Friday, January 8, 2010

How did anyone know who was being referred to?

I've been nosing around various websites in hopes of finding some sort of inspiration for a baby name. Apparently, only 5-6 names were given to males in Ireland in the 1800s: Patrick, Michael, James, William, John, and Joseph. Seriously, in the small towns of the time and all of the males basically having one of these names (with a few exceptions to the rules, of course), how on earth did people know who someone was referring to?

"Why, hello, Mrs. Fitzgerald."
"Hello, Mrs. Carroll. How are you?"
"I'm well, thank you. I just was in the market and saw William and John. They looked to be in perfect health."

If I'm not mistaken, that type of comment could refer to about 1/3 of the town's male population!!

Just a thought....

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