Authors: H.L. Mencken
35
Gypsy Fires in America, by Irving Brown; New York, 1924, pp. 20 and 38.
36
The Swedish Surname in America,
American Speech
, Aug., 1928.
37
Days in Sweden, by James W. Lane,
Commonweal
, Sept. 9, 1931.
38
I am indebted here to Mr. John A. Stahlberg, of Plentywood, Mont.
39
The Religious Aspects of Swedish Immigration; Minneapolis, 1932, p. 427.
40
I am indebted here to Mr. Wallace Lomoe, of the Milwaukee
Journal
. He says that when several cadets of the House of Toycen went into the World War, their comrades pronounced the name as spelled, and that this pronunciation has been retained. But the other Toycens call themselves
Tyson
. Mr. Lomoe’s own name was originally
Lömoe
. It is commonly pronounced
LaMoe
, with the accent on the second syllable.
41
See Norwegian Surnames, by George T. Flom
Scandinavian Studies and Notes
, Vol. V. No. 4, 1918.
42
I am indebted here to Mr. Reino W. Suojanen, editor of
Walwoja
, Calumet, Mich., and to Mr. Ivar Vapaa, editor of
Industrialist
, Du-luth, Minn.
43
For material and suggestions here I am indebted to Mr. Guiseppe Cautela of Brooklyn, N. Y., and Mr. J. H. A. Lacher of Waukesha, Wis.
44
Mr. Hugh Morrison of New York, who has a wide acquaintance among Mexican-Americans, says that he knows of but two who bear “American” names. One of them, born
Pérez
, is now
Peters
; the other, a full-blooded Indian, is
Jim Anderson
.
45
I am indebted here to Mr. George Stanculescu, editor of the
American Roumanian News
, Cleveland.
46
I am indebted here to Mr. João R. Rocha, proprietor of
O Independente
, New Bedford, Mass., and to Mr. Peter L. C. Silveira, editor of the
Jornal Portugues
, Oakland, Calif.
47
I am indebted here to Mr. Charles J. Lovell, of Pasadena, Calif.
48
See La Langue française au Canada, by Louvigny de Montigny; Ottawa, 1916, p. 146, and Name Tragedies, by C. P. Mason,
American Speech
, April, 1929, p. 329.
49
A Tragedy of Surnames, by Fayette Dunlap,
Dialect Notes
, Vol. IV, Pt. II, 1913.
50
French Surnames in the Mississippi Valley,
American Speech
, Feb., 1934.
51
I am indebted here to Dr. Nicholas M. Alter of Jersey City; to Mr. Hugo Kormos, editor of the
Magyar Herald
of New Brunswick, N. J.; to Mr. Henry Miller Madden, of Columbia University; to Dr. Joseph Remény, of Western Reserve University; and to Mr. Joseph Yartin of New York.
52
At this writing Mr.
Ecker-R
is attached to the Federal Emergency Relief Administration at Washington. “The abbreviation,” he tells me, “was adopted in consideration of others, and to protect myself from some interesting variations in spelling. The
R
does not, as the Washington
Star
is wont to interpret, stand for
Republican
.”
53
The Syrians in America; New York, 1924, p. 101. I am indebted here to Dr. Hitti and to Mr. H. I. Katibah, editor of the
Syrian World
of New York.
54
I am indebted here to Mr. R. Dar-binian, editor of
Hairenik
, Boston, and to Dr. K. A. Sarafian, of La Verne College, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
55
This last, on occasion, is a heavy burden, for there is always more or less Anti-Semitism afloat. Its causes remain to be investigated. The reasons for it that Jews commonly accept are almost as dubious as those advanced by anti-Semites. The literature of the subject is very large, but virtually all of it is worthless.
56
See The Jews, by Maurice Fish-berg; New York, 1911, especially p. 485
ff
. Also, Reaction to Personal Names, by Dr. C. P. Obern-dorf,
Psychoanalytic Review
, Vol. V, No. 1, January, 1918. This, so far as I know, is the only article in English which deals with the psychological effects of surnames upon their bearers. Abraham Silberer and other German psychoanalysts have made contributions to the subject. Dr. Oberndorf alludes, incidentally, to the positive social prestige which goes with an English air or a French air in America. He tells of an Italian who changed his patronymic of
Dipucci
into
de Pucci
to make it more “aristocratic.” And of a German bearing the genuinely aristocratic name of
von Landsschaffshausen
who changed it to “a typically English name” because the latter seemed more distinguished to his neighbors.
