Search:

Researching Southern Baby Names

By: Jan Bay Any true southerner has problems getting why northerners get a hoot out of Southern naming patterns. People not in the loop think that double or even triple names are combined for no other reason than pleasing meter. It may be unreasonable of me, but the thought of a person making fun of a tradition they don't have a clue about just makes me angry. Southerners pick their babies' names for excellent reasons. Never mind that the names that are prominant in the South are probably different from the most popular names on the articles of the most popular baby names for any given year.

Southern mommies don't just scan the newest books and land on names because they are trendy or cool. These moms take more pains in naming their kids than they did in giving birth to them. That statement may be a little over the top, but mothers in the south really agonize over what to call their babies. This is because choosing southern baby names takes lots more than reading the different names listed in some generic baby webpage that lists the repeated definitions of different baby names.

Word meanings are ok; they have worked for the people who sell Webster's Dictionaries for quite a long time! But when you start talking about naming southern babies you're talking about definitions of names within a family, not what they might mean to a person who wants a name that means something to somebody who speaks a foreign language!

As far as meter goes, I don't care how easily a special name glides off the tongue, diligence and study has to be practiced in the naming process.Care must be taken so as not to risk naming a baby after a relative somewhere in the family that committed some type of crime back in the day.

The unlucky ancestor's unfortunate mistake might have been anything
from having been on the side of the north to having done time in prison for not being close mouthed about the whereabouts of the local still. The error would be in having been discovered, as there is certainly no shame in brewing your own beverages even in the modern South.

Don't be confused to think that only the names of a southern child's ancestors are treasured or even that their grandparents are the only ones handed down.
There may have been a valiant great grand uncle who fought bravely in the war and deemed worthy of remembrance. In this situation there may be a contest every generation or so among siblings to have the first boy child. The reward for winning this rather odd race could be that the first boy can have first choice for the famous ancestor's name. Talk about confusion at family picnics!
How would you ever be able to differentiate between all those namesakes?

How would a person manage to call one of them without bringing in the whole group? That's where middle names are so helpful and that brings me to a possible theory on southern tradition of double names!

As we all know southerners are known for double names. Some are forced to resort to triple names so that their little Rebel stands apart from the rest. Why this is a tradition attributed to the south I'm not really certain. I would like to think it's that southerners have so many beloved ancestors that they want to honor. This fact makes it necessary to give each child several names so that everyillustrious deceased family member is reasonably memorialized.

I can't name the many theories where credit can be given for the reasoning of traditional southern baby naming patterns and the traditions behind them. There seems to be no definite answer on why family names and history seem to be more important to new parents below the Mason Dixon Line than in other locations of the country. There is however, no disagreement that the results are some of the most lovely and romantic names you will see stamped on a birth certificate anywhere. The next time you feel motivated to giggle at a baby named Bobby Joe consider that the first person that bore the same name may not have died defending a southern belle's reputation but that he may have died defending our liberty and our country.

Article Source: http://www.lifeweightloss.com

Jan Bay is a Freelance Author of Nursery Decorating Articles Baby Gear Reviews and Webmaster for www.unique-baby-gear-ideas.com Use of this article requires an active link to Popular Baby Names

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated