A Name For Every Day
The people of the Middle Ages never had a birthday,
Or at least, not like we do.
They maybe never even knew the day, or even year –
Yet they got through –
What they had instead were saints’ days –
Feasts announced in church which shared their name –
As round they came.
But what of those whose names were strays, without a saint?
Those newly current names, without restraint –
More Hugh than James.
Well, soon enough a saint would rise,
An Eleanor of Norwich or a William the Wise,
And were the real? And did they care?
For now at last they had a saint to share…
But come the Reformation,
And the Calendar of Saints was for the chop!
While out of Italy were names of wonder,
Such a lyric crop!
And Ancient Greece was full or hailing heroes,
Full of epic claims!
And so the English turned to birthdays,
Given newborns strange and current names.
If such a calendar were to be created for Britain (as I’ve mused on before), it is worth noting that in the 2024 statistics for England & Wales, there are 711 boys and 751 girls whose names have at least 50 occurances. Of course, this does include different spellings of the same names, but it works out at around 4 names each day. The only attempt I’ve found of such a scheme in the English-speaking world is the American-based one, though I’m surprised Clintons & Hallmark haven’t been pushing the idea.
Rhyming Couplets 