Did you know it's been illegal to call a child Myra since 1968?
Not really. But it may as well be.
As we all know, it's a criminal offence in Germany to call a child Adolf. Consequently there are no Adolfs in Germany anymore (except for some pre-war births, probably). But how many Myras do you know who were born after 1966 in Britain?
I'll bet it's precisely zero.
My mum has a friend called Julie. I remarked to her daughter that that was a very modern name for a mum, and she confessed that her mother's name was actually Myra, but she changed it in the Sixties for obvious reasons. Who wouldn't rather be Julie Christie than Myra Hindley? No one wanted to be saddled with a name that instantly summoned up a cold-hearted murderess - and that chilling headshot.
But by the same token, why didn't the name Ian die out at the same time? Perhaps because it was more common and there were lots of other Ians to think about, whereas, the late Myra Hess aside, there weren't really any other Myras on the radar. Or was it the collective shock that a woman could be so cruel that the name became evil personified? I've often mulled over this.
After all, Rose is more popular than ever. And as for Jack, well you don't need me to tell you. So what's the future for Jade or Madeleine, or any other names with notoriety attached?
What's certain is we'll never see another Myra, not in this country. We even baulked at naming our cat that.
