Show tiinlay () Sunday Morning - -- $fjc Salt £akc SVibun -- December 3 1939 sly by fore is of th mil a vhich he local bai s is to it Lake benefit riday ar L ryan enth Ea 1 si roots of the Ri as paint! us" nov y P A street w of v the d Ancle) ly over t n before own pro' then It the bai ore than has had ding to Americ f You Don’t Have names Henry Stanley the explorer was John Rowland before he changed his name assumed M What's in a Name? Fame If It's the Right One It Was Found by the Persons Named Above Whose Cognomens Went Through the Mill of Useage and Legal Proceedings to Emerge as Indicated by Number Below Before Looking at the Names Below See If You Can Guess the Identities of the Persons Named Above CLAUDETTE COLBERT tOAN CRAWFORP MARLENE DIETRICH By Edwin Misurell What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet —ROMEO AND JULIET LAPIDUS of Detroit is HYMANthan willing to argue that with Shakespeare He thinks there’s an awful lot in a name t t Its In fact Mr Lapidus disagrees so strongly and to such an extent that he’s petitioned a Probate Court to permit him to change his name legally and quickly His present name he says constantly causes him acute embarrassment Mr Lapidus attributes his plight to the popularity of radio — and Lou Holtz It’s all due he says to the stories the comedian tells ahout the mythical dialectician "Lapidus” It seems every time Holtz broadcasts another "Lapidus" gag the real Mr Lapidus takes a newt and terrific ribbing from his friends That’s the way things have been for a long time now he stated in his petition He asked the court to be allowed to assume the less troublesome appellation of Ily Lenard The desire of the Detroiter to change his name however is not unusual even though the reason he offers is unique Every day more and more persons petition courts everywhere for similar permission They offer varied reasons for asking for hew names Only the other tailor in day Leon Hittler a the Bronx New York asked to be relieved of the social pressure that seemed to result from the similarity of his name to that of the German dictator The substitute name he chose was Hilton And the father of an Annapolis midshipman J Allen Einstein took steps to change the family name to Easton because be was quoted he believed that his son’s naval career would be aided In general those who go to court with such petitions complain that their names are lengthy and hard to spell Telephone business and social conversations they add arc difficult be- g the Ci iaki: bo SeemFunnyman Lou Hull ingly Caused Such Acute Embarrassment to a Real Mr Eapiilus All Primed to Tell Another Story About Ills Fictional Lapidus cause ot mispronunciations and lead to embarrassment and confusion For example Samuel Leibowitz the eminent New York criminal lawyer changed the spelling of his name from Iiehowitz because ton many persons pronounced his name Surprisingly enough most of the persons w ho wish to take new names fail to realize that they do not have to go to court to do jt Under common law one may take another name any time he desires as long as he docs so for honest LIE-bowit- z reasons However any person adopting another name must continue to use the birthname in getting a passport obtaining citizenship carrying on certain business affairs obtaining a marriage license or a divorce establishing family relationships etc until a legal change in name is effected Consequently it is desirable to many persons to go through the legal formalities necessary to getting the new name made a mnlter of public record The procedure to he followed in such cases rigidly defined by law necessitates employment of an attorney to draw up the petition nnd see that other requirements are fulfilled A petition states the birthplace and all subsequent residences with dates of the petitioner whether he is a citizen by birth or naturalization the kind of work he sloes He cannot have uny judgments against him in any court in the country Any conviction of felony standing agHinsl the petitioner will debar a legal change of name He cannot be a party to any actions or proceedings of record in any court in the state or United States at the time be makes the application He must certify that there is no outstanding bond or commercial paper made endorsed nr accepted by him in the name which be wishes to abandon If he has made a for a change name he must say so Should the petitioner be married there is a further regulation he must comply with Unless he has the permission of his wife he cannot apply for the change After the petition and order are drawn up the attorney he turns them over to a judge in a court having jurisdiction If the papers are in order and meet with the approval of the judge he signs an order granting permission for the change without a hearing But he may flatly reject the petition if the reasons advanced are objectionable to him Edwin Kelly of Brooklyn N Y petitioning for a change to Kellett declared the name Kelly was a distinct disadvantage He alleged it aroused “antipathy previous application prejudice bigotry trials slurs insults” Judge Charles E Russell denied the petition deciding “The reasons advanced are frivolous Others of like name have found no such antipathy and prejudice to the Irish especially of the name of Kelly” If the judge approves the attorney has the documents entered in the public records and arranges for a copy of the court’s order to be published within 10 days in some paper at least once usually a law journal Then an affidavit of the publication must be filed and recorded in the county clerk’s office Publication gives any interested party notification that unless he can show cause for not granting the name change it becomes legal Obtaining a legal change of name is seldom an expensive proposition Filing court and publication fees are set by law Attorney’s fees are regulated by the work involved The whole procedure may cost as little as $25 Assumption of a new name without legal procedure when