JENN McKINLAY: Names. They're so interesting, aren't they? Writers spend an awful lot of time thinking about them--character names and setting names. If you write under a pen name, you even get to make up your own name, which brings me to my question for the day. Would I have chosen the name Jennifer if I'd been given a choice? Probably, not (sorry, Mom!).
Seriously, though the Jennifers owned the 70's and early 80's and you couldn't throw a rock without hitting one of us. There were so many Jennifers in my suburban high school that my squad changed my name to Nnifer just to be sure to get my attention and not that of the twenty-five other Jen, Jenn, Jennie, Jenni, Jenny, Jenifer, and Jennifers who would all answer to any of those variations of our ubiquitous shared monickers.
What would I have chosen? I really don't know. I loved the names Sabrina and Zoanne when I was a kid, which is likely why the heroine in WITCHES OF DUBIOUS ORIGIN is named Zoanne. But now, I'd like something more old fashioned like Eloise or Astrid -- yeah, I don't look like either of those but give me a few years to let the grays come in!
When I worked at the library with a friend named Susie (the Jennies of the 50's), she told me that if she could change her name it would be Tina and she would tattoo it on her chest like one of our younger colleagues had done. She was fascinated by that tattoo. Lots to unbox there, I know, but the point remains that she, too, would have changed her name.
So, how about you, Reds and Readers? What name would you choose if you could have any name you wanted? And has it changed over the years?
Hhmmm . . . I never considered changing my name. Of course, Jean and I are sort of a "matched set" [I guess that happens to twins] and that has everything to do with whether or not I'd change my name . . . .
ReplyDeleteHow cute! I forgot you're a twin. Your names are perfect.
DeleteJenn, my oldest (born in 1970) had the same situation, only her name is Christine, aka Christy. There were five Christines of various flavors on her soccer team! Her stepsister, Jenny, was on the same team. They called her "Fer", to differentiate from the two other Jennifers!
ReplyDeleteI always liked the name Karen, although when I was a kid I wanted a nickname. Everyone in my family had one but me. That ended up being what I liked about it as an adult. In my high school class of 1969 there were six Karens, five Kathys, and five Lindas. My mother came really close to naming me Linda, which would have been interesting today. Both my sisters-in-law, one on each side, are named Linda.
That'd be a lot of Lindas.
DeleteI was named for my mother and she was named for her grandmother and on and on and on... a Southern thing. Actually I was going to be called Selden whether I was a boy or a girl. It's my middle name. And that part I would change. Though I'll keep my first name until I die, it's a pain because it's an 18th century English name that isn't pronounced the same way any more, and then I married and changed my last name to a 13-letter Austrian name, which is an impenetrable thicket of consonants to those who don't know German. The combination with Selden stopped traffic. After about a dozen years of manful struggle, I dropped this married name in daily life, going back to my maiden name, but I never bothered to change anything. Thus on legal papers I am often Unused First Name/ Unused Last Name. For Medicare, which strangely limits you to 16 letters, the Austrian last name takes up 13 and I'm only M.W. Selden is nowhere. I'm incognito! Despite all this side hassle, I have always loved my name. (Selden)
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, Selden. What a challenge our names can be! Very few people 'get' my surname when they first hear it and have no idea how to spell it; and many forms do not have a long enough line for me to write my full name, including middle name...
DeleteA family member's little daughter is Madeleine, with an 8-letter last name. That poor kid.
Deletewow Selden, that's so complicated! I do love the name Selden, but I wonder why it was made your middle name?
DeleteFamily tradition is important for some, so I get it. FYI, middle names are not used in most Japanese families. But my mother also chose a Japanese middle name for me (Izumi). My grandparents, uncles, aunts & cousins all called me Izumi. A western name like Grace is hard to pronounce in Japan (gure-su) so they never used it.
