I thought Enid was a man

MysteryOfTheGreatAuk · Post by **MysteryOfTheGreatAuk** » 19 Nov 2009, 21:51

Hi all. As a non-English speaker I thought Enid was a man when I was a kid! I dont know where that belief came from. I think it was Barbara Stoney´s (English) biography I found at the library that helped me to find out it´s a lady!

Is the name Enid common in the UK? Other English speaking countries? Or is it known as "old fashioned name"? Is there any other famous person called Enid? I dont know any. Thanks.

Fiona1986 · Post by **Fiona1986** » 19 Nov 2009, 22:14

I also thought Enid was a man at first, as I misread her signature as Guide Blotton....

Enid isn't a particularly common name nowadays, so I suppose you could call it old fashioned.

Can't think of any other famous Enids and a google search comes up with Blyton, Blyton, Blyton.....

Viv of Ginger Pop · Post by **Viv of Ginger Pop** » 19 Nov 2009, 22:54

Enid is a very ancient name, but not popular now. An early reference is Prince Geraint and the Sparrowhawk which is one of the Arthurian Legends and is therefore at least one, if not two, thousand years old. Enid Blyton must have had great fun re-writing theis story, which we can read in Tales of Brave Adventure where she describes Enid as the fairest maiden the prince had ever seen.

Viv

hope189 · Post by **hope189** » 20 Nov 2009, 07:28

I used to think that Enid was a man too as the name was quite new to me.

dsr · Post by **dsr** » 20 Nov 2009, 20:43

I know 2 Enids, both born in the 1930's. (Or thereabouts - I haven't asked them.)

Laura · Post by **Laura** » 20 Nov 2009, 21:03

I had a great-great aunt called Enid, who was born in 1902, so not that much younger than Blyton. I doesn't seem to be used by people nowadays, though.

Stephen · Post by **Stephen** » 21 Nov 2009, 17:36

So did I!

I did know an Enid - my first school headmistress in fact. At a rough guess I'd say she was born in the 1920s. She was a stern, austere, slightly scary, yet ultimately kind and fair lady. And as much as a cliche as it might sound, just like you might imagine Miss Grayling to be.

I'd love to know what became of her.

Lucky Star · Post by **Lucky Star** » 22 Nov 2009, 19:41

I met an Enid in work a few days ago. She was in her eighties though so, as others have said I think the name has simply died out a bit. Many names do come back into fashion though so maybe there is hope yet.

Fiona1986 · Post by **Fiona1986** » 22 Nov 2009, 21:36

As much as I love Enid Blyton I just couldn't imagine calling any daughter I may have Enid. Maybe as a middle name....

adventuregirl · Post by **adventuregirl** » 17 Feb 2010, 20:03

I thought so too! I'd never heard the name before - I believe it is fairly old fashioned. I think it was my older brother who sneered at me for referring to Enid as a man. He made me feel quite stupid, lol.

Enikyoga · Post by **Enikyoga** » 18 Feb 2010, 00:31

From the beginning of reading Enid Blyton's books in 1970, I had never at any time thought of the word, "Enid" as being that of a man. Maybe, this is because of the nature and circumstances in which I was introduced to Enid Blyton's books by a couple of my siblings (who first knew about Enid Blyton before I did, pretty much later on), I was of the impression, from the time I first heard about "Enid Blyton" as being a woman's name rather than being that of a man. However, it is the name "Richmal Crompton" that was to baffle me for three decades. Many of us that read the Williams series in the early 70s originally thought that Richmal Crompton was a man. It was only three decades later, in 1999, thanks to the then primitive Internet interactions, that I first learnt that Richmal Crompton was a woman rather than a man!!!
Stephen I.

Fiona1986 · Post by **Fiona1986** » 18 Feb 2010, 11:39

Richmal Crompton is a woman??? (Never read the William books but always assumed a name so close to Richard........actually when you look at them together its not that similar is it???)

This reminds me of the time I realised that Glen Close is also female....... I'd always seen the name and thought 'man'.

Lucky Star · Post by **Lucky Star** » 18 Feb 2010, 13:02

I too thought Richmal Crompton was a man, mainly because I thought that only men wrote stories about boys like William. By the way congratulations Enikyoga on making a post that did not feature the dreaded words in my b...............

Eddie Muir · Post by **Eddie Muir** » 18 Feb 2010, 14:25

Lucky Star wrote:By the way congratulations Enikyoga on making a post that did not feature the dreaded words in my b...............

Hear! Hear!

Moonraker · Post by **Moonraker** » 18 Feb 2010, 14:53

And of course there is that well known authoress, George Eliot.

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