3301 In Hoc Anno Domini

Each year the Wall Street Journal reprints a 1949 editorial by Vermont Connecticut Royster, the Journal's editor and president (1960–71) of its publishing company, Dow Jones & Company.

Through the miracle of the WWW, I learned that Kay Kayser (band leader) was his cousin, and he was named after his grandfather Royster, whose siblings were also named after states. The boys were Iowa Michigan, Arkansas Delaware, Wisconsin Illinois, and Oregon Minnesota. The girls also had states' names: Louisiana Maryland, Virginia Carolina, and Georgia Indiana. These unusual appellations were listed in "Ripley's Believe It or Not" and found their way into the pages of the Saturday Review and Saturday Evening Post.[Book Rags]

Anyway, it's an excellent essay, well worth reading once or twice a year, especially if you're wondering about the price of freedom or the value of stability.