"Tristan" now feminine given name

[Beverly Flanigan]

And of course "Beverly" was commonly a male name in Britain, though rarely
here now (or there?).  I still get letters of inquiry from foreign student
applicants who address me as Mr. or Sir.

At 11:10 AM 2/24/2006, you wrote:
> >   She had a friend called "Bud
> > Weiser" who never would admit his real first name was
> > anything except Bud.
>
>I went to elementary school with Phineas Newton.  He went by Figg
>Newton.
>
> > Male sportswriter Shirley Povich, whose son is Maury Povich.
> > Shirley came from an area (somewhere in Maine?) where Shirley
> > was a common boy's name, and once found himself in Who's Who
> > in American Women.
>
>Former UT Knoxville football coach (and player) Johnny Majors had a
>father named Shirley Majors, who was lesser known, but also a good
>coach.  His mother was named John.  From a Knoxville New Sentinel
>article:
>
>"Former Michigan State coach Duffy Daugherty once introduced John
>Terrill Majors as "the only coach in the country with a father named
>Shirley and a mother named John."
>
>Even though everybody knew John's mother as Elizabeth, her full name was
>John Elizabeth Bobo Majors. Her father and grandfather were also named
>John.
>
>She married Shirley Majors, who was a farmer and barber before he became
>a coach in high school and later at the University of the South. "
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org