'Twas Ever Thus: Sensible 1940s Names

Here is an article, written only three years after WWII, which sheds a light on fashions in Essex — most especially Chelmsford — in names. Change the names and many of these phrases can easily be found in modern magazine articles concerning names. 

The following article was written by Gilbert Saunders and appeared in the Essex Newsman on Friday 16th April 1948. 

All the spellings are exactly as they are printed in the original scanned newspaper page. Merilyn, I believe, should be Marilyn, given that it was #54 in 1944. 

 

Is your name SANDRA?    If it is, you have the most popular name of 1948. There are more Sandras being registered these days than any other name, although the CHRISTINEs, JAQUELINEs, and CAROLs are close runners-up.    Among boys' names the trend is less well defined.     The accent is on the short, manly, and old-fashioned names, which are coming back into favour again — JOHN, ROBERT, MICHAEL, DUNCAN -- with an occasional GARY, LANCE, and STEWART to relieve the monotony.     One feature for which Registrars are truly thankful is the fact that the recent war had hardly any influence on the names given to children.    Essex to-day has many middle-aged folk named REDVERS, BULLER, and KITCHENER; a sprinkling of MONS and HAIG, some ten to 15 years younger; and at least two ZEPPELINAs, from an obvious source.  FEW WINSTONS    But World War II. produced no Roosevelts or Arnhems, at least in Chelmesford. History went unrecorded except for a WINSTON here and there.     A spate of ELIZABETHs was expected after November's Royal Wedding, but it failed to materialise.    Although Registrars may make a mild remark about unsuitability when faced with a particularly combination of names, there is no law which governs either the types of names or the number of them.    Technically, there is nothing to stop you bestowing the complete Bible as the names of you son or daughter.     Extremes, however, are rare, and there are always second thoughts.     A Chelmsford mother not long ago insisted on " GEORGEOUS de" for her little girl. Later she changed her mind—but it was too later, and "GEORGEOUS de" it will officially be for life.    Once the wheels of registration are fully turned there is nothing anyone can do about it.     A man's name, intended to be JAMES, was once entered as JANE and the mistake was noted too late to have it altered.    Officials report that the humbler the circumstances of the family the more exotic some of the names given to children.  FILMS INFLUENCE    NICOLA, LOIS, MARIEANNE, BRIONY, CHERILE, GLORIA DAWN,  and RUBY DAWN (the last named an increasingly popular choice), have been registered in Chelmsford lately.     So, too, have ROSANN (which I am told is a "fine old Essex name"), PINA VIVIENNE, ERICA, and MAXINE ROBERTA.    Where do parents get some of the names from? Magazines, romantic novels, and the films supply many of the most glamorous selections. But at least one names was dubbed APPLEDORE after the Devon retreat in which his parents spent their honeymoon.     Some of the most common names in use a few decades ago seem to have gone for ever. Rare indeed to-day is a GLADYS, GERTRUDE, ALICE or MARJORIE.     They have been replaced by DIANE, MERILYN, LINDA and JENNIFER.   POPULAR ANN    MARION, too, is often chosen for girls, although the parents are probably unaware that, in that form, it is a male name. The correct female version is MARIAN.    Easily the most popular second name for girls just now is ANN. CAROL ANN had a prodigious run during the war, but it is now dropping off in favour, as is PENELOPE ANN.     Abbreviations and corruptions are beginning to appear more frequently, such as VICKY, TONY and PEGGY.     But a recent parent played safe in this respect and gave his son the names of TONY ANTHONY.                                       The Newsman, Essex                                              16 April 1948

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The Birth Index has record of a Georgeous J De G.Birch in Chelmesford in the first quarter of 1943.