57
The English Jews, who pronounce
Levy lev-vy
not
lee-vy
, often change it to
Lewis
. They also change
Abraham
and
Abrahams
to
Braham
and
Bram
, and
Moses
to
Moss. Taylor
and
Gordon
are favorites among them. There are many London Jews with Scotch names, including even
MacGregor
.
58
For these observations I am indebted to Mr. Abraham Cahan.
59
In 1923 the Boston Cabots sought a remedy in equity against a
Kabot-chnick
who had borrowed their name, but the courts decided against them.
60
Zeta Beta Tau Quarterly
, April, 1931.
61
Long List of Books Written by Boston Jews, by Fanny Goldstein, Boston
Evening Globe
, May 23, 1934.
62
In New York, of course,
Bernstein
is
Boinsteen
, just as
Stern
is
Stoin
.
63
The German names containing
ei
sometimes retain the German value and sometimes do not.
Schleigh
is commonly pronounced
sly
and
Reiter
remains
ry-ter
, but
Reif-schneider
and its variants,
Reif-snyder
and
Reifsnider
tend to become
reef. Weigand(t
) is commonly
Wee-gand
. Soon or late, I suppose, even
Reilly
will become
Reel-y
, at any rate in New York.
64
When Herbert H.
Lehman
became a candidate for Governor of New York in 1932 his banking firm announced that he pronounced his name
leeman
. New York
Times
, Oct. 5, 1932.
65
Which recalls the
Ginzberg
in Anita Loos’s But Gentleman Marry Brunettes (1928) who, following the example of the
Battenbergs
(now
Mountbattens
), changed his name to
Mountginz
. Another, according to Miles L. Hanley (
American Speech
, Oct., 1933, p. 78), became
Gainsborough
. Other variants are
Ginsburgh, Guinsburg, Guinzburg, Ginzbourg, Gins-bourgh, Ginsbern, Ginsbury
and
Gins
.
66
Question of Assumed Names Passed On In Goldwyn Suit,
Variety
, Oct. 25, 1923, p. 19.
67
Place-Names and First-Names as Jewish Family-Names,
Jewish Forum
, April, 1925.
68
In A History of Surnames of the British Isles; New York, 1931, p. 213.
69
Ewen tells of two Jews who compared notes after visiting the police-office. One had drawn an excellent name,
Weisheit
(wisdom), but the other had been labelled
Schweisz-hund
(bloodhound). “Why
Schweiszhund?
” demanded Weisheit. “Didn’t you pay enough?” “Gott und die Welt,” replied Schweiszhund, “I have given half of my wealth to buy that
w
alone!” The Jews themselves have a vast repertory of such stories. I borrow another from the London
Jewish Daily Post
, June 27, 1935, where it is credited to George Sokolsky’s We Jews: A Mrs. Selby was introduced to a Mrs. Levy at the bridge-table. “Are you related,” asked Mrs. Levy, “to the Selbys of Sydney?” “No,” answered Mrs. Selby, “the Sydney Selbys are Silverbergs, while we are Schneiders.”
70
Some years ago the
Solis Cohens
of Philadelphia, a family distinguished in medicine, took action against a Jewish dentist who sought to assume their name. During the first days of the immigration of Jews from Russia many of them, on arriving in this country, borrowed German-Jewish names. (Many others, of course, had them already). “At that time,” says Jane Doe in Concerning Hebrew Names,
Reflex
, Nov., 1928, “the aristocrat was the German Jew.” Some of the English Jews had surnames long before those of Germany and the Slav countries. See Name List of English Jews of the Twelth Century, in The Jews of Angevin England, by Joseph Jacobs; London, 1893, p. 345
ff
. Not many English Jews ever came to the United States.
71
In a memorandum prepared for the author, April 25, 1925.
72
See A Bibliography of Writings on the English Language From the Beginning of Printing to the End of 1932, by Arthur G. Kennedy; Cambridge (Mass.), 1927, pp. 57
ff
, 149–50, 187, and 332
ff
. The best work on the subject is A History of Surnames of the British Isles, by C. L’Estrange Ewen; New York, 1931.
