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Archiver > CAMPBELL > 1998-12 > 0913953584


From: "Edward W. Lollis" <>
Subject: Re: Why so many "Lorenzos"?
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 19:59:44 -0800


Dear Deb, Virginia, Nancy & others interested in "Lorenzo:"

I think you'll find that almost anyone with a sizable database of 19th
century ancestors in the US or Canada will have several Lorenzos. (I
have at least four in my files.)

Deb's question to the Ontario genealogy list (copied below) was raised
about nine months ago on the Campbell list. Several subscribers con-
tributed names and guesses, but none knew exactly why a lot of Anglo-
Saxon families choose to bestow this name. As I recall, no one even
knew why a given individual their own family was given this name.

Probably the best theory was advanced by Diarmid Campbell (editor of the
Jorunal of the Clan Campbell Society of North America). He surmized
that Lorenzo was a character in an English-language novel or poem which
was widely popular in the two countries over a period of several years
and that this in turn inspired a minor fad in using the rather exotic
name for the children of Anglo-Saxon families. If so, no one (so far as
I recall) was able to identify the specific work in which the name
appeared or the extent to which it received its popularity.

If subscribers to either list would send me the names plus birth dates
and places of all Lorenzos in their files, I would be happy to put to-
gether a "Lorenzo database." If we collectively amassed, say, a hun-
dred different Lorenzos, I would expect that we could at least conclude
the time period during which the name was originally popular (as opposed
to its being repeated within individual families), and we might be able
to discern variations in its distribution, either geographically or
within families of different national origins.

Of course, if anyone could find a fictional Lorenzo and identify the
work in which he appeared, that would be a real coup!



Deb Mann wrote 17 Dec 1998:
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> I wondered if someone can solve this puzzle for me. I just found another
> person with the Christian name "Lorenzo" . Who was Lorenzo? It seems to be
> like the "Horatio Nelson" name that is sprinkled about. I know where
> Horatio Nelson comes from but I can't find anything on anyone named Lorenzo.
> Why were regular Anglo-Saxon people naming their children Lorenzo?
>
> Debra R. Mann
> Maxwell, Ontario


--
Best Regards, from Edward W. (Ted) LOLLIS
12700 Virginia Manor Road, Beltsville, MD 20705-1228, USA
Tel.301-210-1113 Fax.301-210-1020 MailTo:
Home page...http://www.GeoVisualBusinessMaps.com/lollis.ht

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