DeleteHi Roberta. I didn't mean to be mysterious. My first name is Maria, which in the 18th and 19th centuries in England and its former colonies, was pronounced Mar-eye-ah. (Sophia was pronounced the same way, Soaf-eye-ah.) This pronunciation has been entirely lost in the 20th century... even British historical shows and audiobooks mispronounce those historical names. My own surmise is that back in the day, Englishmen visited Catholic countries, loved the names, but changed the pronunciation so they wouldn't sound foreign and "papist." This prejudice obviously no longer pertains! Anyway, my great-grandmother, born 1859, was a Maria Selden, my mother was a Maria Selden, and I am a Maria Selden. In the 1920s, as a child in the deep South, my mother went by the double-barreled name, but as an adult she went by Maria. (She had to fight for the correct pronunciation. Obviously, she could have solved this by adding an H, but that would have CHANGED THE NAME. Yes, stubborn.) Anyway, she was Maria Selden, called Maria, so I would be Maria Selden, called Selden. I have learned to answer to anything, including "Marie" and "Selsun." (Selden)
DeleteGrace, Izumi is very pretty! In my experience it's hard when you lose the people who called you that special name. My mother called me "Ri," short for "Maria[h]". It was her special name for me, that we shared, and now no one has called me that for more than 20 years. (Selden)
DeleteWow, Selden what a story! I friend of mine also had a problem with Medicare, but it was because she had to go by the first name that she has never used.
DeleteGillian, my sister and brother have both had to do that for Medicare. Our youngest sister, Jane, has the only stress-free name in the family. Perhaps our parents ran out of creativity when they got to #5. (Selden)
DeleteGrace, I love Izumi. An acquaintance in the next town is Japanese married to an American, and her daughter is Izumi (she's now 19).
DeleteI'm going to admit, sheepishly, that I have always wondered whether you were male or female, Selden! I enjoy your comments so much. But honestly, I was just never sure. After all, in today's world references to your husband are not enough to base an opinion on. I hope that sounds like the compliment I mean it to be. You just sound strong and independent, not particularly male or female to me.
DeleteSusan, yes, these days I often tell folks quickly that I'm a grandmother, because my name has always raised that question. Honestly, I've often used that to my advantage. Many years ago I had several weeks of fencing with Ted Turner's legal department, which controlled the files of MGM. I knew it was helpful to keep everything in writing, because I can be cool and tough on paper, and they assumed I was a man. If they'd heard my young, female voice quavering on the phone, they'd have walked all over me! (Selden)
DeleteI wondered if it might be Maria. I grew up on the Paint Your Wagon soundtrack and “They Call the Wind Maria” (pronounced your correct way) was my favorite.
DeleteI almost married a guy with a 12 letter last name. Ended up with a guy with a three letter last name! LOL.
DeleteNaming trends! In my seven decades, I have met exactly two Edith's who are younger than me. My great aunt was Edythe (she fancied up the spelling when she was in college) and others of her age. I didn't like the name when I was young, and everyone called me Edie. As an adult, it took a long time to shed the nickname (family and friends from those early years are still allowed to use it). I keep waiting for it to make a comeback, and there is a toddler Edie in Ida Rose's music class. I'm happy with Edith as a name, although I've made up two pen names out of necessity.
ReplyDeleteIn the mid-nineties, there were what felt like dozens of girls named Caitlin/Katelin and all other spellings in my sons' classes, and lots of Jasons.
Edith, I just realized one of our neighbor's twin's name is Edith. She goes by Edie, and her sister is Leah. I think Edie is named after her grandmother. They are now in their mid-20's.
DeleteEdith, my favorite aunt was an Edith, born 1914. My other aunt, her older sister, was Dorothy. (Selden)
DeleteMy mom's sister was also Dorothy, Selden. Karen, how cool that an Edie is in her twenties!
DeleteMy sons are Allan (the family and CORRECT spelling, same as my dad and grandfather) and John. Allan's wife is Alison, one L. I have to fix the spelling every time I mention their names in a dictated text! Take one L from Alison and give it to Allan...