not changed for dishonest purposes has been recognized by courts The New York State Court of Appeals adjudicating the case of Alice W Smith administratrix of the estate of Clark W Smith against the United States Casualty Co upheld the common law Mr Justice Vann who wrote the decision said: “While the legal name of a person now consists of a given name or one given by his parents and a surname or one descending from them history shows that this was not always the case In the early life of all races surrtames were unknown while given names have been used from the most distant times to identify and distinguish a particular individual from his fellows “In England surnames were unknown until about the 10th century and did not come into general use or become hereditary until many years later At first they were used sometimes for an easy method of identification and at others from accident caprice taste and a multitude of other causes Mr Bardsley in his History of English Surnames gives thousands of instances of change through selection the actions of neighbors in applying descriptive epithets the use of nicknames and pet names and the gradual development through circumstances and the necessity of identification as population increased Thus the son of John or Peter became known as John’s son or Peter's son and finally as Johnson or Petrrson “The place of birth or residence the nume of an estate the business pursued physical characteristics mental or moral qualities and the like were turned into surnames “Many times the color ual white brown black his height or such as little long hardy or mental or moral attributes "strong good wilry gay moody or wise fixed the surname "Voltaire M'dirrr Dante Petrarch Richelieu Loyola and Erasmus were ti II g Re nJ tty rj U: V as the following: A customer came in to buy a suit from Lapidus who fluttered all over the store trying to please him After trying on a number of jackets the customer finally told Lapidus he liked the last one he tried on “The only thing wrong with it is that right shoulder it’s higher than the left” £ i $ i 1 he said “Higher than the left” said Lapidus indignantly “don’t be foolish The floor is slanty !” Then there was the time that Lapidus was describing his hunting prowess with more than the ordinary amount of exaggeration He told how he used to hunt rabbits at night with great success "I bagged them all with a shot between the eyes” he said "But lately I have had to give up hunting” “Why?” asked one of his incredible listeners “Why?” snorted Lapidus “The rabbits finally got wise to me and began to travel in pairs and close one eye!” Holtz even has a Lapidus story about His Lapidus went to court and asked that he be allowed to take the name Reilly His plea was granted But within a few weeks he was back and wanted it changed again to Murphy The judge was somewhat annoyed by the proceedings “What’s the idea?” he asked "I granted permission to you to change your name only a short while ago and now you’re back again asking for another change” “Yes your honor” meekly replied Lapidus “I know” "Well” queried the judge “what’s your reason for wanting it changed name-changin- g now?” “So when people ask - X T me what I y ? AX i’l T - IIs 4S 'X changed my name from” answered the petitioner “I don’t have to say Lapidus!” ’If the would-b- e Mr Lenard needed any better argument with which to take issue with Shakespeare on the question of names he might point to the very high percentage of actors and actresses who have found success with new cognomens Authors and artists too have found it helpful either to consult numerologists or to draw new signatures out of a hat Some of the stars of screen radio and sport who have adopted names are indis cated above Others who changed and won fame are: birth-name- Professional Name Duke Ellington Birth Name Edward Kennedy Gertrude Lawrence Gertrude Klasen Linda Ware Benay Venuta Anita Louise Mary Brian Virginia Bruce Ina Claire Gary Cooper Neysa McMein Beverly Stillwagon Benvenuta Rose Crook Anita Louise Fremault Louise Dantzler Virginia Briggs Ina Fagin Frank J Cooper Marjorie McMein Jacob Kranz Ernest Brimmer Greta Gustafson Anna Gately Asa Yoelson Elsa LanchcsterElsa Sullivan Fredric March Frederick Bickcl Lewis Officld George Ranft Dawn Evelyn Paris Charles Edward Pratt Suzanne Charpcntier I ? I m 4 Allen Linatriii Whose Academy Lather Petitioned to Ghange the I'amilv Name to Fusion on the Ground It Might Help His Soil's J Naval S Naval Career FttUuM Anita Louise Didn't Change Her Name She Just’Contraclcd Her Full Baptismal Name W as Anita Louise Fremault Moviemakers Lopped Off the Last Name as Part of the Process of Building Her Up to Stardom j rm k Wlf fV X fr I ’4 fcUif Ji v-- J A :A U 8 4 u Midshipman f-- 'v of the individ- strength u At Mark Twain was Samuel L Clemens President Cleveland was baptized Stephen Grover Cleveland but changed it to Grover Cleveland in his teens Also the jurist might have added these facts: The family name of President James K Polk was originally Pollock President Grant was christened Hiram Ulysses Grant President Wilson was actuThe ally Thomas Woodrow Wilson family name of Charles A Lindbergh was originally Manson “Changing the name legally” concluded the learned jurist “is merely an affirmance and aid of the common law to make a definite point of time when the change shall take effect" It was to obtain this immediate change that Hyman Lapidus applied to the Detroit Probate 'Court for permission to take the name Lenard The constant had just about jibing about worn his nerves to raw edges when he had the petition drawn up Over and over again in exaggerated dialect he had to listen to such famed Holtz gags To Go to Court To Change Your Name But a Lot of Persons Find It’s a Help (U rtin ' Inf Leon Hittler Bronx N V Tailor Decided 1 hat He'd Be Happier If His Name Was Hilton Because of the Similarity of His Name to tin) German Dictator's I lie Reichsfurhrrr's Present Name I Adopted Also |