[Ads-l] [Marketing Mail] OT: names

[Joel Berson]

Kevin Kline (Klein?) is a suspiciously Jewish name>

Joel


      From: Cleve Evans <cevans at BELLEVUE.EDU>
 To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU 
 Sent: Thursday, June 8, 2017 12:33 PM
 Subject: Re: [ADS-L] [Marketing Mail] OT: names
   
Well, even back in Mary Hartman's time the thigh-slapping would have been a little ignorant. :)

Though the large majority of families named Cohen in the USA have Jewish ancestry, there are a few who are Irish, with Cohen being a spelling variation of the Irish names which are more often spelled Cohan, Coen, Coyne, or Cowan.  And there are several male Hebrew names starting with K (Kaniel, Kenan, Kaniel, Kedar) that could have been "translated" as Kevin by Ashkenazic Jews. 

Since Mary Hartman Kevin has become hugely popular in many Western European countries. It was the #1 name for boy babies born in France between 1989 and 1994. A bit later it became very popular in Germany and Austria. Germans like to blame that on "Home Alone", but as the name was already #1 in France before that film came out I think it may be even more connected with all the famous American movie stars named Kevin (Bacon, Kline, Costner, Spacey, etc.)

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Sender:      American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:      Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      OT: names
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I'm watching a tale on the tube about one "Kevin Cohen."

Does anyone else recall the old TV show, "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman"?
There were a couple of episodes featuring a young, hip, new-age rabbi named "Kevin Cohen." This was a real thigh-slapper of a concept, at the time.
Like, what Jewish guy would ever be named "Kevin," let alone one who was not only a _rabbi_, but who was also a *Cohen*?! Har! Har! How much more ridiculous can you get?!

Well, as they say, "Time brings about a change."

--
-Wilson
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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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