This was just recently posted by the awesome site ‘britishbabynames:’
Click this link for more background on the poem: 'Twas Ever Thus - British Baby Names
LADIES’ NAMES
There is a strange deformity,
Combined with countless graces,
As often in the ladies’ names
As in the ladies’ faces.
Some names are fit for every age.
Some only fit for youth;
Some passing sweet and musical,
Some horribly uncouth;
Some fit for dames of loftiest grades,
Some only fit for scullery-maids.
[name]Ann[/name] is too plain and common,
And [name]Nancy[/name] sounds but ill,
Yet [name]Anna[/name] is endurable,
And [name]Annie[/name] better still.
There is a grace in [name]Charlotte[/name],
In [name]Eleanor[/name] a state,
An elegance in [name]Isabelle[/name],
A haughtiness in [name]Kate[/name];
And [name]Sarah[/name] is sedate and neat,
And [name]Ellen[/name] innocent and sweet.
[name]Matilda[/name] has a sickly sound,
Fit for a nurses trade,
[name]Sophia[/name] is effeminate,
And [name]Esther[/name] sage and staid;
[name]Elizabeth[/name]'s a matchless name
Fit for a [name]Queen[/name] to wear —
In castle, cottage, hut, or hall,
A name beyond compare:
And [name]Bess[/name] and [name]Bessie[/name] follow well,
But [name]Betsy[/name] is detestable.
[name]Maria[/name] is too forward,
And [name]Gertrude[/name] is too gruff,
Yet coupled with a pretty face,
Is pretty name enough.
And [name]Adelaide[/name] is too fanciful,
And [name]Laura[/name] is too fine,
But [name]Emily[/name] is beautiful,
And [name]Mary[/name] is divine:
[name]Maud[/name] only suits a high-born dame,
And [name]Fanny[/name] is a baby-name.
[name]Eliza[/name] is not very choice,
[name]Jane[/name] is too blunt and bold,
And [name]Martha[/name] somewhat sorrowful,
And [name]Lucy[/name] proud and cold.
[name]Amelia[/name] is too light and gay,
Fit only for a flirt.
And [name]Caroline[/name] is vain and shy,
And [name]Flora[/name] smart and pert:
[name]Louisa[/name] is too soft and sleek,
But [name]Alice[/name] gentle, chaste and meek.
And [name]Harriet[/name] is confiding,
And [name]Clara[/name] grave and mild,
And [name]Emma[/name] is affectionate,
And [name]Janet[/name] arch and wild.
And [name]Patience[/name] is expressive,
And [name]Grace[/name] is old and rare,
And [name]Hannah[/name] warm and dutiful,
And [name]Margaret[/name] frank and fair:
And [name]Faith[/name], [name]Hope[/name] and [name]Charity[/name],
Are heavenly names for sisters three.
[name]Rebecca[/name] for a Jewess,
[name]Rose[/name] for a country belle,
And [name]Agnes[/name] for a blushing bride,
[name]Will[/name] suit exceedingly well:
And [name]Phoebe[/name] for a midwife,
[name]Joanna[/name] for a prude,
And [name]Rachel[/name] for a gipsy-wench,
Are all extremely good:
And [name]Judith[/name] for a scold and churl,
And [name]Susan[/name] for a sailor’s girl.
Although I don’t agree with some of the imagery, it is an interesting historical perspective on the names.
