Alphabet soup baby names: ABC to XYZ

Last year, I asked if ABCDE really was a baby name. It is, but it’s not the only alphabet-based baby name out there. Here are some others…

ABC

I’ve tracked down more than a dozen people named Abc, including Abc Groff (1887-1966) in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) and Abc Dixon on a list of “educable children” in Mississippi from 1878:

abc, name

ABCD

I haven’t found any true cases yet, but plenty of people have had “A.B.C.D.” as initials. I did notice this on the 1940 U.S. Census, though — looks to me like Abcdania or Abcdenia:

abcdania, name

ABCDEF

One-upping the famed Abcde! I’ve seen two, one being Abcdef Riggs on the 1870 U.S. Census:

abcdef, name

A third person with the name — Herbert Abcdef Atkinson (born in Northumberland in 1904) — is mentioned in Russell Ash’s book Morecock, Fartwell, & Hoare.

I didn’t spot any letter-string names from the middle of the alphabet, but I did have some luck at the other end…

XYZ

I’ve discovered over a dozen people named Xyz, including Xyz Smith on the 1870 US Census:

xyz, name

Another was Xyz Crenshaw (1906-2002) in the SSDI. Here’s his gravestone:

xyz, name

I wonder how “Xyz” would be pronounced: ziz? eksiz?

I’ve also seen extended versions like Xyza, Xyzen, and Xyzemia. Here’s Xyzrapha Dismuke on the 1940 U.S, Census, for instance:

xyzrapha, name

What are your thoughts on names like these?

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