Re: OT: Anthroponymics

On 10/26/05, Ph.D. <phil@...> wrote:
>
> Yes, in the last ten or fifteen years, this has become a hot
> trend in the United States (among those of European
> ancestry). There are lots of children with first names such as
> Taylor, Madison, Morgan, and Conner, all of which are
> actually surnames.

I'd say that "Conner" is more likely a misspelling of "Connor" - which has a
multicentury history as a given name - than a borrowing of the surname.
Unless there was a sudden spike in the spelling "Conner" around the time of
"Rifleman"'s peak popularity, I suppose. :)

There are also plenty of names that have gone the other way, many of which
are only surnames by dint of losing a patronymic affix somewhere along the
line.

--
Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>