Thanksgiving is this week, so to celebrate, I'm reprinting an oldie from the BNOW email days.
Thanksgiving – A time to give, uh, thanks. As everyone knows by now, Thanksgiving is a major holiday in the U.S. started by the Germans about the time they founded San Diego (they were very thankful for the warm weather and bikini clad native residents of the area). Can anyone guess what movie I watched last night (for about the 100th time)?
What better place to start on Thanksgiving themed names than the actual Pilgrims who attended the first one? This should prove to all you doubters out there that bad names are not a product of the present times. Mayflowerhistory.com gives us plenty of examples:
Brothers Wrestling Brewster and Love Brewster – yes, I said brothers – from Leiden, Holland. Interestingly, Love went on to become the All-Plymouth wrestling champ (wrestling under the ring name Brother Love). Wrestling, on the other hand was a bit of a wimp (or, as the Pilgrims would have said, a milksop).
Humility Cooper – Leiden, Holland – It is well documented in the Mayflower ships logs that Humility was, in fact, an arrogant SOB. Ironic, isn’t it?
Sister and brother, Damaris and Oceanus Hopkins – From England, Oceanus was actually born on the Mayflower, in route to America. I guess that explains her name. This would be similar to today’s esteemed tradition of naming the children based on where they were conceived, a ’la Taurus, Kia and LaQuinta.
Resolved White – England – I have a resolution for you: that is one bad name.
Degory Priest – England – Many historians think this is actually Degorius Prust. I say this is like the tomaytoe/tomahtoe discussion, it’s a bad name either way. I guess hopping a boat and sailing weeks wasn’t enough for Degorius to get away from whatever he was running from (probably a baby-momma), he also had to change his name. Not much effort on the change, though. Probably already had all his shirts embroidered with his initials.
And finally, a non-Mayflower name:
The great Latin songbird, Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll. Shakira means "thankful" in some language I am too lazy to look up. I, for one, and thankful that her “hips don’t lie.”
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