Naming, but not shaming: the war names phenomenon, 1914-1920

ABSTRACT

Between 1914 and 1920, over 1600 children were given first names of key battles, geographical locations throughout the fronts of the FWW and key military personnel. Hundreds more were given war-related first and second middle names in the same time period. This article explores the geographical and social patterns of this naming trend. Whilst a number of the children covered by this research had a close connection to an individual (usually a man) in service, the piece also explores the anomaly of the use of Verdun as a name, which proved particularly popular in South Wales. It also explores public discourse about the war names trend through an examination of newspaper commentary asking what this reveals about popular attitudes to the conflict and its impact on family life.

KEYWORDS:

• Children
• First World War
• babies
• families
• culture
• United Kingdom

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. We are hugely indebted to Dr Will Butler, School of History, University of Kent, for sharing with us the results of his research on war-related names in the 1911 census and nineteenth century war names.

2. The births of 6816 girls named Irene were registered in 1919, a rise from 5671 in 1918 and 5685 in 1917. The number of children named Victory during the First World War totalled the following: 5 in 1914; 1 in 1915, 7 in 1916; 2 in 1917, 36 in 1918 (all registered in the December quarter); and 71 in 1919 (the majority registered in the September quarter, suggesting that they were conceived after the Armistice, rather than named during it.) There were no births registered for the name Peace in 1914, 1915, 1916 or 1917. In 1918 13 births were registered with the name, and in 1919 15 were registered. Four births were registered with the name Armistice in the December quarter of 1918 and one birth in the December quarter of 1919.