A little more on the name Diggory. I think it’s actually better as a Dog’s name. Within the Doutch/Douch family, trying out names on pets before we use them for children is not uncommon, (Lady Hamilton – Hamish, Sophie/Sophie) but I doubt in the final analysis if it would make a good first name for a Doutch. The alliteration of Hickory Diggory Doutch is a little too obvious, whereas Hickory Diggory Dog is just fun. If anyone else has literary sightings of the name Diggory, please send them in.

Regarding the name Miranda, my daughter’s name. It comes from the character Miranda, Prospero’s daughter, in Shakespeare’s Tempest. The particular words that resonate for me come from Miranda’s speech in Act V, Scene I:

“O wonder!

How many goodly creatures are there here!How beautious [sic] mankind is!

O brave new world,

That has such people in’t!”

The line “O brave new world,” of course was picked up by Aldous Huxley for his dystopian novel. I prefer to read it here in all its innocence. In the US now, of course, Miranda is commonly a last name of Latin origin. In fact, one of my PCAs at the hospital is called Ana Miranda. I don’t know how common the name Miranda was as a last name in Shakespeare’s time. Does anyone know?