Oh, these models I’ve seen named “Mercedes” weren’t Latinas (I live in a town with a large Hispanic population — I can generally spot a Latina). These were clearly caucasian women, and it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that “Mercedes” was a “professional” name, not their real name. I just found it amusing that the name was so consistently attached to models who look, dress, and pose in the same way.
As for the name itself … isn’t Mercedes-Benz a German company? Though I guess that doesn’t mean much. I grew up believing that my own surname, Osborne, was a good English name and was surprised to discover that Osborne is also the name of an old company in Spain that makes brandy. Wait, there’re Osbornes in Spain? Then several years ago I learned that the name is actually derived from the Old Norse, “Asbjørn”. Since the Vikings were equal-opportunity raiders, I guess a few Asbjørns landed in Spain as well as England.
Uh-huh. Well her coworkers Candy and Trixxxie aren’t using their real names either.
Well yeah, Hennessy isn’t a French name either. He was actually a mercenary who settled down and decided to make cognac. It’s kind of like the name “Maria.” It exists most European languages, but it is mostly associated with Hispanic ancestry as it’s more popular there.
The name is of Spanish origin and predates the automobile company. The original Mercedes car was actually named in honor of the daughter of entrepreneur Emil Jellinek. There are also characters named Mercedes in the opera Carmen and the novel The Count of Monte Cristo.
The eighteenth-century founder of the company, Thomas Osborne Mann, was English. Many families involved in sherry and brandy production in Spain and Portugal have British ancestors because historically Britain was their main export market.
Mercedes as in cars came from the nom de race of an Austrian diplomat who dabbled in cars around the turn of the 20th. It was his daughter’s name and applied first to him, then to his cars, then to a specific racing engine he built. It didn’t become associated with M-B until a few years later.
My middle son has a “girl” middle name (I hear it all the time :rolleyes:; his name is Jonathan Lynn) but it was hard to argue with my husband about it. His middle name and his father’s middle name, and his father’s middle name are the same and they were all named after a great-something uncle whose first name was Lynn. Even without the history, I really like the flow of his name.
I hear that my youngest son, Orwin Thomas, has an “old man” name. Makes sense since he’s named after an old man (my grandfather, whose middle name is Orwin)…
Oh, and I’m not an Elizabeth (it’s my middle name) but I was born in the early 80s and the only Elizabeth I know is a teenager who goes by Liz. Years ago I knew a woman named Ellie and that might have been from Elizabeth, but I don’t think so. So, best case, I’ve met just two first name Elizabeths.
There is a mystery novel in which the solution hinges on the fact that Evelyn is both a man’s and a woman’s name.
Mrs. McGinty’s Dead, by Agatha Christie.
A friend of my father’s had a very common first name and one of the most common last names, and so decided to call his son by a name that was “clearly” male, and yet somewhat unusual, so it would be memorable: Courtney. This was right before Courtney became a popular name for girls.
One of my company’s sales contacts for a particular manufacturer is a guy named Stacey. There are several customer service reps within my company who have never spoken to Stacey – they’ve only seen his emails – and are adamant that this individual is not a man.
I had a college roommate (male) whose name was Kim Leslie. He started getting mail addressed to Miss Kim Leslie, so he decided to start using his full name, Kimbrough. It was a family name, apparently. But then he started getting mail addressed to Miss Leslie Kimbrough.
We have a client contact named Kelly Lynn Lastname. He’s a dude. It took a very, very long time for people in our office to get their heads around this.
FTR, I know about eleven billion Elizabeths. But most are Liz or Beth. The only name I think I have more friends with the same name than Elizabeth are Sara(h)s and Jennifers.
I think the male name, female person things greatly comes from last names. I know a number of women who have a masculine sounding middle name (and sometimes first name) and the story is almost always passing along a family name. Many times, it’s the mom’s maiden name.
I also agree that much of it is the wanting a boy deal. I knew a Johnetta and Joetta “feminized” when ol’ Dad realized that baby was an XX.
