The Name Game

I have a friend who worked with an African whose first name was Godknows. For various reasons, it proved impossible to discover the inspiration for that choice of name.

On the same subject, the Cornwall Record Office released a report a couple of years ago that seems worthy of mention. It's both fascinating and funny, and hints at how times change. The report is a collection of names which crop up in the records, and which now seem somewhat strange, but which may have been perfectly normal at the time. Emily Grace Pyne Coffin, married in 1837, may have a moniker that raises a smile now, but in the early 1800s, pine might not have been associated with coffins. The marriages recorded contain some great unions – John Bath married Elizabeth Duckem in 1650, Nicholas Bone and Priscilla Skin got hitched in 1636, while Richard Dinner and Mary Cook tied the knot in 1802. They would no doubt have been pleased with the unions of John Mutton and Ann Veale (1791) and Charles Swine and Jane Ham (1711).

You can definitely see how Dickens was inspired. Cornish dwellers have included the weird, wonderful and wacky: Boadicea Basher, Orrange Almond, Gentle Bant and Valentine Bedlam can all be found. Some of the names evoke quite wonderful images, too – Faythful Bishop, Rose Courts, Pentecost Lullaby and Joyous Robert; I hope all lived up to their names. It would be lovely to think that Flower Champion grew up to be a gardener, while Flower Garland became a florist, and that Angell Silke was a harpist beyond compare. One that did come true is VT Rham – he was the vicar of St Ewe.

Times change, so I don't expect we'll see the likes of Charity Dingle (baptised in 1702), Jane Eyre (baptised 1774), Horatio Hornblower or Levi Jeans again. We're stuck with Jack and Joshua, and Emily and Ellie as the most popular names nowadays, with a few Chardonnays thrown in for good measure.