English Chess Forum

Reading the thread on James Mason in the Chess History section reminded me of some research into my family tree.

One of my great grandfathers had the forenames of "Patrick Plunkett". I did suggest to my son that my grandson might be given the name of "Plunkett" to maintain the family tradition but oddly enough he didn't seem very receptive to the idea.

The name Plunkett has a rich history


See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plunkett

Apparently

Variants of the name Plunkett include Plunket, Plucknett and Plunkitt. This name is of French origin, being a corruption of the word 'blanchet', meaning 'white', and was introduced to Ireland at the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion. It has now become exclusively Irish.

and there is a coat of arms.

What is not to like?

There's also a chess connection:

Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany

See this recent thread:

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=11464

If he ended up as "Plunkett Graham", there's a danger of confusion, qv the Indian names discussion. Admittedly, there probably aren't too many people with Plunkett as a forename, so why not?

Talking if chess connections, Tim Plunkett plays for Urmston (e.g. Div 3 of 4NCL online last night)

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 10, 2021 2:15 pm

If he ended up as "Plunkett Graham", there's a danger of confusion, qv the Indian names discussion. Admittedly, there probably aren't too many people with Plunkett as a forename, so why not?

There has been plenty of mix-ups between myself and Graham Neil (even extending to this forum); both of us play in Nottinghamshire. As for Plunkett there is no data in the ONS statistics from 1904 that indicates any usage in England & Wales as a first forename.

Nowadays you can normally guess how old your opponent might be from his forename. Names go out of fashion and other new ones appear or old ones reinvent themselves. If I'm to play a "Derek" or a "Trevor", I already have a picture of the age of my prospective opponent. My own name was popular from the 1950s onwards but fell out of favour in the next thirty years. Similarly contributors to this thread (Richard, John and Kevin) once had common names; nowadays all of them are outside the 100 top names for 2019 where you are more likely to meet a Theo (2,729 boys), Arlo(1,678 boys) or even Hunter (1,278 boys). For the record there were 431 Johns, 322 Kevins,144 Richards and just 29 Neils in 2019.

In my school chess clubs Oliver is prominent with Noah and Liam doing well.

There are a few Jude's who I cannot resist greeting in a predictable way.

John Upham wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 10, 2021 8:32 pm

In my school chess clubs Oliver is prominent with Noah and Liam doing well.

There are a few Jude's who I cannot resist greeting in a predictable way.

Oliver the commonest names for boys (4,932) in 2019 as it was in 2009, Noah in 3rd place (4,235). George (4,575) in 2nd place whilst Jude (1,163) in 57th. Liam (798) is down in 74th place.

My parents selected Kevin mainly on the basis that nobody else in the family had the name!

We don't see Cyril, Stan, or Obidiah anymore.

.... and certainly not Herbert.

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 10, 2021 11:14 pm

My parents selected Kevin mainly on the basis that nobody else in the family had the name!

Presumably the most famous Kevin :

John Upham wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 11, 2021 10:32 am

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 10, 2021 11:14 pm

My parents selected Kevin mainly on the basis that nobody else in the family had the name!

Presumably the most famous Kevin

I object!............ Surely Kevin from Home Alone is more famous

"Surely Kevin from Home Alone is more famous "

Or Costner or Bacon... or even Saint Kevin