"Tristan" now feminine given name

[Jonathan Lighter]

Except for JFK, I've never known a "John" who was called "Jack."  In the first class I ever taught I had a "Jack," but that was actually his given name.  So far as I can recall, I've known only one other "Jack" (also his given name), and that was in the '50s.

  JL

sagehen <sagehen at WESTELCOM.COM> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: sagehen
Subject: Re: "Tristan" now feminine given name
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John was certainly, mid-century, the most common boy's given name, it was
nearly always nicknamed "Jack." I can't remember ever knowing a John who
wasn't Jack from the '30s to the '70s. This might have been at least
partly because "john" was also the most common designation for the toilet.
Shortening and nicknaming seems to be less common now than fifty years ago.
Perhaps due to more parental management of kids' lives.
A. Murie

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