Effect of unusual names

[Margery]

inflict it on their child

I feel sorry for some of the modern names inflicted on children these days. Not only do they have mangled spellings but often there is no way to distinguish the sex of the child by their given names.

 

[Gillian]

However, the difficulty of telling the sex of children from their given names is nothing new, is it? A few that come to mind are Joyce, Beverl(e)y, Hilary and Evelyn. I'm sure there are lots more.

 

[Gillian]

I'm resurrecting this discussion because today I came upon a gentleman with the surname Excell (pity about the two l's) among my forebears in mid-19th century Kent. I've only just discovered him, besides which he's 'only' a relative by marriage and died before he and his wife had any offspring, so I don't know how widespread the surname is.

 

[emjay]

Excellent post Gillian.

 

[Pauline]

I don't know how widespread the surname is.

The surname Excell crops up in my tree, also by marriage, in Gloucestershire and I don't think it is particularly unusual. It may, of course, be regional - reasonably common in Gloucestershire but less so elsewhere - but I haven't investigated. I think the most common variant spellings are Excell and Exell but I have also come across both those variants spelt with a single 'l'.