Ellis Metal

Just as we can tell people that Valerie’s middle name was after a dragon, I figure I can tell people that Henry is named after my favorite Ayn Rand character.  In about thirty years he can invent “Ellis Metal.” Then the government can go all Alcoa on him, confusing invention and efficiency with artificial monopoly.  Fun.

Or I could say he’s named after a monarch you may have heard of, who rudely burned one of my ancestors at the stake.  I almost typed “steak” just then…

When I look at what I have in the Ellis database in Brother’s Keeper, there are six Henrys in first or middle name position.  It’s possible that another one who went by Harry was a Henry, but I’m not sure.  Havelock Ellis was a Henry, making seven, which gives us the eighth.

There are four named Henry in the database that includes mainly my Irving side, with just the basics on the Ellis side.  None are all that close, apparently, though one, Henry Westgate, was one of my great-grandmother’s three husbands, and the father of my grandfather’s half-brother Clarence, better known to us as Uncle Sonny.

We could always say we named him for a famous industrialist who revolutionized manufacturing.  Or after a great baseball player.  Or perhaps we expect him to at least be civil when he’s disobedient.

Then again, we could be mundane and admit that the name was inspired by the humorous guy who originally taught me to build computers, and who probably had a disproportionate influence on the course of my life that led to my meeting Deb.

Posted by on 08/26 at 07:28 PM

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