Mary …

I have long been surrounded by southern ladies with a double name.  My wife is Mary Lou.  Her mother was Mary Nell.  My oldest daughter is Mary Catherine.  My paternal grandmother was Mary Florette.  

After living in Auburn for a couple of years, we attended a dinner with some guys I had met.  We introduced our wives as we arrived at the table.  There was a Mary Love, a Mary Martin, and my own Mary Lou.  

Double first names are largely a southern thing.  It was often a way of honoring family, both living and dead.   Mary has been the most common female name for 33 of the past hundred years.   If you went back even further, Mary was the most common name given over the past few centuries.  As for males, Michael was the most common name for 44 of the past hundred years.  

Mary was the most popular name for most of the 19th and 20th century.  It last held the #1 spot in 1961, the year I finished the first grade.  In the last year data was available, 2022, Mary was ranked #132 in the United States, probably because of society becoming more secular.  

I was surprised to find out that the most popular name in the last six years was Olivia, followed by Emma.  For the past decade, the most popular names for males have been either Liam or Noah.  As a child, I did not have any friends or even know anyone my age with the names Emma, Liam or Noah.  I had one friend named Olivia, and she was and still is one of the most special people I have ever known.

Our server on Mother’s Day was a charming young lady called Mary Elizabeth.  One of the first people we met when we moved to Auburn was a special young woman named Mary Gail Weekly.   By the time you read this article, she will be close to having her third child and first daughter.  Her name will be Mary Ellen, and she will be the fifth generation in her family to have the name Mary. 

While serving in the Georgia Legislature, I became friends with a Mary Pat and served with a Mary Margaret.   When I needed some help at a drugstore in our hometown of Donalsonville, I might speak to yet another Mary Margaret.  

My aunt, my father’s older sister, was named Mary Hunta.  We affectionately called her “Aunt Hunta”.  We had a wonderful friend called Mary Ellen and another named Mary Helen.  

I had an older neighbor years ago known as Mary Francis.  I have known a Mary Alice, Mary Kate, Mary Lynn, Mary Anne and a Mary Jean.  

While spending time in Atlanta, I often ate at Mary Mac’s.  When I was growing up, girls often wore shoes called Mary Janes.  

You can see there are many variations of Mary still in existence, especially in the south with its tendency to have double names.  I am blessed to have a grandmother, mother-in-law, wife and daughter with the name Mary, whether it is used or silent.  Seems pretty special to me.   

What other double names do you know paired with Mary?

o0o

Dan Ponder can be reached at [email protected]