County names are part of English, American history
This is in response to Taj Ahmad's letter to the editor (Suburban, May 8) suggesting removing the "sex" from Middlesex, Sussex and Essex.

There is no reason to take "sex" from Middlesex or any of the other New Jersey counties for that matter. The question I have for you is, Why now? Why now, after having these names for hundreds of years, is someone complaining about them? If people have lived with their county being called Middlesex, Sussex or Essex for this long, there is no reason to change it now. And, hypothetically speaking, if the state Legislature does decide on taking "sex" out of these counties' names, they would have to change the New Jersey state maps, GPS (global positioning systems), etc., all because a couple of adults had to think immaturely about a few simple names.

Furthermore, you have a problem with Middlesex where "sex" does not even mean sex. Sex in the English language can mean other things, like gender. Or take the word sexagesimal, defined as, "of, relating to, or based on the number 60," where "sex" simply means the number 60. In the words Middlesex, Sussex and Essex, "sex" means Saxon. The counties' names mean Middlesaxon, Southsaxon and Eastsaxon, and are also the names of counties in England. When the English colonized New Jersey, they brought their counties' names along with them.

These names are a part of New Jersey and American history, and for someone to even suggest getting rid of them is insulting to those English men and women who settled here long before you were ever alive. As such, they should not be thrown away, altered or omitted.

These names are not vulgar. There is not, and there will never be, any reason to change town or county names just because an immature adult makes them out to be something that they are not.
Terrence O'Connor Jr.
Age 14
Parlin Section of Sayreville