Re: OT naming customs

Dan Jones wrote:

>Also, what's the story behind people's names on the list? Are you named
>after family members, or otherwise??

My name is John Woldemar /'vould@"mAr/ Cowan /'kau@n/.  My grandfathers
were John Coen/Cowan and Woldemar Schultz.  The latter was known as
"Bill" by his colleagues (he was a draftsman, and signed his work
"W. Schultz") and "Wally" by his American-born wife.

"Cowan" is a variant of "Mac Eoghain", a patronymic for one of the
three Irish forms of John (Eoin, Eoghan, Sean).  The story of the
pronunciation shift is a twice-told tale; google for "John Cowan
pronunciation" or the like.

--
Not to perambulate             || John Cowan <jcowan@...>
    the corridors               || http://www.reutershealth.com
during the hours of repose     || http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
    in the boots of ascension.  \\ Sign in Austrian ski-resort hotel