[Budley007]

I've been recently enjoying the "Sherlock Holmes" DVDs. (the one's with Jeremy Brett)

I noticed after watching about 10 or so episodes that there seems to be quite a few male characters with the name "Percy".

Was this a pretty common name in the UK back in the 19th Century or so? Is it still common? If so, does it have an association, like "William" for "Bill" or "Richard" for "Dick", etc...?

I honestly don't know why I'm curious about this. It may come up on Jeopardy...never know.

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Budley007 I've been recently enjoying the "Sherlock Holmes" DVDs. (the one's with Jeremy Brett) I noticed after watching about 10 or so episodes that there seems to be quite a few male characters with the name "Percy". Was this a pretty common name in the UK back in the 19th Century or so? Is it still common? If so, does it have an association, like "William" for "Bill" or "Richard" for "Dick", etc...? I honestly don't know why I'm curious about this. It may come up on Jeopardy...never know.

Percy is short for Percival. Percival was a pretty common name back in the Victorian times as was Albert, Edward etc. etc.

Very few people these days are named Percival. (per-see-val)

 

[john_jcb]

My neighbor's dog is named Percy.

 

[GlowWorm]

I don't know about the Percy thing, but Sherlock Holmes was a great TV show. It's too bad that Jeremy Brett died suddenly right before they planned on shooting some new episodes.

 

[JMT]

One of the senior executives at the bank I worked for was named Percival. He is slight older than I am so he went through elementary school around the same time as I. Knowing how cruel kids can be sometimes, I wonder what his adolescent life must have been like with a moniker like that.

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMT One of the senior executives at the bank I worked for was named Percival. He is slight older than I am so he went through elementary school around the same time as I. Knowing how cruel kids can be sometimes, I wonder what his adolescent life must have been like with a moniker like that.

Exactly! My father wanted to name me Percy, and I still give him crap about it even today.

Thank God my mom was in charge, and picked something from the bible.

 

[comabereni]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRESCENDOPOWER Exactly! My father wanted to name me Percy, and I still give him crap about it even today. Thank God my mom was in charge, and picked something from the bible.

Your name is Obadiah?

 

[PinkFloyd]

This is not sensationalism or trying to be smart but quite a lot of men in the UK call their penis "percy" they also refer to it as "John Thomas" or simply "my massive length"

Percy (Percival) means only one thing in the UK these days........ "willie"

 

[Budley007]

Monty Python used "John Thomas" a few times, so I was familiar with that one, but not the "Percy" vernacular.

Somehow, I don't think this will be a Final Jeopardy question. Oh well, it was interesting. Thanks for the input folks.

As to the Jeremy Brett comment, yes, it was a real tragedy. I think they actually toured in the States with a Sherlock Holmes play. Atleast that's what Brett mentioned in one of the "DVD Bonus Features". I'd loved to have seen it.

 

[Born2bwire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRESCENDOPOWER Exactly! My father wanted to name me Percy, and I still give him crap about it even today. Thank God my mom was in charge, and picked something from the bible.

My dad, being from Georgia, suggested William Robert for me to my mom. Needless to say, my mom's laughter quickly killed that one (thankfully).