At the beginning of the 21st Century monsters still roam the remote, and sometimes not so remote, corners of our planet. It is our job to search for them. The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is - we believe - the largest professional, scientific and full-time organisation in the world dedicated to cryptozoology - the study of unknown animals. Since 1992 the CFZ has carried out an unparalleled programme of research and investigation all over the world. Since 2009 we have been running the increasingly popular CFZ Blog Network, and although there has been an American branch of the CFZ for over ten years now, it is only now that it has a dedicated blog.

Tuesday, 5 March 2019

UNUSUAL FIRST NAMES

I have always had an interest in unusual first names and I thought I would share with you a few I have encountered.  All occurred in the United States, unless stated.  The numbers of bearers given are taken from various estimates so may not laways be strictly accurate.

State names found among both males and females include Tennessee (175), Montana (1054) and Vermont (60).  Purely feminine are Texana (102) and Alabama (37).  Mythology has contributed Jupiter (200) and Juno (423).  The last two, surprisingly, have been given to both sexes.  Among fictitious heroes we might mention Tarzan (46), Zorro (56) and Xena (139).  Tarzan's son Korak is represented by at least 18 persons.  The lost continent of Atlantis gets 405, while the similarly named city of Atlanta has 175.  Others of interest include Sheba (1200), Aqua (153) and Xerxes (140).

Some, however, have been a tad unfortunate in their parents' selections.  About 70 individuals have been named Sexy, the considerable majority of them girls, while 6 girls have been named Erotica.  Surprisingly, I found references to ten individuals so called in Romania.  I don't know their gender.

Latrina is a name that could leave one flushed with embarrassment and I wonder if all who bestowed it knew what a latrine was.  It is not a new name in the United States and an estimated 1458 young ladies are so called today.  One wonders, if one of them falls ill, whether they call a doctor or a plumber.

If readers are interested, I'll do further delving into unusual names and see what I come up with.

Xena

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