Evans: Double the name fun

Meredith Cane, a British name expert, recently posted surprising figures about “double names” on babynames.com.

Double names are two names meant to be used together as one first name, whether run together in spelling (AvaSophia), hyphenated (Christian-James), or separated by a space (Sara Ann).

In 2004, about 1.5 percent of girls born in England and Wales had double names. Four years later, this rose to 4 percent.

Though fewer boys had double names, the proportion rose from 0.5 percent to 0.87 percent between 2004 and 2008.

In Nebraska, only 0.88 percent of girls and 0.47 percent of boys were given double names in 2008.

I’m not sure that all the examples where the two names are separated by a space are intended by the parents to be double names.

John Paul, the only double name given to more than one Nebraska boy in 2008 (there were three) is probably meant to be considered one name, inspired by Pope John Paul II.

It’s not clear if that’s the case for names like Jessica Renee or Ethan Landon. When those show up as first names, I wonder if the parents have given the child several middle names, and one of them ended up in the first name slot because there wasn’t enough room in the middle name box.

Calling a child by more than one name used to be common in the South. I have first cousins in Virginia who were always addressed as Carol June, Betty Jean, and Dottie Sue when they were younger.

Billy Ray Cyrus and Tommy Lee Jones show that Southern boys are sometimes called by two names, too.

However, this custom wasn’t the same as double-naming. The second name was still officially considered a middle name.

Hyphenated names are clearly meant to be double names. Hyphenated first names were invented in France around the 17th century.

The French even created triple first names. The mother of 19th century French author Alexandre Dumas was Marie-Laure-Catherine.

In the 1940s double names were all the rage in France. Jean-Pierre, Jean-Claude, and Anne-Marie all reached the French top 10. Most Frenchmen named Jean-Claude are annoyed if you address them as just “Jean.”

Double names are rare for French newborns today, so it’s surprising the English now love them. Even more surprising are what the popular double names in England are.

The most common double name for girls in England and Wales in 2004 was Ellie-May. It was still the second most common in 2008. Over 2,000 English girls have been named Ellie-May since 2003.

Lily-May was the most common double name in 2008. Eleven of the 20 top double forms had May as a second element. Daisy-May was tied for 12th place with Amy-Leigh.

Americans over 40 have images of those names set by the beautiful but uneducated blondes Elly May Clampett on the TV show “The Beverly Hillbillies,” and Daisy Mae Yokum in the comic strip Li’l Abner. Who would have imagined most Ellie-Mays and Daisy-Maes in the world will soon have British accents?

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