What's in a name?

Fluks, H.W. H.W.Fluks at kpn.com
Tue Apr 25 19:05:22 CEST 2000


Arie:

> It's been pretty quiet. Are you guys on silent strike or what? ;-)

We call that Easter holiday. 8-)

> how can you explain
> The last of Clan Duck while there're DD and HDL Duck???

In Holland (the Netherlands, actually), Scrooge is also called "Duck". But
the Life-of-Scrooge chapters call him (and his family) McDuck. And the Dutch
translation of "The Old Castle's Secret" also names Scrooge's ancestors as
McDucks.

It's not explicitly stated, but my explanation is that Scrooge dropped the
"Mc" when he went to America (i.e. Duckburg). Emigrants often change their
name in the new country. For practical reasons, or just because a civil
servant doesn't know enough. I remember the TV series "The Mannions of
America" where the Irish family O'Mannion dropped the O' after arriving in
the USA. Other examples may be "Cronkite" (Krankheidt) and "Van Dyke" (Van
Dijk), which are Americanised Dutch names.

--Harry.
(Always fascinated by names and their backgrounds)




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