DeleteEdith, I had a dyslexic elderly friend named Allen. I asked him once how he spelled his name. He told me, shamefaced, adding, "My parents gave me the girls' spelling." It turned out that he had been seated next to an Ellen in first grade and as he labored mightily to learn to spell his name, had become convinced that EN was a girl's suffix. (Selden)
DeleteMy grandmother and aunt were both Edith, the latter always known as Dids!
DeleteI had an aunt Edythe who everyone called Edie. She was one on my mother’s sisters. My mother had five sisters and a brother. They were all addressed by shortened versions of their name except for my mother who hated when people tried to add an ‘ie’ to the end of her name.
DeleteHer name was Rose and that was what she wanted to be used
What's in a name? So so much!
ReplyDeleteI would not choose mine, either, Jenn. Mine has too many soft sounds and I would choose a name with a hard consonant, like maybe Kate or ... or what? That's the thing: I cannot imagine having another name even while knowing I would not choose the one I was given lovingly by my parents. So. Here I am: Amanda. Never Mandy -- that was my cousin Miranda, who was often Mandy.
That said, I was always the only Amanda in my class. But then the name became newly popular due to an American daytime soap opera character, I believe. The time we lived in Germany (1968-72), my name was considered hopelessly old fashioned -- friends' grandmothers or great-aunts might be Amanda but never anyone of my own generation. In fact, the name was so rare to find in someone my age, that my language teacher had invented a character named Amanda to help her teach grammar -- that Amanda was always getting into mischief and my classmates and I would laugh at her. I think that teacher was astonished to find a little Canadian girl with that name in her class for that year!
Amanda, you mentioned your last name being hard to pronounce. In sign language, I think your last name could be two signs - rouge / tell. Or 🤟 finger spelling the letters R O U G E T E L. Speaking of the name Amanda, I remember babies born in the mid 1990s named Amanda because their mothers decided to name them after great grandmothers named Amanda.
DeleteGrowing up, I was the only Grace in school, and I liked it.
ReplyDeleteMy mom chose the name Grace since she liked the actress Grace Kelly. She watched Hitchcock movies in Japan in the 1950s and that is how she learned English.
Also, we have the same initials: GK
I have never contemplated changing my name and am stumped as to what other one I would even choose at this stage of the game.
ReplyDeleteIt has been interesting constantly meeting new people in a 55+ community. I have become a collector of names. A lot of the names are the same or similar. Noreen, Doreen, Maureen (and I already have old friends names Shereen and Laureen) In one direction from our house there is a Dori (Doris) and husband Phil and in the other direction there is Dori(Doris) and Bill. There is a Tana(like Montana) and a Tina. There is Anne Marie, Annamarie, and Anna. There is Mona and Nona. There is Ronna and Donna. Two Deborahs one goes by Deb. Shelly and Kelly. Jeanine, Jeaneen, and Janine. Patricia and Patrice.
The men are the same way. On my side of the street, in order, Brad, Dan, Corky (the first person he met at softball was named Cork), Dan, Brad, skip a house and another Daniel. The other side of the street is a Tim and a Jim next door to each other. You get the picture. We are up to at least four Mikes and 3 Cindys, and yes, another Brenda G., at pickleball in our neighborhood of the community.
That's so funny, Brenda. When we authors pick character names, it's a big no-no to have sets that sound the same like some of the ones you mention! It just confuses the reader.
DeleteBrenda, back in the 80s, my husband worked with five colleagues who all were originally named David. Being young men in their 20s, they were all referred to by some variation of their last names: Brownie, Wilkie, etc. If you were talking one-on-one, they became David, Dave, Davy or whatever they preferred. And Edith, I am so grateful to you authors who avoid the “sets” or characters with the same first initial. — Pat S
DeleteI've not met many Roberta's over the years for sure! I wouldn't change it now, but I do love being Lucy in my writing life. Such a pretty, easy name to say and spell, and has my grandmother's legacy as well:)
ReplyDeleteRoberta, with my tough married name and my own name problems, I was determined to give my children short, easy names. My son was going to be either Jon (I was reading Anne Morrow Lindbergh while pregnant) or Lucy. If Jon had been a daughter Lucy in 1987, he would have been a rare bird. But when Lucy finally made her belated appearance in 1997, the name Lucy had risen abruptly in popularity. There were two other Lucys in her small preschool class! (Selden)
DeleteNames and the community where they live make such a difference. We were an English family in a french community, where most names were double barrelled - Jean-Louis, Jean Francois, Jacques Emmanuel, and a huge collection of Sophies, Theresas, and Maries. Our kids names were interesting to hear spoken with a french inflection!
