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JemmaB has a curious way of looking at this name. "Diana" held a place among the top 10 favourite names (as advertised in the columns of the national daily "The Times" for years and years before Princess Diana came on the scene. I don't know who regards it as "snooty and upper class" in the experience of JemmaB. One can't, after all, be blamed for the choice of one's parents! In my view, "Diane" is an abbreviated form or/alternatively a French translation of the classical name "Diana" -- cf. Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Louis XIV. Lazy speakers will use it in preference to Diana because it is one syllable less to pronounce. I've even heard the late Princess of Wales referred to as "Princess Diane" where that final syllable was just too much trouble!

This message was edited 6/26/2006, 4:13 PM