A note on black naming practices

[Wilson Gray]

For all that I know, this may still be a custom. But, IAC, my mother -
97 on 9 January - has informed me that *way* back in the day, it was
often customary for black children to be named after *foreign*
dignitaries. E.g., Cudn Pope Harrold was actually "Pope Leo [XIII]
Harrold" and Cudn Hallie Prothrow. was actually "Hail Victoria
Prothrow."

Probably everyone here of any level of maturity is aware of the
once-extreme popularity of "Roosevelt," still alive in the name of
Rosevelt[sic] Colvin of the New England Patriots. However, the most
extreme instance that I know of was my Saint Louis buddy, Frank
Willis, actually "Franklin Delano Roosevelt Willis."

BTW, is everyone aware that the name of Delano, CA, The Raisin Capital
of the World, is pronounced "deLAY no" and not "DELLa no"?

-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
-Mark Twain

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