To start, go ahead and click on the link. That will give you a soundtrack for this blog. It's been going through my head all morning, so you might as well share the love!
I've been thinking about names a lot recently. My mother-in-law is "Libby" - always has been. But her legal name is "Elizabeth". DO NOT CALL HER ELIZABETH! She never liked the name, never answered to it. She is Libby. If you looked at all of her official documents - driver license, bank records, old W-2s, you would swear her name is Libby. Poor old unloved Elizabeth. Nowhere to be found.
My mom is Betty. Also not an Elizabeth. But she never was. Her given name is "Betty". And if you offered to make her an Elizabeth, she would smack you. She doesn't like the name. At least not for her. She likes QUEEN Elizabeth just fine, can't imagine her being "Queen Betty", but don't call Mom "Elizabeth."
My name isn't really "Kate". I don't care for my first name, so over 20 years ago I just decided to go by Kate. Someday I will have to go make it legal and official. I've only ever been Kate to Scott and my Oregon family. Heck, my son has heard me go by Kate for almost his entire life. If you asked him what my full name is, I bet he would start with "Kate".
It seems name things are mostly a female issue. Is it Barb or Barbie or Barbara? Jean or Jeanie? Melissa or Missy? Maureen or Mo? Caroline or Carol? We care about what we are called. Men usually don't mind. (Although I do have an Uncle Earl who has been "Uncle Bud" always and forever. His son is a junior, and so goes by "Little Bud".)
At work I have been collecting unique and unusual first names. When folks are calling to verify their ability to claim a child as a dependent I will ask for the child's first name, so that I can call him or her by name, rather than just "your kid". So far I have run across a girl named London. Her brother is Polo. Her OTHER brother is Tatiano. (Note the "o" on the end - that makes is masculine and so is fine for a boy's name - that's what mom told me) There is a young lady named Integra. Another named Miracle. And one named J. Just the letter. There was one interesting boy's name. It seems the parent/s were torn between something ethnic and something very Roman Empirish when they chose the name Keyontavius for their son. What in the world is the name HIS friends call him??
Shakespeare said "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" and yet Juliet plaintively requested that Romeo "Deny thy father and refuse thy name" so it sounds like even The Bard was conflicted about names. But my Dad never was. Although his name is not the sort to cause any confusion (it was "John" after all!) folks still managed to mess it up, mostly because he had a "first name" for a last name, too. Bu Dad didn't care. He always said "Call me anything you want. Just don't call me late for dinner."
If that little taste of Southern Fried Rock made you hungry for more....Lynyrd Skynyrd - All Time Greatest Hits
You KNOW this blog went over well with me. :) I'm Jeannie, but it's pronounced Jenny, my family calls me Jen, & Mike calls me Marie. Mike is Michael Wayne, but I call him Ray. Sarah is really Elizabeth (finally, an Elizabeth! lol) but she gets called Bubba, Bitsy, Bits or just plain B. Zack is Zachary, but he gets called Hack (Sarah's 2 year old pronunciation of Zack) or Max, our dog's name. Yeah, I call my kid by the dogs name half the time. Sheesh.
ReplyDeletebut as your dad said.... Call me anything you want, just don't call me late for dinner. :)
And now, you have GOT to tell us your real name. :) My middle name is Gray and I used to HATE it. I refused to tell anyone what it was so all through school, the other kids called me Gertrude. The only G name they could think of.
Miracle goes to my church. Her daughter, of course, is named Faith.
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