My dad's name was Waldo, and even before Where's Waldo? he hated it. When my brother was born, my mom suggested naming him after my dad. He said absolutely not. They named him John.
My dad's older brother was Donald and his younger brother was Fremont. My dad accused his mother of starting to read romance novels after Donald was born. He thought she must have gotten the idea for these more unusual names from her reading. He always went by Wally, which was more acceptable to him.
When my dad joined the U.S. Navy during World War II, he discovered that his parents had misspelled his name on his birth certificate. It was down as Waldow. Actually my grandparents thought Waldow was the correct spelling and then a few years alter decided it should be Waldo and just started spelling it that way. The Navy was not so flexible and so Waldo had to go to court to legally change the spelling of his name.
My mother didn't particularly like her name either, which was Corinne, pronounced Core-reen. Many people said core-rin even after being corrected. I think the bother of always correcting people and hearing it said wrong was a big part of her dislike.
It's interesting that many "old fashioned" names are coming back and also that parents don't use nicknames as much for their children. When I was in school there were lots of Billys, Jimmys, Bobbys, etc. Now kids seem to go by William, James, and Robert.
What's in a name? How does a name affect a person? How many people want to change their names? Or go by a nickname?
This made me smile because I am a person who is not particularly fond of his name. It is nothing strange or unusual, I just don't know where my parents picked it from because no one in our family has the same name. Legally I'm Robert. To my colleagues I'm Bob. To my family and a few old friends I am and always will be Bobby. arjeha
ReplyDeleteI probably should have included why we named our children the names we gave them. It's the custom in my husband's family to name children after a deceased relative. We didn't exactly do that and some people weren't happy.
DeleteI was named after my mom, Verrena, but then was always called by my middle name. My mom had sisters named Easter, Pluma, Loray, Irene, and Pauline.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering now if Easter was born on Easter Sunday.
DeleteName stories fascinate me! Being that my grandfather was Columbus St. Patrick -! I think Corinne beautiful. I am named Frances for my grandmother, Ruby Frances...I loved her so but hated the name all the way up to recent years, honest. I've grown to embrace it. My granddaughters, however, have given me my favorite name of all: Franna.
ReplyDeleteFranna is such a lovely name for you as a grandmother!
DeleteYES, our names impact who we are and who we grow to be. I would have been Colleen with an Irish surname, except I was born on my mother's best friend's birthday. That best friend was named after a Hispanic maid who helped during a difficult twin pregnancy. SO, if you are still following, I have a Hispanic first name and an Irish surname that really never fit who I was!
ReplyDeleteSo you confuse people who try to categorize you? Not a bad thing.
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