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On Naming Children

There is a kind of physiognomy in the names of men and women as well
as in their faces; our Christian name is ourself in our thoughts and
in the thoughts of those who know us, and nothing can separate it from
our existence. Unquestionably, also, there is a luck in names, and a
certain success in satisfying the public ear. To select fortunate
names, the _bona nomina_ of Cicero, was anciently a matter of such
solicitude that it became a popular axiom, "A good name is a good
fortune." From a good name arises a good anticipation, a fact
novelists and dramatists readily recognize; indeed, Shakespeare makes
Falstaff consider that "the purchase of a commodity of good names" was
all that was necessary to propitiate good fortune.

Imagine two persons starting in life as rivals in any profession, and
without doubt he who had the more forcible name would become the more
familiar with the public, and would therefore, in a business sense, be
likely to be the more successful. We all know that there are names
that circulate among us instantly, and make us friends with their
owners, though we have never seen them. They are lucky people whose
sponsors thus cast their names in pleasant and fortunate places.

It is a matter, then, of surprise that among civilized nations the
generality, even of educated people, are so careless on this subject.
Now evil is as often wrought for want of thought as for want of
knowledge, and as a stimulant to thought in parents the following
suggestions are offered.

It is not well to call the eldest son after the father, and the eldest
daughter after the mother. The object of names is to prevent
confusion, and this is not attained when the child's name is the same
as the parent's. Nor does the addition of "junior" or "senior" rectify
the fault; besides, the custom provokes the disrespectful addition of
"old" to the father. There is another very subtle danger in calling
children after parents. Such children are very apt to be regarded with
an undue partiality. This is a feeling never acknowledged, perhaps,
but which nevertheless makes its way into the hearts of the best of
men and women. It is easier to keep out evil than to put it out.

If the surname is common, the Christian name should be peculiar.
Almost any prefix is pardonable to "Smith." John Smith has no
individuality left, but Godolphin Smith really reads aristocratically.
James Bro