73
They arose in England through the custom of requiring an heir by the female line to adopt the family name on inheriting the family property. Formerly the heir dropped his own surname. Thus, the ancestor of the present Duke of Northumberland, born
Smithson
, took the ancient name of
Percy
on succeeding to the underlying earldom in the Eighteenth Century. But about a hundred years ago heirs in like case began to join the two names by hyphenation, and such names are now very common in England. Thus, the surname of Lord Barrymore is
Smith-Barry
, that of Lord Vernon is
Venables-Vernon
, that of Lord Saye and Sele is
Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes
, and that of the Earl of Wharn-cliffe is
Montagu-Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie
. The name of Vice-Admiral the Hon. Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly
Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax
, K.C.B., C.B., D.S.O., R.N., brother to Lord Dunsany, the Irish writer, would ruin him in the United States. So would that of Walter Thomas James
Scrymsoure-Steuart-Fothringham
, a Scotch magnate.
74
According to Howard F. Barker (Surnames in
-is, American Speech
, April, 1927, p. 318), “the defection from
Griffiths
dates far back.” In Who’s Who (London), 1935, there are 16
Griffithses
to 27
Griffiths
, whereas in Who’s Who in America, 1934–35,the 21
Griffiths
are matched by but 3
Griffithses
.
75
See Word-Book of Virginia Folk-Speech of B. W. Green; Richmond, 1899.
76
A correspondent writes in explanation of this amazing pronunciation: “The family, having rather unwillingly had to change their name to
Enroughty
to secure an inheritance, balanced up by continuing to
pronounce
their original name —
Darby.
”
77
See The
Trampleasures, Time and Tide
(London), June 29, 1935.
78
A long list is in Titles and Forms of Address; 2nd ed.; London, 1929, P. 15
ff
.
79
My thanks are due to Mr. Boyd for help here. He tells me that in Gaelic names the
O
is never separated by an apostrophe. It is always either written close up or separated clearly, as in Sean
O
Murchadha
. In the latter case it is not followed by a period.
80
See Two Little
f’s
, by Trevor Davenport-ffoulkes, London
Sunday Times
, April 22, 1934.
81
The Kohler Company of Kohler, Wis., manufacturers of plumbing materials. The president of the company, Walter J. Kohler, was Governor of Wisconsin, 1929–30.
82
Curious Names, by Mamie Meredith and Ruth Schad Pike,
American Speech
, Feb., 1928.
83
My own given-names may throw some light on the process. They are
Henry Louis
. I was named Henry after my father’s brother. Their mother was Harriet McClel-lan, who came to Baltimore from Kingston, Jamaica. She was of North Irish stock and a member of the Church of England.
Henry
seems to have been borrowed from some member of her family. I was named
Louis
after my paternal grandfather, but his actual given-names were
Burkhardt Ludwig
. I gather that it was at first proposed to call me
Henry Burkhardt
, but that there was some objection to the
Burkhardt
, probably from my mother. So a compromise was made on
Ludwig
. Its harsh sound, whether pronounced in the correct German way or in the American way, caused further qualms, and it was decided to translate it. But the clergyman employed to baptize me wrote it
Louis
in his certificate, and so I acquired a French name. It was, of course, always pronounced
Lewis
in the family circle. I have often thought of changing it to something more plausible, but have somehow never got to the business.
84
Carl
has been adopted by Americans of other stocks, and such combinations as
Carl
Gray (a railroad president born in Arkansas),
Carl
Williams (a farm-paper editor, born in Indiana), and
Carl
Murphy (the founder of the Baltimore
Afro-American
, a leading Negro newspaper) are common. A feminine variant,
Karle
, has appeared, and I suspect that
Carl
has helped to popularize
Carlyle
and
Carleton
. Simon Newton (see the
World
Almanac for 1921, p. 150) sought to determine the most popular American given-names by examining 100,000 names in biographical dictionaries, Army and Navy registers, Masonic rosters and the Detroit City Directory. He found that
John, William, James, George
and
Charles
were the most popular, in the order named, but that
Carl
was thirty-eighth, and ahead of
Ernest, Michael, Lewis
and
Hugh
, all of which would have been far above it on an English list.