Dfb, I love stuff like that. I really do. (I’m a card-carrying member of the Mary-marry- merry distinction, trapped in a region where they are merged. I also have a first name that is pronounced differently in different regions, somewhat related to that same merger.) Can you explain the Northern Cities vowel shift too?
I read about the first 30 pages of this thread, and all I can say is that parents who do not give their children names with a middle- or upper-class sound to them are foolish. No child should be saddled with a Jellicle name.
That doesn’t mean a child needs a plain or boring name; in fact, the wealthy often give their children slightly unusual or old-fashioned names. They just don’t use a bunch of nonsense syllables. Names serve as class markers. The wrong name, eating Thousand Island dressing, ordering one’s steak well done are all things that will greatly reduce one’s chance of marrying someone rich or of getting certain jobs.
I’m near fluent in Spanish so I know what the “e” sounds like. I guess I’m just not conveying it properly. 
Well, I think I’m going to run out and get some Thousand Island. Haven’t had it in years! But hey, I’m low class.
I never wanted to marry rich anyway. I can make my own money TYVM
And while I’m not a huge fan of thousand island, ranch is like a staple food for me. My Midwest roots run deep 
Thousand Island is not a problem for me. It’s the well done steak that drags me down.
The WASP set isn’t known for its culinary sophistication. Just saying. 
Now pass me my gin and tonic, lovey. (clenched jaw)
Steak: the crispier, the better. But I detest Thousand Island.
Wait. What’s wrong with Thousand Island dressing?
Btw, having worked for a food company on their major salad dressing brands, salad dressing preferences are regional, not socioeconomic. Italian in the NE, French in the SE, ranch in the Midwest and West. But it has little to do with socioeconomics therein.
How am I going to eat my rueben sandwich and still be upwardly mobile? :-S
My first name is kind of average in the U.S. (It’s dated, but was a normal name for its time - like a Dorothy or Nancy, that you don’t hear much of today). However, apparently it’s a lower class name in England. Oh well! Nothing I can do about it.
I have relatives named Dorothy and Nancy, both born in the 50’s. You really don’t hear either one today.
A few years ago the Liberal Party of Canada was headed by Stockwell Day. How could any parent name a cute little baby boy Stockwell??
I had a student named Ramrod a few semesters ago. Do not really think it is a great baby name or young man name or adult male name or…
Had a hard time calling out his name in class.
Eatum Yup
I hope that this doesn’t send me to CC jail but I once worked with a man named Manly Cox.
Stockwell was a junior. Possibly a family name, maybe a mother’s maiden name. I always wonder about the baby names with juniors, III, IV, etc. One of my kids was a groomsman for a good friend recently who is a IV . How do you ever break that chain? There must be a lot of pressure in some families to just keep naming kids like that. I don’t envy a guy (or his spouse) having to have a conversation with the grandparents that they will not be naming their son DDD the Fifth!
@sevmom - per Miss Manners, once George 1st dies, the numbers (Jr, III, etc.) ratchet up unless it’s royalty. So my son’s friend who is “the 5th” … really isn’t.
Haha TomSr…I knew of a woman with an equally embarrassing name ( I hesitate to post it ) It was really a combination of her shortened first name and the last name of her second husband …if she had gone by her full name, no one would have picked up on it
Well, what is it?!