DeleteLucy, a college friend named her daughter Lucy who is now a fashion designer.
DeleteResponding to Selden's comment about naming one's child. I have only one child, a son named Sam. For boys I wanted simple and traditional. But in picking a girl's name, dignity was really important to me. I didn't mind if it had a cutesy nickname available, but honestly preferred that it didn't. And the big thing I kept saying was that I wanted a name with sufficient dignity that she could use it as president of the United States without causing snickers. The name we chose but never got to use was Meredith Morgan. (Last name would have been my husband's, Beasley.)
DeleteA beautiful name, Susan! (Selden)
DeleteGrandma recommended giving daughters names worthy of a Supreme Court Justice. She, of course, was Wilhelmina. I never thought about my name one way or the other, though was grateful not to be Candy, Krystal, or Phyllis.
ReplyDeleteI have never wished to change my name. I have always been called by my middle name, Dianne, and often wished my parents had made it my first name as it creates problems with legal documents.( Two of my three siblings were also called by their middle name)
ReplyDeleteI was the only Dianne in my class all the way through school ( Kindergarten to end of high school).
There was one other Dianne ( 2 n’s) in my nursing class.
Dianne Mahoney
Dianne, I and two of my four siblings were also called by their middle names. Of course, our poor parents had no idea of the paperwork headaches they were creating! (Selden)
DeleteI always loved my name partly because it was unique, no one else had it, and it didn’t break down to anything. I am rather selfish to share it with the riff-raff as it becomes more popular. I was named after my great Aunt who helped educate my mother, but thankfully as the 2nd name as I did not like it. (Louise). I named our first child with it – as a 2nd name. She did NOT use it for her first child using Lynn as her 2nd name which meant nothing to either family.
ReplyDeleteOur 2nd was named Michael as the 30 days to register a name ran out. All the prechosen ones did not pass muster – and Michael which was not on the list seemed to just fit. Our surname is a man’s name so confusion reigned for the boys – “are you Michael or Patrick?”. It was always the wrong name. He is Michael, not Mike. Third child, I wish I had named Harriet – in her 2 years of life she could have carried it off. I also didn’t realize how hard it is in Quebec to not be called your first name – endless “no, her name is Elizabeth”. Fourth child was always going to be called Tristan – don’t know why. We did have a cat named Tristan. Then it too became an in vogue choice for a while. His name suits him, and that’s the important thing, I think, to have the name fit the person.
I just informed my godchild (she just turned 50), that I had the power – and I was going to name her Esmerelda. She was not impressed.
I never liked my name growing up--it was too old-fashioned. I've met or heard of maybe 3 other Floras in my lifetime. Mostly, I wanted a name that connected me to my family. So, like Roberta/Lucy, I created a pen name which does just that--Emma Charles. I took the Emma from my maternal grandmother's middle name and the Charles is my paternal grandmother's last name. And it never helped that my mom said my dad named me and he said my mom named me. Like, where the heck did my name come from? :-)
ReplyDeleteLady Antonia Fraser named her daughter Flora. And the Duchess of Kent’s granddaughter is named Flora. I think it’s a popular English name.
DeleteFlora, I've always liked your name! My mother always traced her father's McDonald roots to Flora McDonald, the Scots heroine. (Selden)
DeleteI’m usually the only Suzette in the crowd. For awhile I high school I was Suzy, which a few if my friends still call me occasionally. I’ve always loved the name MacKenzie, probably because that’s my Scottish branch.
ReplyDeleteI love that name Mackenzie. I think he was a Judge or a mentor to lawyers on LA LAW? The actor was Richard Dysart.
