And yet, in forty-nine church registers out of fifty, throughout the length and breadth of England, there will not be found a single instance of a double christian name previous to the year 1700. Mr. Maskell has failed to find any instance in the register of All-Hallows, Barking, and the Harleian Society's publication of the registers of St. Peter, Cornhill, and St. Dionis Backchurch only confirms the assertion I have made. Many stories have arisen upon these double names. A Mr. Gray, bearing the once familiar Christian name of Anketil, wanted the certificate of his baptism. The register was carefully searched--in vain; the neighbouring registers were as thoroughly scanned--in vain. Again the first register was referred to, and upon a closer investigation he was found entered as Ann Kettle Gray. Not very long ago a child was brought to the font for baptism. "What name?" asked the parson. "John," was the reply. "Anything else?" "John _h_only," said the godparent, putting in an "h" where it was not needed. "John Honly, I baptize thee," etc., continued the clergyman, thus thrown off his guard. The child was entered with the double name. In Gutch's "Geste of Robin Hode" (vol. i. p. 342) there is a curious note anent Maid Marian, wherein some French writers are rebuked for supposing Marian to be composed of Mary and Ann, and the statement is made that it is from Mariamne, the wife of Herod! Marian or Marion, of course, is the diminutive of Mary, the other pet form being Mariot. Nevertheless the great commonness of the double christian name Mary Ann is consequent on the idea that Marian is compounded of both. In the registers of marriages at Halifax parish church (December 1, 1878) is the name of a witness, Charity H----. He--it was a _he_--is the third child of his parents, two sisters, Faith and Hope, having preceded him. His full baptismal name is "And Charity," and in his own marriage certificate his name is so written. In ordinary affairs he is content with Charity alone (_Notes and Queries_, August 16, 1879). This could not have happened previous to Queen Anne's reign. Acts-Apostles Pegden's will was administered upon in 1865. His four elder brothers bore the four Evangelists' names. This, again, could not well have occurred before the eighteenth century was in. In Yorkshire directories one may see such entries as John Berry, and immediately below, Young John Berry. This represents a common pleasantry at the font among the "tykes," but is necessarily modern. Nor could "Sir Isaac" or "Sir Robert," as praenomens to "Newton" or "Peel," have been originated at any distant period. IV. THE DECAY OF SINGLE PATRONYMICS IN BAPTISM.