Aren't we all glad Sherlock is not named "Sherrinford"?

[Brontodon]

I think most, if not all of us are glad that Arthur Conan Doyle ended up calling his fictional detective "Sherlock Holmes," rather than "Sherrinford Holmes" as he had originally intended:

https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/Sherlock_Holmes

I suppose, though, that we prefer "Sherlock" because we're used to it and "Sherrinford" sounds strange.  If it had been the other way around, presumably "Sherlock" would sound strange.

In either case, I think the name "Mycroft" sounds vaguely fungal...

[Carol the Dabbler]

You may well be right about our being more comfortable with "Sherlock" partly because we're so familiar with that name.  To paraphrase somebody, "we hear of Sherlock everywhere."

The name-change that I'm happiest about, though, is ACD's sacking of "Ormond Sacker" in favor of John Watson!

 

[Brontodon]

I've got to agree with you there!  (Although at one point, Watson's wife called him "James" instead of John.

[Carol the Dabbler]

1 hour ago, Brontodon said:

... at one point, Watson's wife called him "James" instead of John.

I believe that was in "The Man With the Twisted Lip," which happens to be one of my favorites.  I suspect that ACD made that error because A} he didn't much bother with continuity for his "potboiler" Holmes stories, and B}  he rarely called the good doctor anything other than just "Watson."  He may, in fact, have forgotten that Watson even had an established first name, so when his wife needed to call him something, he used his go-to first name for characters, namely James.

As you may know, however, Holmes fan Dorothy L. Sayers (author of the Lord Peter Wimsey stories) pointed out that we're never told what Watson's middle initial stands for, and proposed that the "H" stands for "Hamish," which is the Scottish equivalent of "James."  (Presumably Mrs. Watson was staunchly English and therefore anglicized the name.)

 

[Brontodon]

I've heard that theory before but I'm not sure I'm buying it!  😊