DeleteI think we're never satisfied. I never liked my name as a kid because it was so rare. Those keychains with our names engraved on them? Search as I may, I never ever found one with "Annette" on it. I used to want the nickname "Anne," but it never stuck. Now? I've grown accustomed to my name and wouldn't know what to change it to.
ReplyDeleteSide note: I was supposed to Reva. That was the girl name my mom loved when my older brother was born. But before I came along, my aunt (Mom's baby sister) stole the name for HER daughter.
Annette, when I was looking up my great aunt Antoinette, the only documents available were the travel documents when she traveled to England and to France with her husband and son. However the passenger manifest listed her name as Annette. I wonder if Antoinette sounded like Annette? I knew it was her because of her son’s name. And I found another Antoinette who is definitely not my great aunt because that Antoinette became a Nun. My great aunt was married 5 times, including a brief marriage to a Belgian nobleman. Definitely not the same person.
DeleteInteresting conversation. I liked my name when I was in grammar school. There was only one other Judy that I knew. That was very unusual because when we moved to a suburb of Hartford, my high school was lousy with them. I sat on the school bus with a gal whose first name is Karen. I told her that is my middle name. Her middle name is Judith. Both of our last names began with "G." We still laugh about it 60 years later.
ReplyDeleteI was on the national board of a Jewish women's organization. At dinner one evening, the tables were arranged by first names. My table had one Joan and seven Judies.
Would I choose a different more unusual or glamorous name. No.
I remember there was a Judy Jetton on the tv series the Jetsons. A cartoon about a family in the future.
DeleteI am sure someone has already done it, and collected the obit names and collated them to generations. I love reading obits and reading the names of the grandchildren. They seem to be odder and worse spelled – as if that is the challenge. Many times, I read in the same family the same pronounced name in several generational families, but spelled differently in each. So far locally, there is no return of the grandparents of my generation names – Phillip, Henry, Harvey, Ralph, although Phoebes are turning up. Surprisingly the influx of the 1970-80’s Jennifers seemed to come from those old grandmother names. On the other hand, that might just have been the ‘J’ series – Jason, Justin, Jesse, Jennifer, Kates and Christines.
ReplyDeleteFamily friends adopted a baby girl from China and named her Phoebe. There was also Phoebe on the tv series Friends.
DeleteHa! I don't know a single Judy who was born in the last 50 years. I was named after Judy Garland (presumably before she completely derailed on drugs and alcohol) though I'll admit to a fascination with her life. When I was a kid, I used to tell people my name was Toby, short for October (I'm born in July). A natural born storyteller! Names are really important in writing. There would be no Tiffany's born in 1950, for example. So as a writer, I think about names a lot. As for what I'd like to be named, with a choice? I guess I'm okay with Judy (but NOT JUDE)!
ReplyDeleteJude reminds me of the actor Jude Law. Did you watch the Jetsons show on tv? It was a cartoon about a futuristic family
DeleteThere was a Judy Jetson.
DeleteYes, I watched it and know the theme song by heart!
DeleteMy given (and legal) name is Ralph (after my father) Harold (after a close friend who died in WWII). Before I was born, in their wisdom my parents said. "Here's a great idea! We'll name him Ralph Harold and call him Jerry." Somewhere, somehow, I'm sure that made sense, I have been Jerry all my life. If I had my druthers, in my younger days my name would have been changed to Nifty McCoolguy; in my dotage I now realize that Nifty McCoolguy is my actual spirit animal. My imaginary evil twin brother, Yrrej, never bothered to change his name.
ReplyDeleteJerry, you evil twin brother reminded me that my grandfather would call me Ogram Siwel. It took me a while to figure it out.
DeleteJerry, your parents' "great idea" made me laugh out loud. (Selden)
DeleteJENN: Did you know that Jennifer is another name for Guinevere from King Arthur’s round table? I only knew one Jennifer before I started university then I met many people named Jennifer. Another thing I noticed was the middle name was often Marie as in Lisa Marie Presley who was only a year older than me.
