In the comment section of last week’s post on old & new French names, Bridgett came up with a great idea: Why not do the same thing for a U.S. city?
I checked the online editions of 8 or 9 U.S. city newspapers. Some had birth announcements, others had obits/death notices, the rest had neither. So I gave up on cities, switched to towns, and soon found some useful information for Plymouth, Massachusetts:
| Male | Female | |||
|
Births Aidan Alexander Calvin Connor Jayden John Levon Oliver Patrick Souheil William Zachary |
Deaths Albert Alfred Carl David James Joseph Joseph Paul Steven |
Births Ashlynn Brianna Grace Isobel Ivy Kealyn Leila Lila Marlee Molly |
Deaths Alice Barbara Beatrice Deanna Elizabeth Elsie Karin Lorraine Marilyn Mirandy Miriam Rose Virginia Virginia |
|
I couldn’t list two of the babies — Skyler Reece and Riley Paige — because I’m not sure about the gender in either case. (I would guess they’re both female, but who knows.)
Also, I should mention that the average age of those listed in the death announcements is 78.
Now it’s your turn: Which set do you prefer, the “old” names or the “new” names?
P.S. If you know of a city newspaper that publishes both birth and death announcements online, I’d appreciate it if you would shoot me an e-mail. Thanks!
2 Comments
Souheil–what is the etymology there? Wow. I think I like the births better…although I’m tired of the name Jayden! I like Marlee and Isobel.
My best guess is that Souheil is a form of Suhail, which is the Arabic name for the star Canopus.