American Language (100 page)
Authors: H.L. Mencken
It is the Slavs whose given-names suffer most sadly in the Republic. Whatever his own wishes in the premisses may be, every Pole named
Stanislaw
must resign himself to being called
Stanley
by his neighbors, and every
Sztefan
must consent to become a
Steve
. In the same way
Czeslaw
is changed to
Chester, Vladislaw
to
Walter, Vatslaw
to
Wallace, Piotr
to
Pete, Grzegdrz
to
Harry
, and
Kazimi-erz
to
Casey
, and, among women’s names,
Miechyslawa
to
Mildred
and
Bronislawa
to
Bertha
. So, too, the Russian
Michayil
becomes
Mike
, his brother
Andrey
becomes
Andy
, and his cousin
Grisha
joins
the Polish
Grzegdrz
as
Harry
. All
Ivans
, of course, quickly become
Johns
. Among the Ukrainians nearly every
Wasil
(a popular name in the Ukraine) becomes
William
, though
Basil
would be a better equivalent. In the case of
Hryhory
(Gregory) transliteration beats translation, and it becomes
Harry
. Other common changes are from
Volodymyr
(the Russian
Vladimir
) to
Walter
, from
Andrey
(Andrew) to
Albert
, from
Bohdan
to
Daniel
, from
Myroslav
to
Myron
, from its feminine form,
Myroslava
, to
Marilyn
, and from the lovely
Nadia
to the banal
Hope
.
92
Monsignor J. B. Dudek has described at length the slaughter of Czech given-names. When they show any resemblance to “American” names, as in the cases, for example, of
Jan, Petr, Tomáš, Antonín
and
Marie
, they are quickly displaced by the “American” names. In other cases they are translated, as when
Vavřinec
becomes
Lawrence
and
Bohdanka
becomes
Dorothy
. In yet other cases there are arbitrary changes to quite unrelated “American” names, as when
Vaćlav
, which means crowned with a wreath, becomes
James
or
William
, and
Vojtěch
, which means the leader of an army, becomes
William
or
Albert
. Says Monsignor Dudek:
Cenék
, an old name dating back to pagan times, is still in use among modern Czechs. It is a corruption of
Castoslav (častovati
, to treat, to show hospitality). For no apparent reason
Vincent
is sometimes taken instead.
Hynek
is a corruption of the German nickname
Heinz
(Heinrich), and, through resemblance to the Spanish
Hinigo
, is often incorrectly translated
Ignatius
, which exists in Bohemian as
Ignát
or
Ignač
. Both
Hynek
and
Ignát
sometimes become
Enoch
in this country.… Small boys christened
Václav
are frequendy called
Wesley
until their Catholic parents become aware of the incongruity of putting their offspring under the patronage of a Methodist saint. Occasionally, however,
Wesley
remains, or is shortened to
Wes. Šilvestr
(Sylvester) turns also into
Wes
. Both
Míchal
(Michael) and
Mikuláš
become
Mike
, though
Mikuláš
is the Czech form of
Nicholas
, and should therefore be rather
Nick
, which I have not heard among American Czechs.
93
Monsignor Dudek reports some curious efforts to take American given-names into American-Czech. He says:
Džán
and
Džim
have obtained recognition in print as Bohemian versions of
John
and
Jim
; there are also the diminutives,
Džaník
(Johnnie) and
Džimik (Jimmie).
94
Gladyška
is American-Bohemian for
Gladys
, which, as far as I know, does not exist in Czech proper.
Chauncey
, says Monsignor Dudek, is one American given-name from which Czech-American boys are safe, for it suggests the Czech word
čunče
, a suckling pig. The girls are likewise protected against
Mabel
, for most Czechs know sufficient German to think of the German word
möbel
, which means furniture. “But fond Bohemian-American mammas,” he concludes, “have tried everything from
Abalina
to
Zymole
on female infants, and
Kenneth, Chilson, Luther, Dewey, Woodrow, Calvin
, etc., have been bestowed upon the sons of families clinging to surnames like
Kubíček, Ševčík, Borecký, Pospíšil, Veverka
and
Vrba
.” Mr. William Absolon sends me some curious examples:
Ellsworth
Kos,
La Verne Joan
Vodnaňová,
Wayne
Stodola,
Priscilla
Zeman,
Marylin
Kučera and
Virgil For-rest
Strachota. “It is,” he says, “beyond the powers of a
hostinsky
in Nové Město, Praha, to fathom the visitor who signs the hotel register
Courtney Roland
Cížek, ordering a
vepřová
, or
Leslie Wells
Zástěrka, raising a litre of
Plzenský.
”
The Greek given-names go the same route. They are not changed, says Mr. Sotirios S. Lontos, editor of the
Atlantis
, the Greek daily of New York, “in a haphazard way, but more or less in accordance with established standards.” He goes on:
[If a Greek’s] first name is
Panagiotis
he is advised that henceforth he will be called
Pete. Demetrios
becomes
Jim, Basil
is changed into
Bill, Haralampos
into
Harry, Stacros
into
Steve
, and
Christos
into
Crist
. If his name is
Con-stantine
he has the choice of either
Gus
or
Charles
, and as a rule he gives preference to the first as nearer in sound to his original name. If he is called
Athanasios
he can select either
Athan
or
Nathan
, or
Tom
for his new name.
Demosthenes
is usually abbreviated into
Demos
. That was too plebeian a name, however, for a certain proprietor of an aristocratic candy shop, who very effectively gave his name the noble form of
De Moss
. Finally, while anybody called
Michael
may retain this name for American usage, among his countrymen here he will he known as
Mackis
, which is the Greek version of
Mike
.
95
Similar patterns of change are to be found among the Syrians.