ReplyDeleteCreating names for my characters is fun. I already have the initials EARL. I just remembered that Prince Edward’s initials are EARL. Now he’s the Duke of Edinburgh.
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I like my name, and wouldn't change it. As a child, I hated beginning the school year because I would have to correct my teachers when they mispronounced my name. Gillian wasn't at all common in Oregon in the 1960s. My mom reminded me to tell them, "G as in George or giraffe". My first high school English teacher told me that my name was a German boys' name and that I was pronouncing it wrong. My twin and I were born on our English grandma's birthday and one of us should have been named after her. My parents were too busy having twins to remember, so our little sister Catherine is the one who carries her name. We called Catherine 'Kit' for short, When Kit got to first grade and had to write her name, she was mad because at 9 letters, hers was the longest name in the class.
ReplyDelete"G as in George or giraffe." Ah, the explanations! I had never known my name was unusual until I got to kindergarten and we sang "Home on the Range" during circle time. As we sang, "And seldom is heard / a discouraging word..." all the kids turned to stare at me. Many thought for a long time -- years? -- that my name was Seldom. (Selden)
DeleteToo funny Selden! (and I imagine, agonizing!) When I came home upset that Ricky McMurray had called me "Gilligan", mom and dad suggested I call him Tricky McFurry.
DeleteGillian, pronounced your way, was a common girls name when I was growing up. I had 3 in my class at school
DeleteYes...my mom had lived in Leeds (where she met dad) and had heard the name and liked it.
DeleteMorning all ~. Paula B here. If my name would be pronounced as the Spanish pronounce it, I’d like it better. So lyrical. As it is it’s pronounced with a nasal twang like I’m headed out to the woods to chop down trees. I give my characters names I wish I had if it fits. Current character is Maggie. Quiet strength is a crisis. No ax needed.
ReplyDeleteWell, you may (or may not) know that Liz is a pen name, so yeah, I picked my name. But it's my real middle name. The tradition in my family was that the first daughter was named Mary (after the mother) and the middle name is from the father's grandmother. I am (legally) Mary Elizabeth. My daughter is Mary Patricia. As you can tell from the chart, there weren't too many Marys in the 70s and even fewer in the 2000s (my daughter went to Catholic school her entire life and only encountered one other Mary - and the girl went by her middle name). Oddly, she wouldn't change it. Maybe if I could I'd be Liz all the time, but that's about it.
ReplyDeleteI think that name history chart needs one giant mountain for all the names that start with a "kath" sound. Back in middle school (1977) I had a social studies teacher who was known for having everyone sit in alphabetical order by last name. Then he got my class, and the first row was "Matt, Cathy, Kathy, Kathy, Cathie, Kathleen, Jerry" then the second row also started with "Cathy", so he gave up and let us sit anywhere we wanted. We Cathys had known each other since Kindergarten, so we were used to having two or three similar names in every class, but I think that was the only time we had six at once. I'm sure it was an added challenge for the teachers that most of us had B as a last initial. I never considered going by any other name though.
ReplyDeleteI love my first name - Denise - and always have. So, I never thought about wanting a different first name. There was some thought to naming me after one of my grandmothers - Arthemise or Alberta - but I don't think they thought very long, although my middle name did end up being Alberta (her nickname was Bertha - eesh). Thanks, mom - that was her mother's name. At the time, there was a famous actress named Denise Darcel - my mother liked the actress and so my parents decided to name me Denise. I look NOTHING like Denise Darcel but thanks for being around when I was born :)
ReplyDeleteI was the unexpected fourth child so my parents named me after both grandmothers AND (thankfully) a little girl named Emily Pray who my mother admired. So the full name is Ruth Emily Viola~whew! But I was always called Emily. Two problems: every first day of school the teacher called out Ruth and I had to explain the situation; second was no forms in the US provide for three first names so I virtually dropped Viola from all records. I love the name Emily. There was only one other Emily in my hometown so it was quite a shock when the name became so popular in the 80s. Previously if someone called out “Emily” it was for me so it took some time to figure that out.
