So, I’ve started a bunch of games, and was giving my captains a bunch of wildly random names. Finally, I decided that they needed proper British names. There may be other anal retents out there who feel the same, so here’s a site I’ve found helpful:
My current captain is named Basil MacAllister. Every time I see his name on the screen I hear a woman in my head shrieking "You put Basil in the ratatouille!!!" It’s been twenty years since I’ve watched that show, but that shrill harridan is still lurking, just out of sight, waiting for her moment to strike…
I think I’m going to either name my first captain after myself–that is, I shall name it Snowskeeper–or I’ll give it one of those pun knight names. Like Sir Cumfer Rense, out of hope that it’ll make it all the way around the map, or Sir Owen Sound, because of the music. Or maybe Sir Tif Aye, if there’s an option to give it a Naval history.
Are these the most common names of anyone on the census in that time period, or the most common names given to babies born in that time period? It looks like they’re the latter - in which case, folks may want to look into that site’s other listings, such as the most popular names of the 1870s, depending on their captain’s age! (Looks like they’re not yet up to the 1860s and earlier, so captains older than their 20s may want to investigate other sources. I am chuffed to see that Frederick, Reginald and Esther all make the list, though!)
Sir Frederick: It looks like it’s names of babies recorded in that time period so you’re right, 1870’s might be more appropriate.
This site has popular British surnames, including data from the 1881 census: http://www.britishsurnames.co.uk/
Sadly, I find neither Tanah nor Chook in there, but they do show Tana and Chuc/Chuk. You should write a stern letter to the Census ministry and have this outrage corrected!