogs.”