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Names: My newspaper column: now featuring The Old Man and the most famous spouse of witch


Ormond
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Here's the link to today's column. I hope I got all the facts about Kristen and Kristin in Scandinavia correct considering how many Scandinavians frequent this board. :)

https://www.omaha.com/living/cleveland-evans-kristen-or-kristin-or-kirsten-has-been-through/article_0cf4a10b-89c1-5359-8e36-d7f5baab45b4.html

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Here's today's column.

https://www.omaha.com/living/cleveland-evans-shirley-s-star-has-fallen-since-temple-s/article_6e982c7a-f576-54e9-8e57-c6e74b605f9e.html

They edited out a sentence where I made it clear that Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting of Hill House does NOT contain a character named Shirley, but that the creators of the TV show The Haunting named the character after Jackson. 

 

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Here's the link to today's column. I was very surprised to see just how much more popular Winifred was in the UK than the USA back in its heyday --over six times more common in the UK in the 1910/1911 census figures! I was also surprised to see how much it's increased in the USA the last few years without any obvious media help, though of course it could be that those who watched the Disney films as kids are now starting to have babies of their own. 

https://www.omaha.com/living/cleveland-evans-winifred-rooted-in-a-resurrection-story-has-often/article_dba37252-f000-553b-b6ca-3e5ac10e8db0.html

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Wonders of the modern Internet media -- this Time article about the name of the new royal baby which interviews me was posted less than two hours after I finished talking with the reporter. I had an uncle by marriage named Archie myself. Most older Americans are going to be really puzzled by the choice as they will only think of elderly uncles or Archie Bunker -- Americans younger than 30 may be able to see the name as "retro" and "cool" especially if they watch "Riverdale", but will still mostly prefer a form like Archer on the birth certificate instead of Archie. Using this name is a real nod to present British culture on Harry & Meghan's part.

http://time.com/5585773/royal-baby-archie-harrison-name-meaning/

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53 minutes ago, Ormond said:

Wonders of the modern Internet media -- this Time article about the name of the new royal baby which interviews me was posted less than two hours after I finished talking with the reporter. I had an uncle by marriage named Archie myself. Most older Americans are going to be really puzzled by the choice as they will only think of elderly uncles or Archie Bunker -- Americans younger than 30 may be able to see the name as "retro" and "cool" especially if they watch "Riverdale", but will still mostly prefer a form like Archer on the birth certificate instead of Archie. Using this name is a real nod to present British culture on Harry & Meghan's part.

http://time.com/5585773/royal-baby-archie-harrison-name-meaning/

Well, that comes as a shock! My first reaction was more than puzzled, it was more like what the bloody hell. I am astonished the name is so popular in the UK. Thanks for the explanation!

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Dear Tywin -- I have not watched the TV show since the first episode of the second season, so I have no idea what happened to Daenerys on Sunday night.

I am sure parents who have named their daughters Daenerys (or Khaleesi, which is actually much more popular as a name for real girls in the USA than Daenerys) will deal with whatever the character did (or was done to her), unless it was the character looking directly into the camera and saying "Anyone who's named a child after me is incredibly stupid!!"

 

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50 minutes ago, Lady Winter Rose said:

That reply was bit harsh, don't you agree Ormund?

 

On the other hand I must wonder what did parent who named their kid Nymeria Daenerys Cersei (or something) think.

No, I have no idea why you think that comment was "harsh". I was not insulting Tywin but merely explaining to him that I do not watch the TV show. And since I do not watch the TV show I have no basis for knowing what any viewer, whether they have given their child a name from it or not, would think.

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Here's my annual column on the top baby names in the U.S.A.  of the previous year. As you can see I am a stubborn person about the correct pronunciation of Arya. :)

https://www.omaha.com/living/cleveland-evans-jackson-sophia-were-most-popular-baby-names-in/article_42538506-0384-5823-94e8-6343c5ebe0d2.html

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Here's today's column.

https://www.omaha.com/living/cleveland-evans-noah-enjoys-revival-thanks-to-flood-of-pop/article_21ebe591-9973-5ecd-a9e6-8a218b2e4d14.html

Given the publication date of the novel The Notebook I think that Nicholas Sparks may well have been inspired to name his character Noah because of Noah Wyle's fame on ER. It certainly wasn't a common name for men born around 1920, as the character would have been.

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Here's today's column:

https://www.omaha.com/living/cleveland-evans-days-of-our-lives-twilight-helped-isabella-regain/article_21d4d98b-281e-555e-b411-ee0e95d5290f.html

It hadn't dawned on me before researching this column just how incredible Isabella's rise in the USA was. It went from below the top thousand to #1 in exactly 20 years. That's a more spectacular rise than any other name which reached #1 status. I suspect that most Americans who do not have jobs which put them around small children every day have no idea just how popular Isabella has been the last decade.  Though I suspect it's been particularly popular with Italian-Americans, it's obviously appealed to young parents from many other groups.

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Here's the link to today's column. My last two columns, on Noah and Isabella, were on names now in the top ten for babies being born in the USA. this one's on a name which is now almost unheard of for American babies:

https://www.omaha.com/living/evans-bertram-never-caught-on-in-u-s-but-rings/article_7d7e9079-dfb7-59c5-92b4-a46ff827ef6e.html

 

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1 hour ago, Ormond said:

Here's the link to today's column. My last two columns, on Noah and Isabella, were on names now in the top ten for babies being born in the USA. this one's on a name which is now almost unheard of for American babies:

https://www.omaha.com/living/evans-bertram-never-caught-on-in-u-s-but-rings/article_7d7e9079-dfb7-59c5-92b4-a46ff827ef6e.html

 

As usual, amazing.  Missing my favorite Bertram...Wooster :)

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5 hours ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

As usual, amazing.  Missing my favorite Bertram...Wooster :)

I wish the newspaper gave me more space. I would have included Jeeves' employer if I had only a few more lines to work with. :)   

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In case anyone is wondering:

The Omaha World Herald has decided to shift my column from running every other Tuesday to running every other Friday. So I will be posting the link to my next column on Friday. 

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