ReplyDeleteMy name is okay now and I don't remember ever thinking I'd like to change it. My first son had 5 Jennifers in his class - I blame the movie Love Story - but no one then had either of his names, Zachary Wyatt, and he liked that. My daughter, Melanie, on the other hand, wanted to change her name to Cynthia, no idea why. I once asked my younger son Tim, if he ever wanted a different name. He told me that at one time he wanted something else but I don't think he told me what. As long as he wasn't called Timmy he was good.
ReplyDeleteMy grandchildren are Ayla (not many of them around) and Wyatt.
This is so wonderful to hear about everyone’s origin for their names. I love names (though when I was a kid I wanted a “normal” name, now I love mine). I especially love hearing about the connections to ancestors. For me, thinking of names for my pets, friends’ children (back when they were having them), and character names is so fun. I have always kept a list of names I come across that I like. When I was a teenager and went places with my friends (beach, amusement parks), we sometimes used fake names we would give to boys (or whoever) just to be goofy. For awhile it was the character names from Charlie’s Angels haha! No one ever caught on!
ReplyDeleteMy fake name in college was Heather. I got to use it a few more times during my years riding public transit.
DeleteFrom Celia: The charts are fascinating, particularly as at the very tip of the end Olivia is squeezed in. My Olivia whose name was unknown in 1970 but followed a new tradition for my family - Shakespearean names. My name is from As You Like It. When my sister was born six years later, in Trinidad, my father telegraphed the family in England announcing Rosalind Patricia, then went to the hospital to visit and told my mother he had named the baby. My mother was horrified. "You can't call her that". "Why not", replied my father? "Celia and Rosalind", said my mother. "Oh", was the response. "Well, it's too late, I've telegrammed the family".
ReplyDeleteSo Rosalind went through through being called Rosy when young and has finished up with Ros. I've never asked her how she liked her name.
When Olivia was born the hospital wanted a name, I didn't understand the rush but there it was. Victor wanted to carry on the Shakespearean tradition, so we ran through- Cleopatra- NO,, Portia, NO, Beatrice, uh, uh. Ophelia, definitely not, and finally landed on Olivia Anne after Celia Anne. Then came Grease and an ocean of Olivia's. But Celia is unusual and try as they might I've never gained a nickname which is fine with me.
When I met my husband he was called Vic by everyone. Then he came to the US and decided that he wanted to be called by his full name, Victor. We married and I finally got my green card and arrived to find my Vic had transformed into a Victor. I still wonder if I'd have dated him in the beginning had he been Victor from the start as it was a name I warmed to growing up in a family of very English names; mine, my sister and my brother, Andrew Douglas Henry. One can't get more traditional than those.
Celia is a lovely name. It was the name of my great-grandmother, who died when I was in high school. She was a school teacher and fiercely intellectual. Late in life, she would read the HARVARD FIVE-FOOT SHELF OF CLASSICS cover to cover, taking each of the 51 volumes volume in order. She was the first woman to be elected to the School Board in our town, and perhaps the first in the state. During the depression, her then-husband (she outlived two of them) would hitch up his wagon, go around to all the neighbors, and gather any library books they had, and ride into town to return the books and pick up new ones for each of them. My memories of her include a warm cast-iron stove, homemade biscuits, and a jar of honey that was always on her kitchen table. My oldest daughter was named Jessamyn Celia.
DeleteThere were many, many Susans when I was growing up. I didn't really mind the name, in spite of it being common. I never liked being called Susie, though. I went by Sue in middle and high school but switched back to Susan in college and ever since. I have had a funny "collision of worlds" thing, about that part. An old high school friend moved into my neighborhood and of course he called me Sue, and I never corrected him. Gradually, more and more of our neighbors began to use Sue. I hated to correct them, too, because it just didn't seem worth it. So now in that circle of friends, I am as likely to be called Sue as Susan. I still prefer Susan, but as long as I never hear a Susie, I can roll with it!
