The rise of cowboy names

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lee is a cowboy name??? I had no idea.

Is it a cowboy name because of the brand jeans?

I think it became popular as a nickname for Levi but then became a popular western name in its own right. I'm sure the association with the jeans helped its popularity, but I also associate a lot of Old Testament names with Old West cowboy names -- Levi/Lee, Caleb, Zachary/Zack, Jacob/Jake, Gabriel/Gabe, Joseph/Joe. It's true for some girl names as well -- Delilah, Sarah, Abigail, and Eve all spring to mind. I think this is probably partly due to the fact that in the Old West, life was very hard and religion was important to people to help them endure, plus they would have had access to few books/resources other than the Bible. Most of the cowboy/rancher types I know are fairly devout.