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Why I'm glad my surname is dying out Why I'm glad my surname is dying out
(7 months later)
It seems that the surname Butterworth is in danger of melting away, but as someone who has been saddled with this lumpen badge of origin for nearly half a century, you won't find me mourning its demise.It seems that the surname Butterworth is in danger of melting away, but as someone who has been saddled with this lumpen badge of origin for nearly half a century, you won't find me mourning its demise.
According to a study by Ancestry.co.uk, based on a comparison of the 1901 census and more recent data, the list of doomed monikers also includes Kershaw, Sutcliffe, Clegg, Hatman and Woodbead. The Yorkshire Ripper gave Sutcliffe a bad name, but I'm not sure what the others have done to deserve being struck off. Butterworth, however, seems to me an obvious candidate for the scrapheap.According to a study by Ancestry.co.uk, based on a comparison of the 1901 census and more recent data, the list of doomed monikers also includes Kershaw, Sutcliffe, Clegg, Hatman and Woodbead. The Yorkshire Ripper gave Sutcliffe a bad name, but I'm not sure what the others have done to deserve being struck off. Butterworth, however, seems to me an obvious candidate for the scrapheap.
It didn't help that my parents partnered my clumsy surname with a first name that was apparently unpronounceable by most people living in the north-east of England in the 70s – as if teenagers don't have enough to cope with. When I later discovered that this had been misspelled – it's always nice when people point out that there should be no second I in Siobhain – I began to seriously wonder about my parents' lack of attention to the whole business of doling out names.It didn't help that my parents partnered my clumsy surname with a first name that was apparently unpronounceable by most people living in the north-east of England in the 70s – as if teenagers don't have enough to cope with. When I later discovered that this had been misspelled – it's always nice when people point out that there should be no second I in Siobhain – I began to seriously wonder about my parents' lack of attention to the whole business of doling out names.
My Lancastrian father and Irish mother were outsiders and no one at school had either of my names. How I longed to be called something I could just throw out casually for people to pick up and use instantly like Jackie Wheatley, or Clare Henderson, or Karen Hislop. Names that would not make boys laugh, and that did not carry the stigma of being unusual. Instead I had to put up with being called things like Shoveoff Margarineworth. In my early years this may have led me to resort to violence in the playground.My Lancastrian father and Irish mother were outsiders and no one at school had either of my names. How I longed to be called something I could just throw out casually for people to pick up and use instantly like Jackie Wheatley, or Clare Henderson, or Karen Hislop. Names that would not make boys laugh, and that did not carry the stigma of being unusual. Instead I had to put up with being called things like Shoveoff Margarineworth. In my early years this may have led me to resort to violence in the playground.
On the plus side, tell a stranger your name is Butterworth and it will often produce a smile. It's a funny name. But I'm often not in the mood to be laughed at when I'm just telling someone who I am. The trouble is that its three cluttered syllables are such a mouthful to get out, it's easy to make yourself sound ridiculous. Can you blame me for wanting something more elegant?On the plus side, tell a stranger your name is Butterworth and it will often produce a smile. It's a funny name. But I'm often not in the mood to be laughed at when I'm just telling someone who I am. The trouble is that its three cluttered syllables are such a mouthful to get out, it's easy to make yourself sound ridiculous. Can you blame me for wanting something more elegant?
I've never liked my surname. It's just not me. You would think I'd have ditched it at the first opportunity, but feminist principles got in the way and what's more, paradoxically, I may have done my bit to preserve this monstrous label for posterity. I married a man with a perfectly ordinary, two-syllable, English surname, which I much preferred and then stubbornly refused to take his and kept my own. To make matters worse, when we had children we gave them my clunky surname, not my husband's more refined alternative. My only defence for these two terrible errors of judgment is that it was the 80s and this sort of thing seemed terribly important then. I'd like to take this opportunity to apologise to all concerned.I've never liked my surname. It's just not me. You would think I'd have ditched it at the first opportunity, but feminist principles got in the way and what's more, paradoxically, I may have done my bit to preserve this monstrous label for posterity. I married a man with a perfectly ordinary, two-syllable, English surname, which I much preferred and then stubbornly refused to take his and kept my own. To make matters worse, when we had children we gave them my clunky surname, not my husband's more refined alternative. My only defence for these two terrible errors of judgment is that it was the 80s and this sort of thing seemed terribly important then. I'd like to take this opportunity to apologise to all concerned.
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