"…and don't call me Shirley."
- Dr. Rumack/Airplane
Yesterday I mentioned Matthew Sweet's album Girlfriend with the picture of actress Tuesday Weld on the cover. What a great name, Tuesday Weld. It got me to thinking about females named for days of the week or for months of the year.
There's a current actress named January Jones. That has a nice alliterative flow to it. There are lots of Aprils around. My mother had a friend up in Pennsylvania named May (I think it was May and not Mae). We have June Cleaver, June Carter Cash, June Lockhart. There were lot's of June's at one time.. That's all I can come up with. There's not much love for the other months. February, I can see why that's avoided, it's a dreary month. Depressing. March? There's no poetry in March; it sounds like a command. March is dreary too. Garrison Keillor said “March is the month God created to show people who don't drink what a hangover is like.”
July, August and September all seem like they have potential. July and August are a bit lyrical. August sounds dignified. Maybe appropriate for the first woman president. October feels clumsy, hard consonants, but I did know a woman when I lived in Cleveland, OH named October. It's the only time I've come across it. She was a nice person. November and December are cold and gray. You don't want to hang that on a girl right out of the gate.
Days of the week: Apparently some females have been given the name Monday although I can't find any to cite. Tuesday I've discussed with Tuesday Weld. “Tuesday's child is full of grace” according to the old English poem, though Newman on Seinfeld declared that “Tuesday has no feel.” Lynyrd Skynyrd has a song off their first album called Tuesday's Gone. It's a lament about the narrator's girl whose name is Tuesday who he leaves behind via train for parts unknown, maybe also on a Tuesday. Not sure.
There is Wednesday Friday Addams the daughter on The Addams Family. "Wednesday's child is full of woe.” Seems appropriate.
There's a book by Lilian Harry named A Girl Called Thursday.
“girl Friday” is a dated term used for a female office assistant. Also, His Girl Friday was a screwball comedy from 1940 staring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell.
Saturday - Zip.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's daughter is named Sunday Rose. Seems like a bad omen now.
Oh, and it's Billy Gibbons' birthday (1949). Billy of ZZ Top. Icon.