This photo is from a recent family session.When I was in 6Th grade I wanted to be known as Dallas. I wished my parents had named me that. Never mind that it sounded pole dancer-ish (no offense) I went about signing my name that way, even on school papers.
I got over that phase when my mom gave me a silver ring that was a circle of laurel leaves. My name derives from the Latin name Laurus, which meant "laurel." The leaves of the Laurel tree were used to create victors' garlands in ancient Rome. So the meaning of my name evolved into "Victory." I liked that but then I thought they should have just named me Laurel since that sounded way cooler than Laura.
I was sure I couldn't find the name Laurel on a pencil.
By the time I was in 7Th grade, I had a list of names for my future children. On my list were Ashley, Emma, Brianne, Caroline, Sunnie, Jesse, Courtland, Eugenie, Carmen and Jacqueline. I ended up not using any of them.
For boys I just had Joseph, Shane and John. I wanted to name a boy John so I could call him "John John" just like Jackie Kennedy. I ended up marrying a boy named Jon whose mom did call him "Jon-Jon." Trae's middle name is Jonathon so that's as close as I got.
When naming our children, we didn't want to go too far into nut-case land but wanted to have something unique and couldn't be found on that pencil in a souvenir shop. Well, maybe that was just me. So far no one has found their name, which has backfired a few times. Do you know how much extra you have to pay to have something personalized? Except for Reese, when he wants something with his name on it, he heads straight for a Reese's peanut butter cup and I'm only out 79 cents.
Have you ever wanted a different name? Do you like your name?
Have you ever wanted a different name? Do you like your name?
YES. I always thought Mary was too conservative and old for me. Trixie was my hearts desire. Also a little pole dancerish, but I loved it. I tried to talk Travis into naming one of our kids that, no dice. Who knows if I could have gone through with it if he had agreed.
ReplyDeleteI haven't liked my name as a first name at all. In my time, everyone had Lynn as a middle name or a part of their first name. I always wanted to be called Linnina, after a character in a favorite book I read as a teenager. Then I went through a string of names: Janna, Marissa, Nicole, Bettina yada,yada,yada !
ReplyDeleteThe closest I ever got to being called by something else was when my best friend and I disguised ourselves in notes we passed in class every day. It became my nickname in Jr. High and High School...but I'll never tell... ( at least not here for all the world to see ) LOL !
Funny, I never could find my name on a pencil when I was growing up. I always wanted something a little more common because of that. I can find Shannon all over the place now, but not then. I wanted my kids to have normal names with normal spellings and buy them personalized note books, etc. Funny the things we pick up on. BTW- I have a couple of kids who would love to have the name Reese if it meant they could have the candy bar!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't imagine being called anything but Solviej, I used to not like my last name because it wasn't unusual enough, but I got over it, and then I lost it when I got married.
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