ReplyDeleteoh, the horrors of growing up as Harriet when all the cool girls were Debbie and Linda. I used to pretend to my name was Evangeline, that’s how terrible it was. I would have done anything to have a different name. In college, someone nicknamed me Hank, day one of school, and I have no idea who it was. I’ve been Hank ever since. Now I wish I were Harriet, I have to say I know my mother is laughing laughing laughing – – I used to complain so much: “How could you do this to me!”
ReplyDeleteI guess she knew what she was doing. But I realized too late.
Hank, my mother, Maria[h] Selden, was nicknamed "Mike" by friends as an athletic tomboy in the 1920s-30s. She went to college and married my father as Mike McDonald (except to her relatives and on forms). Fast forward to the 1970s and she decided to reclaim her name. She introduced herself as Maria always after that. My father and some of her friends made the switch; some never could. It didn't bother her. She wanted to be Maria again. (Selden)
DeleteMy mother was born Millard Harriet, with Millard being an amalgamation of her parents' names (Mildred and Bernard), but she was always Harriet. As an adult she rightly ignored the Millard, and also legally changed the spelling to Harriette, always insisting "It's Harriette, with two ts and an e." The spelling was very important to her although I never learned why.
DeleteBTW, despite being either Harriet or Harriette, my father always called her Peg, for "Peg o' My Heart."
DeleteI got to choose Rhys which I love much better than my real name Janet. It always sounded like such a snippy, bad tempered sort of name. But Rhys is after my Welsh grandfather. Other family members had Welsh names I would have liked .My aunt was Gwladys. At least that’s interesting. My husband is Arthur John after his father but was always John until government made him Arthur which he hates.
ReplyDeleteI think Rhys is a lovely and memorable name.
DeleteOh, yes. Plenty to say on this. True confession is that my full name is Beatrice. Never have I ever met anyone my age with that name. Never. Just me and Princess Beatrix of Netherlands. It was a very old fashioned name; I knew several people my mother's age with that name. When I was a baby, my parents decided Triss (last half of Beatrice) made a cute name and that is what I have used most of my life. (Why they gave me a name they didn't like is another story) The surprise, of course, is that a couple decades ago Beatrice came back into fashion in a big way! Very confusing. And to this day I would rather have been Elizabeth. :-) Yes its' fun naming characters. I love thinking through what I want the name to convey and researching what is right for time and place.
ReplyDeleteI was born in the deep south in 1959 and was named Mary Helen after my paternal Great Great Aunt Mary Gresham Mathews (born in the 1860’s) and again for my maternal Great Aunt Helen Jordan (1890’s) My mother was big on naming all four children family names and it carried through with my naming my three children family names from my and my husbands family thus combing their first and middle names such as Hardy Kendall ( Kendall ) and Edmond Mathews ( Mat )and nicknamed Ed Mat and Sara Lawson ( Sara ) and given the nick name Sara No H. Lots of family history for all three and it was fun to share the history and stories with each child as my Mom did with me and my siblings. My Aunt Mary was the first female to go to college in Macon, Ga at Wesleyan College For Women, she was a witness of a murder in Talbotton, GA and was called to testify. She died at 95 yrs and never married although I was told that she was in love with a young man from Saint Simmons, GA and was heartbroken when he died before they were to announce their engagement. I love names and hearing the stories behind them !
ReplyDelete( Mary Helen E.)
I have actually always liked my name (and no, it’s not anonymous) It isn’t a common one although I do come across it every so often. The problem is it doesn’t stand alone when it is given a definition. It is always considered to be a male derivative which annoys me. I also don’t like nicknames for it which some people have tried to use instead of the full name. That is another question-how to people feel about nicknames as opposed to their actual one?
ReplyDeleteMy middle name is the one I don’t care for but I always use my middle initial which no one ever guesses, If I am using a signature my name isn’t legible anyway.
My niece shares the same middle name and she doesn’t like it either.
Since both my names are in memory of past relatives I accept the names as being in honor of them.
By the way, one of the Reds has the same first name but doesn’t use it and I have wondered why.
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