Comments on: Changing names

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:41:18 +0000

How would a female president be addressed? We won’t know for at least a few years, possibly decades. However, we had a similar problem in 1992 when Betty Boothroyd became the first female speaker of the House of Commons. I think she herself decided the form of address should be Madam Speaker, which incidentally follows the way female chancellors of universities are addressed.

Of course, in the Lords you have a much simpler solution. The lady speaker is still the Lord Speaker. Who says the Lords is behind when it comes to equality?

By: lordnorton

lordnorton — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:26:35 +0000

As marianariasrabibliotecaria indicates, the answer is Gerald Ford. He was given the name Leslie Lynch King Jr at birth but when his mother remarried he was given his step-father’s name of Gerald Rudolf Ford Jr. Jimmy Carter’s middle name is indeed Earl.

I agree with Jonathan. It is notable that in the USA when those in public office, such as Presidents and Senators, leave office they nonetheless keep the title for life. A former President is still addressed as Mr President, a former Senator as Senator and so one. So if George Bush Snr and George W. Bush attend an event it is a case of Mr President and Mr President. And had Hillary Clinton become President…

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:50:33 +0000

Anne, if everyone was called Joe Bloggs, don’t you think it would be confusing? They’d need to be Joe Bloggs of Louth or whatever at least!

But seriously, peerage titles are part of our heritage. Calling someone a Lord is no different from calling someone “Senator”, except that one sounds British and the other belongs in foreign republics. In other countries, people look up to their senators. The fact that Lords don’t receive the same respect is a sad reflection on our society. (Removing titles from the few lords who disgrace themselves was discussed in an earlier post.)

By: Anne Palmer

Anne Palmer — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:12:49 +0000

Perhaps it is about time we did away with all such “titles” and everyone became just plain ‘Joe Blogs’. Sadly not all goods on display reflect what is on the contents of the wrapper.

By: marianariasrabibliotecaria

marianariasrabibliotecaria — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:17:42 +0000

James Earl Carter is the one with a rank of peerage in his name. Kudos to Mr. Korris for his response on Gerald Ford.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:22:46 +0000

The answer to the second question is James Earl Carter, presumably addressed Lord Carter! This seems to be a surprisingly common middle name for Americans.

By: Matt Korris

Matt Korris — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:45:22 +0000

Leslie Lynch King, Jr.

Sounds like an incitement to treasonous activity.

By: Nicholas Jackson

Nicholas Jackson — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:58:38 +0000

James Earl Carter (1977-1981), one of a handful of former presidents and vice presidents to be awarded a Nobel prize.