Percy, Edna & Nora

According to a radio item, many of the old names are dying out. There are no new Walters. Alfreds are in short supply. No-one is naming their child Wilfrid or Enid. Alan Bennett pointed up the changes in naming fashion very well in one of his Telling Tales (“Edna is a name forever associated with suffering; Sharons don’t get dementia”). But don’t be too hasty; I’ve baptised a brand new Albert; I know of a tiny Ernest, and a growing Ruby. There could, even now, be parents out there choosing to call their off-spring Nora, or Peggy, or Bill. Don’t write off the old names yet.