Ah! A subject dear to my heart. A musical, magical name. I could go on.
If you look at the Social Security website tallying the historical
popularity of first names, you will find that in the 1880s the name Henry
was #8 on the list of male names and #552 on the list of female names! Note
also that the variant spelling "Henery" was #538 on the male list, perhaps
giving a combined total of #1 for Henry as a male name.
Non-Henrys will be surprised to learn how often I've had to spell my first
name for clerks, who write down "Henery" quite a bit. My last name is
another story.
This website offers endless minutes of fun, as you can track the popularity
of names through the decades.
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/babynames/decades/names1880s.html
Henry Wiencek
Charlottesville
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