G is for Green as a surname (ABCW)

“a medium light hue of greenish gray similar to asparagus, but lighter”

Captain_kangaroo
Mr. Green Jeans, Captain Kangaroo, 1960
When Green is your last name, you have heard every joke there is about it. “Mr. Green Jeans,” a character from the Captain Kangaroo children’s show, played by Hugh “Lumpy” Brannum, when I was growing up. Green tambourine, a song by the Lemon Pipers, a #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for one week in early February, 1968. “Green, green jelly bean,” whatever THAT is, and others too mundane to repeat.

Kermit the Frog was right: it’s not that easy bein’ Green. “It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things.”

So when my wife and I were thinking about first names for our now-teenager, among the MANY rules I had was that it could NOT be a SHADE of Green. And there are quite a few of them.

Hunter Green – “a color that is a representation of the color worn by hunters in the 19th century” – terribly out of date, though in fact that there are at least three prominent people named Hunter Greene

Kelly Green – “the name derives from the fact that the surname Kelly, as well as the color green, are both popular in Ireland” – Besides being gender non-specific, my hangup at the time, the Kelly Song from the TV show Cheers was rattling around in my head

Laurel Green -“a medium light hue of greenish gray similar to asparagus, but lighter” – I’m not that fond of asparagus.

Olive Green – “the shade of dark yellow-green found on green olives. It has been commonly used by militaries around the world as a color for uniforms and equipment.” Give peace a chance. Moreover, Olive Oyl is Popeye’s lanky girlfriend.

Paris Green – ranges from pale and vivid blue green to deeper true green. It comes from the inorganic compound copper (II) acetoarsenite and was once a popular pigment in artists’ paints”

For ABC Wednesday

Author: Roger

I'm a librarian. I hear music, even when it's not being played. I used to work at a comic book store, and it still informs my life. I won once on JEOPARDY! - ditto.

10 thoughts on “G is for Green as a surname (ABCW)”

  1. And then there’s “Nile Green” (a common shade in ladies’ clothing and housewares in the 1930s) and “Eau de Nil” – which, to my consternation, are apparently two DIFFERENT shades (“Eau de Nil” is typically more bluish) despite the names almost being translations of each other.

    I guess Nile Green was also popular in the 50s; I remember my mom telling me about a funny malapropism one of her high-school classmates used – the young woman said she wanted a dress for a formal dance in ‘that ‘vile green’ color”

  3. So many shades of green!
    I know ‘Olive Green’
    There’s also ‘Parrot Green’
    Is there a ‘Grass Green’?

    Grass is ‘greener’ on the other side 🙂
    Have a great week!

  5. I taught school for many years and there were quite a few kids who had unusual name combinations. What were those parents thinking? – Margy

  9. I remember Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Green Jeans!
    A few years ago I joined a book club and I met a Bonnie Green, but she was not the Bonnie Green that I worked with years before. Now I have two friends named Bonnie Green!
    Have a wonderful weekend!

  10. May have made a mistake in my data. Sorry Roger! Never heard of Kelly and Paris Green. The ones I use are Olive, Sap, and Oxide (also called Terre Verte).

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