Joy of Names

Sponsored by the SC Humanities Council

Dr. Skip Eisiminger answers the question "What's in a Name'? Whether it's "The Splendid Splinter" or the Dr. Ovary, the obgyn or the sad child that was named Sess Poole, bring your faves and discuss!

The Joy of Names is a free Clemson/Central Public Library discussion that will focus on English names and naming practices. For example, if you have wondered what’s the most common surname in the US, it’s “Smith,” someone who spent a lot of time hammering black iron into horseshoes. What are the best sports’ nicknames? My own favorite is Ted Williams’ “The Splendid Splinter.” What’s the worst name a parent ever gave a child? Sess Poole gets my vote. What’s the worst restaurant name? Surely it was Montezuma’s Revenge in Seneca, SC. What’s been the most “deterministic” name? IMHO, it’s Dr. Zoltan Ovary, a gynecologist. Where do our surnames come from? Many came from the occupations (e.g. Smith) and homes (e.g. London) of our ancestors. I’ll try to answer that in more detail with the help of The Oxford Dictionary of Names and other reference books which I’ll bring for your perusal. Before attending, you might want to Google your own given and surname/s.