My family and I once spent a week at the extravagant Bilbao flat of a Basque energy executive called Jesus, Mary and Joseph, but I suppose you’d have to say those are his Christian names. I know a Canadian called Tim Horton who’s never sold a cup of coffee or a doughnut in his life. Another Canadian of my acquaintance, Tom Collins, is in the liquor business. My Irish manservant, Finial, isn’t aware his parents named him for a foliated ornament forming an upper extremity especially in Gothic architecture or on a lamp. Among his wife’s names is Siobhan which, to pronounce properly, you need to have been born on the Emerald Isle. Along the motorways of life, I encountered Biddle Duke - through my friendship with accomplished artist Alder Crocker. But one nation on Earth surpasses all others in the Name Game and I bet you can guess which one it is.
© 2024 John Oliver
Substack is the home for great culture