Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 exptools 1/6/84; site ihuxq.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!ihuxq!amigo2 From: amigo2@ihuxq.UUCP (John Hobson) Newsgroups: net.kids Subject: Re: What's in a name? Message-ID: <633@ihuxq.UUCP> Date: Fri, 10-Feb-84 14:27:24 EST Article-I.D.: ihuxq.633 Posted: Fri Feb 10 14:27:24 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 11-Feb-84 08:34:21 EST References: <707@dartvax.UUCP> Distribution: net.kids,net.women Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL Lines: 47 Mike Morton says: >> I think I like made-up names. And to avoid children getting >> names like "Moon-Unit Zappa" or "God", check out (again) >> "The Dispossessed": kids get random, unique names... from a >> computer. I don't like made-up names. I agree that "Moon-Unit" is a lousy name, and I feel sorry for the poor kid who was named "god" (the actual name was spelled with a small "g"), but I once knew a man, from the hill country of Tennessee whose last name was Darling, and whose first and middle names were Welcome Baby. He was built like your typical NFL (or CFL for those in Canada) linebacker, and he used to say that he got to be big and strong from being in so many fights over people laughing at his name. Most people called him "W. B.", and he said that on his 21st birthday, he was going to the nearest courthouse to have his name changed to William Brewster Darling, William being his Grandfather's name, and Brewster being his mother's maiden name, and these would allow him to keep the W. B. initials. I also once met a U. S. Marine Corps colonel (from Virginia) named "States Rights Jones, Jr". My father once knew a man whose given name was "The Sword Of The Lord And Of Gideon", and his brother "Through Trials And Tribulations We Enter Into The Kingdom Of Heaven", generally called "Trib". If you had a computer spitting out names, how do you program it so that it doesn't come up with "Xyyxz" or "Fookue"? I don't know, but I rather like my name "John". I know that every Tom, Dick, and Harry is called John [ :-) ], but it is a nice, reasonable name. Remember, people, when naming your children, that the poor little tykes have to make it through the third grade, and that children in the third grade can be pretty cruel. I worked hard to rid myself of an English accent when I started in American schools, because some of my classmates mocked me, and you don't want your children blaming you for the yuckky name you laid on them. For the record, my three children are named Daniel, Joshua, and Noah. John Hobson AT&T Bell Labs Naperville, IL (312) 979-0193 ihnp4!ihuxq!amigo2