Yes, I have to acknowledge that those hillbilly associations do exist, in
the U.S. context; the same for the name Homer, unfortunately. But I don't
know how that came about, and I wish I knew. Homer and Virgil are my two
favorite poets, but if I had wanted to name my son in honor of one or both
of them, my husband would have rebelled--understandably, given the U.S.
ambience.
What's the British attitude? Doesn't anyone there give the name
Homer or Virgil to their son? After all, one meets Englishmen named
Terence, etc.
Randi Eldevik
Oklahoma State University
On Wed, 22 Sep 1999, Greg Farnum wrote:
> Backing up a bit, the correspondent from Australia was mistaken when he said
> that the first instance of Virgil as a first name in the US occurred with the
> composer Virgil Thompson. Not true. The name has been used in the US for
> generations and, Virgil Thompson notwithstanding, (dare I say it here?)
> typically has rural, country bumpkin, or even "hillbilly" connotations.
>
> Greg Farnum
> Rochester Hills, Michigan
>
>
> Dr Helen Conrad wrote:
>
> > And let us not forget Vergil of Salzburg whose discussions of the antipodes
> > made poor Boniface so nervous.
> > Helen Conard-O'Briain
> >
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