Mikha’il
becomes
Michael
or
Mitchell, Jurjus
becomes
George
,
Dauud
becomes
David, Butrus
becomes
Peter
, and
Hanna
becomes
John
. So far the Christian Syrians. Among the Moslems
Mahmoud
takes the strange form of
Mike
, and
Habib
becomes
Harry
.
96
The Irish in America seldom succumb to that fashion for Gaelic given-names which now prevails in the Irish Free State. An occasional Irish boy is named
Padraic (Patrick), Sean
(John) or
Seumas
(James), but when this is done a concession is commonly made to American speech habits by giving
Padraic
three syllables instead of the proper two, by making
Sean Seen
instead of
Shawn
, and by making
Seumas Seemas
or
Sumas
instead of
Shamus
.
97
Such forms as
Peadar (Peter), Caitlin (Cathleen), Marie (Mary), Sighle (Sheila), Eibhlin (Eileen), Seosmh (Joseph), Liam
(William) and
Stiobhan
(Stephen) are not often encountered. The Chinese seldom change their family-names, but nearly all of them adopt “American” given-names. In the days when Chinese laundrymen were numerous in the big cities the generic name for them was
John
, but they also called themselves
Frank, George, Charlie, Lee
(from
Li), Tom, Jim
and so on, and I once encountered one named
Emil
. On higher levels more pretentious names are taken. Thus a late Chinese ambassador to the United States, educated in this country, was Dr. Vi-Kyuin
Wellington
Koo, one of his successors was Dr. Sao-ke
Alfred
Sze. Most such Chinese use their original Chinese names at home; the “American” given-names are commonly for use abroad only. In a recent issue of the
Chinese Christian Student
I find the following somewhat bizarre combinations:
| Wesley K. C. May | Tennyson Chang |
| Luther Shao | Hunter Hwang |
| Tarkington Tseng | Herman Chan-en Liu |
| Jennings Pinkwei Chu | Mabel Ping-Hua Lee |
| Quentin Pen | Fisher Yu |
| Ivan Wong | Moses Swen |
The American Indians, as they take on the ways of the white man, commonly abandon their native names, at least outside the tribal circle. In a list of the graduates of the Carlisle Indian School
98
I find a Chippewa named
Francis Coleman
, a. Seneca named
Mary J. Greene
, a Gros Ventre named
Jefferson Smith
, and a Sioux named
Inez Brown
. Sometimes the tribal names are retained as surnames, either translated or not,
e.g., Standing Bear, Bighorse, Blackbear, Yellow Robe, Sixkiller, Lone Wolf, White Thunder, Red Kettle, Owl Wahneeta, Wauskakamick, Beaver, Nauwagesic, Tatiyopa, Weshinawatok, Kenjockety, Standingdeer, Yukkanatche, Ironroad
and
Whitetree
, but such forms are greatly outnumbered by commonplace English names,
e.g., Jackson, Simpson, Brown, Johnson, Stevens, Jones, Smith
and
Walker
, and by names borrowed from the Spanish,
e.g., Martinez, Miguel, Rodriguez
and
Ruiz
, and from various white immigrant languages,
e.g., Leider, Geisdorff, Haffner, Snyder, Volz, Petoskey, McDonald, Hogan, Peazzoni, Lundquist
and
DeGrasse
. On the reservations, the tribal names are in wider use, but even there they are often translated. Says Mr. H. L. Davis:
The Indian Bureau for some years made an effort to retain the Indians’ names in their original languages, translations into English only being sanctioned when the native version was too long or too unpronounceable to admit of fast handling. However, almost all Indian names are ungodly long and almost totally unpronounceable, so translation has been pretty generally adopted everywhere. Sometimes the results are upsetting, especially when the Indians aren’t sufficiently saddle-broke to understand what a name that sounds entirely all right in their own lingo may sound like when translated literally. Appellations such as
Dirty Face
and
Big Baby
are received with the utmost solemnity by the Cheyennes, the Sioux have
Bull Head
and
Stink Tail
, I have heard of a chief on the Northwest Coast who answered with the utmost simplicity and frankness to
Unable-to-Fornicate
(or words to that effect), and I once knew a Siletz who insisted with firm complacency that his name, no matter what anybody thought about it, was
Holy Catfish
.
Native names in the native language have generally been retained among the Navajo and to a considerable extent among the White Mountain Apache. It is a kind of half-and-half business, for the Indian Bureau requires the patronymic to apply to all heirs of a man’s body, which by itself upsets the whole Indian name-system wherever it is applied. Indians in a free state don’t use patronymics at all. Among the White Mountain Apache the problem is attacked more sensibly; the Indians are permitted to take what names they please, and for registration purposes are given reference-letters and numbers, like automobiles.
The Paiute Indians of the Great Basin get round the patronymic requirement by keeping their native names only for religious and ceremonial purposes, and adopting for business use the surname of some white family — generally that of some rancher whom the Indian works for or bums from regularly. This will eventually result, of course, in the native names disappearing entirely, as it has done among the Cherokee and such tribes of the Eastern United States, and as doubtless it did among the Negroes of the South in the early stages of slave-importation.
99
John
remains the favorite given-name among native Americans today, as it has been among people of British stock since the Norman Conquest. Following it comes
William
, and following
William
come
James, Charles
and
George
.
100
The popularity of
John
and
William
, says a writer in the
Nation
(New York), “cannot be explained on the grounds that they are short, for
William
is not, or that they are Biblical, for so are the now happily extinct
Shadrach, Meshach
and
Abednego
, or that they are fine, strong names, for so are
Roger, Guy, Nicholas
and
Bartholomew
, which have hardly any currency.” For a time
John’s
and
William’s
popularity was so great that it was necessary to qualify them. In 1545 the will of John Parnell de Gyrton ran thus: