These days I hear the term, "Naming Rights" tossed around ... but aside from marketing a football stadium I've little idea what it means.
Some may recall, when my favorite royals were expecting their third child I wrote a silly post, asking readers for their suggestions. Years ago I read where Diana wanted to name her first-born "Oliver", but was shut-down by the Corporation. Imagine, how wearying it must feel, having to bow to tradition!
I keep a mental list of favorites, but seriously? I don't recall my son or granddaughter asking my opinion, lol. Tom and I thought long and hard what to call our new pups, but I doubt there will be any more. Will I invest in a tank of goldfish or gerbils that answer to Lydia, Landry ... Eleanora, even?
Recently an author I follow on social media invited her readers to submit suggestions for a dog (gender neutral) to be featured in an upcoming book. Mine ("Theodore") wasn't picked, but I still got a kick out of reading others' ideas. "Rover" is so yesterday; I love how folks are borrowing from yesteryear. Even the little stray who's taken a liking to Troy and Lois answers to "Sylvia."
Have any of y'all any funny or unusual stories about your own name ... or those of your offspring?
I can't believe it !!! I do this too. I have spent the last few evenings on youtube looking at popular name from long ago. Since childhood I've re- named myself several times. Names are special and so many time they represent a special memory of some one from the past. With my name being Mary and Mr D is Dean, my granddaughter is Mary Maegan De-an♥ Oh, by the way, we're not 'past' yet. lol
ReplyDeleteSooo glad I'm not alone! I love that your granddaughter carries on you and Mr. D's names ... such a gift she's been given.
DeleteI love how names hold stories, memories, and even a bit of personality! “Sylvia” for a stray is adorable. Naming pets or even imaginary kids is more fun than people realizevit's pure creativity!
ReplyDeleteYes! Come to think of it, it is fun.
DeleteI have a sort of obsession with names. When I was about fifteen me and a girl across the street decided to get married, we planned a hippie wedding, and were picking names for our children. Believe it or not, I wanted a daughter named Myra (!). I liked the name. Of course our fantasy marriage never materialized.
ReplyDeleteI was named John, after my father and I HATED being a junior. When I was sixteen I had my name changed to Jonathan. It seemed better.
There are some names that I dislike from some people I knew. Frank is one of them....(I knew several Franks that I despised).
When I was a child, names were boring. Linda or Bobby. Nowadays the names are unique...but often over-used.
Oh my goodness! In my youth, I used to wish my parents had given me a 'cute' name; now, I'm glad it's not so common. Imagine graduation ceremonies in another 12-13 years ... Taylor #1, Taylor #2, Madison, Taylor #3, etc., etc. (jk!).
DeleteOne of my sons/daughter in laws chose traditional names for their children. The other set chose very unique names. Now I can't imagine any of those grandchildren with anything other than the name they were given.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for the video. One of my favorites!
DeleteI'm glad your grands 'own' their names proudly, Kathy.
DeleteThat's one of my fav songs, too.
I used to have a list of baby names as a teenager that I liked but tastes change. And of course the father, if he’s in the picture has some say but to me, I had the edge of naming our sons. He was a junior and he even hated it but his family were pressing me. Hey, my baby in my body will have the final say what to name my baby. And I did.
ReplyDeleteAww ever time I hear Jim Croce I think of that horrible plane crash that killed him. He was so young - and such a talent!
Giggling, b/c the childrens' father never entered into my imagination. (Unfortunately, my 'ex' chose our son's name, but I eventually came to like it.)
DeleteInteresting post. Sorry I haven't been around, my lungs are bad and I haven't had time or energy to read posts. Take care.
ReplyDeleteHugs and prayers, Debby!
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ReplyDeletePeople should be careful when naming their children and not choose names that would embarrass them. At University there was a girl called Cris Lear, (at least that's how we knew her). At graduation they read out her full name when she came forward to collect her certificate: Crystal Shandy Lear.
ReplyDeleteI was told that David Beckham (footballer) called his son Brooklyn because that's where he was conceived.
Other people are following his example. I know a girl called: At the frozen food aisle at the supermarket.
As for dogs names. I once called a dog Shark. It was embarrassing when he broke off his lead on the beach.
The neighbour next door is in his 80s and just got a Labrador puppy. I think he called him Help because yesterday he was in the garden for over an hour shouting Help. Eventually there was an ambulance at his house. I didn't know they look after dogs!
I now choose traditional names for dogs; like Sit or Stay. Much easier to remember; but my two dogs are always confused.
God bless, Mevely.
Your characters' names never fail to crack me up! I feel sorry for the reader who blinks and misses something.
DeleteI'm not sure if this story is really true or not but my folks liked the name Susan. They didn't want to spell it the traditional way because my Grandpa was old country Swedish with a heavy accent. They didn't want it to be Shoe-shan or something like that so they spelled my name Suzan. Of course all through school people called me Suzanne not Suz(e)n. Its find I learned to just smile and say Susan and then all of my friends called me Suzy which was a near and dear name for me.
ReplyDeleteI wanted my first born to be Johanna but Dave nixed that right from the start. So we settled on Karen Elizabeth...but that didn't work for our first born who is Steven Edward. Middle name after Dave's Dad's middle name.
It was a long time before our other son was born. We had been through a rough time and the Lord gave me the name Mark Arron because he was a promise as the rainbow is and Mark would grow to be a Strong Tower. Lots behind those names but that is all I will share now.
Whew, I guess that's a short novelette for today. Good questions.
Sue/Suzan/Suzy
I love, love LOVE your history, Sue! For some reason I'm reminded of a childhood book about parents introducing their little son (David) to the new baby girl who he called "Susan-Poozen." Nothing else; isn't that a silly memory?
DeleteI'd love to hear more when you feel inclined.
My middle name is Kay - they were starting a tradition. Lasted only two generations. Linda Kay. Patricia Kay. Sandra Kay. My daughter is Kelly Kay. No one else would do it - probably because we don't know a Kay. My brother was Andy, and he named me Sandie.
ReplyDeleteKelly named her son Andy, after my brother Andy.
I think it is nice to have a reason for a name.
My kids are going to use Jordan as Mackenzie's middle name after her sister.
"A reason for a name." That's wonderful, Sandie!
DeleteIt's pretty amusing how you still keep a mental list of favorites, even if your family doesn't consult you on their children's names. And it's fun to hear about the creative names people are giving pets these days, like "Sylvia" for a stray.
ReplyDeleteMy "mental lists" are many!
DeleteMy children both have biblical names from the Old Testament: Daniel and Sarah. I never gave a thought about them being "Jewish." What a horrid thing to say! I recall that my mother was upset in some ways because I didn't choose names that had been traditionally in the family. Oh, well. You can't please all the people all the time, now, can you?
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Myra, and I do love your name!
I know, I thought that was so close-minded. Prejudicial. We've come a long way, thank goodness!
DeleteMy name is Carolyn Nell (75 yrs old) Carolyn was my mother’s middle name and Nell was an aunt’s name.
ReplyDeleteOddly, my mother didn’t like the name Carolyn…but preferred “Caroline”. She just used that as her middle name. She even drew a line thru Carolyn on her birth certificate and WROTE IN “Caroline”. She used that birth certificate until she died at 95 years. Some of her documents read as one name and some use the other. I guess things were just not so rigid back then.
But that’s not all. My mother did not like the aunt she named me after.
So, my question is, “why did my mother give me 2 names she didn’t like?” Maybe she had a premonition of what our future relationship would be like and was getting her blows in early.
Interesting! I, too, was given my mother's first and middle names, only transposed. (As a teen, I thought that was soooo unoriginal.) I'm 75, too!
DeleteOh my gosh, I do this too! Monikers are my thing. It's amazing the origins of many names. It is fun to know.
ReplyDeleteAnd after reading Victors comment above it reminded me of something that happened that I heard of in the '80s. I worked with a gal who had a black Labrador. She named it Tar Baby. One day it broke off it's lead in a colorful part of town and she couldn't call the dogs name for fear of being shot at!! True story! lol ❤️
That is SO FUNNY!
DeleteOH such fun with names. I've mentioned before that I am Pamela Anne...Anne with an "e" after Anne of Green Gables. My mother loved that book, and I was a redhead, so it all fit. Our first born is named after several grandfathers, William is his first name, named for my dad, hubby's Dad, and also my paternal grandfather. Middle name is Benton after my maternal grandfather, and we call him Benton because there were too many Bill's already. 2nd child Matthew Everette...Matthew means "gift of God", and he was that. Everette just seemed to go with Matthew, but I don't know why I added that e to the end of it. I just thought that's how it was supposed to be spelled until I found out no one else spells it that way. Matthew wanted to now why he wasn't named after anyone in our family and we told him because he was unique and a gift from God. He said he'd prefer a middle name of Frank, after my hubby's middle name and his paternal grandfather, but we really didn't like the name Frank that much. Our baby son is John Scott. John for his daddy, and Scott because we asked our other two boys what they would like to call him, and they said "Scotty" after the little boy across the street. We liked the name so we named him that. Found out the little boy across the street was also a John Scott! LOL. My hubby is named after his two grandfathers, John Frank. So now you know more than you wanted to know. My hubby originally wanted to name our first born Montgomery Beaumont and call him "Bo". I'm glad that didn't happen. LOL.
ReplyDeleteI love hearing backstories like this ... especially how you explained his name to Matthew.
DeleteMontgomery Beaumont sounds like a wealthy plantation owner, right out of Gone With the Wind!
Oh, and we did have girls names picked out, but of course we didn't have any girls. Amanda Danielle if she was a brunette, and Robin Noelle if she was a redhead. LOL.
ReplyDeleteBoth pretty names! If my Troy was a girl, he would have been Tonya, but I don't remember choosing a middle name.
DeleteI TOO....DO THE SAME. NAMES ARE IMPORTANT AND IF YOU ARE "A BOY NAMED SUE" YOU WOULD BE MORE INCLINED TO REALIZE HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO MAKE SURE YOUR CHILD'S NAME IS FITTING. STRANGE....BUT NO ONE EVER CALLS ME BY MY GIVEN NAME. EVERYONE THAT I KNOW IN THE NEXT 40 COUNTIES CALLS ME SHUG. EVEN MY DOCTOR REFERS TO ME AS SHUG... FOR THE LONGEST, I THOUGHT YOU HAD TO BE NAMED WILLIAM OR THOMAS OR ROBERT TO BE A DOCTOR!! LOL .... I do love the old names from my ancestors though.... Have a great day Myra...enjoyed this post.. Oh...I forgot to say, that when we had our first daughter (Trista) Sam wanted to name her Sam. I was totally against it because my Sam is Sam III and I felt that this was enough Sam's. On his side of the family, we now have 6 Sam's!! that is plenty.
ReplyDeleteOh, how I enjoyed this! Thank you, Shug.
DeleteNames are so important. I think a lot of people name their child after someone in the family. That makes since to me. My new great granddaughter is named Evelyn. It wad my mom's name. I thought perhaps they had used her name, but, no, they didn't know that and it was pure coincidence. My name is Pam, but anymore no one calls me that I am known as 'ma'. Even our neighbor calls me that. Enjoy your name as long as you live. It's important to be yourself. Love, ma
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DeleteEvelyn was my mother's name, too! I do like your given name; one of my friend sometimes refers to herself as "Pam-ella."
DeleteI'm smiling at me, I never liked Jackie as my name. But that was after someone told me Jackie was a girl's name Jacky was a boy's name. LOL All that fuss and when our first son was born, I stuck him with Jackie Jr. Shame on me. We both are and have been just Jack.
ReplyDeleteBut I am amazed about today's names, our latest Great Grand daughter is: Palmer June. I must ask Sherry (I just did again) when I try to remember. OUCH. The name really doesn't matter to grands or great grands, they are just precious, and Palmer IS!
Good topic enjoy it and comments.
My former husband named his son "Joey" -- not Joseph, not Joe. I sometimes wonder if Joey ever forgave him. LOL!
DeleteApparently there had been talk about calling me Patricia Gail, but my father said no because my nickname would be Windy Pat. That still cracks me up.
ReplyDelete😄
DeleteWell, long story short, I was born Jennifer Lynn and my dad was in Vietnam...anyways, he was shot down etc...and by the time the news got to my mom, she had named me...well, the request came in, and my name was changed...it practically took a congressional movement to do so. So that's that, LOL.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! In the words of my late mother, "That takes the cake!"
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