BS: Were you named after anyone?

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 08:56 PM

I was named after my aunt Alice Flynn who was named after my great aunt Alice Flynn who was named after an Alice Flynn before her... on back in time.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Adrianel
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 10:47 PM

My wife has a "follow-on" name, the same one as her mother and (maternal) grandmother - Mavourneen. We don't know if it goes further back than that.
I share a middle name (Elmer) with my father; I haven't the faintest idea where it comes from as it's very rare in England.
My Gran (father's mother) was always very sparing with syllables in names. Her children were "Ive" (Ivan, my father), "Bet" (Betty), "Gorg" (Gordon) and "Peg" (Peggy). It took my mother a long time, when she and my father were courting (as one did in the 1930s), to get Gran to grant her 2 syllables (Hilda), so she was determined to give her children names that Gran could not reduce to monosyllables. So, I am Adrian ("Ade"), my brother is Nigel ("Nige"), and our sister Miranda ("Mandy"). Mother sort of won 1 out 3.
To vary the thread slightly, how many people do you know who have different names with different groups of friends? I grew up with a John (given names John Christopher) who became Chris when he went to flight school (as there were too many other Johns in the class). A college friend was a bluff Mancunian called Jed. After he qualified as a doctor, he decided Jerry (he is actually Gerald) sounded better. My grandfather (Gran's husband, George John) was George to all except his sister, who always called him John.
As we say we say in Yorkshire "All the world's a little strange, except for thee and me, and ah have me doubts about thee".

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: dianavan
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 03:40 AM

They were going to call me Georgia but since I was born on May Eve, they named me Diana. I'm just glad they didn't call me Eva May. My brother would have been John III so they named him Jan, instead. He was always assigned to girls P.E. class which he didn't mind at all. He'd innocently walk into the girl's locker room and protest when they tried to remove him. My youngest brother got his initials first, K.C. then they found names to match - Kelvin Charles. I still call him K.C.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: JennyO
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 08:00 AM

I should be thankful that they didn't go for Jennifer Dorothy, it's a bit of a mouthful.

JennieG, funny you should say that. I am Jennifer Dorothy, and it IS a bit of a mouthful, but it doesn't really matter. How often do you get called by your full name?

My mother, whose name was Winifred Jean, liked Jean but didn't like Winifred. She called me Jennifer because she thought it sounded similar to Jean. As it turned out, when looking up the origins of names, we found that Jennifer and Winifred were actually more closely linked, both being derivations of Guinevere.

My second name Dorothy was the name of my aunt, a nursing sister who owned a private hospital. I was born there - she delivered me. So I was named after her.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Micca
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 08:05 AM

Jenny, If I recall correctly, To be called by your full name, esp. by your mother was a Sign that you were deeply in the poo and probably needed to start swimming and maybe checking alibis

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: kendall
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 08:37 AM

Becca72, I named you Rebecca simply because I always liked that name. I never had a girlfriend named Rebecca, that originated with your Aunt Linda. She gets odd notions that only make sense to her.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: JennyO
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 08:37 AM

Well yes, Micca, that is true, but they didn't have to resort to that too often. I was mainly called Jenny, so just calling me Jennifer was enough to let me know I was in trouble.

I can still recall the rising inflection in my mother's voice, calling out when my brother and I were hiding somewhere outside:

Jenni- fer!! Grah - am!!

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Micca
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 09:53 AM

Yeah, Jenny, that rising inflection, Mich-ael, was a definate strike one, Michael Anthony, was much deeper trouble, I only got Michael Anthony Gerard Patterson Once and I have the marks permanently etched in my Psyche for the aftermath of that incident.
I think the Michael was from my fathers family ,it was some kind of traditional name for them (I learned when I was in my late teens that I have a half-brother(same father)also called Michael) the Anthony was from my Mothers choice, No idea why, and the Gerard also, No idea.
We were a family for nicknames tho' and I had many when I was little,including ,Democles,You little toe rag, Mikker which slowly decayed into Micca (since gaelic use the hard K sound for C(as in Celtic, which is properly pronounced Keltic not selltic)and I have used it on and off ever since, I still respond to Mike also, and have also been called Patt(surname abbreviation) when I served in a ship that had 3 Mikes in the deck crew!!

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Becca72
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 10:15 AM

LOL...thanks for clearing that up, dad. I was cool with it either way.


As for what you were called when in trouble, I'm lucky enough to have 2 older sisters who were much worse than I...so when I was in trouble with mum it was "Elaine....er....Debra....er REBECCA ELLEN!! :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: MBSLynne
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 10:55 AM

Talking about the inflection on the second syllable of a name...my parents liked Lynne because you couldn't shorten it, then went on to call me by longer nicknames! My Dad has always called me Lulu, and still does. My Mum sometimes calls me that too, or Linnet. My brother calls me Lynna and my sister calls me Linsey!

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Flash Company
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 11:19 AM

Figure I had a lucky escape! The original plan was to name me after my two (deceased) Grandfathers, but when Dad was going to register the birth he met a neighbour who asked,' What are you going to call him?'
When he told her she said,'You shouldn't call him after two dead folk!', So off his own bat he registered me as Brian, there had never been a Brian in either family!
As I said, lucky escape, I could have been John Percival.

FC

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 12:17 PM

RE Micca: He answers to 'little round git' as well... : )

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Bernard
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 01:18 PM

My father was Rear Gunner (Tail-end Charlie) in Avro Lancaster bombers during WWII, and I was named after the pilot, Bernard Fitch, whose skill kept them all alive. Assisted by a degree of good luck...!

Not only is my father still alive to this very day, but so is Bernard Fitch - and they are now in their mid eighties. Sadly, one of the crew died last year - navigator Len Whitehead.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Deckman
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 04:53 PM

I thought you might find this interesting: My Father's birth name, as on his 1908 christening certificate is: Thekney Hjalmer Frithien Niemi Knuttala Nelson! (I kid you not). Being Named "Roope" instead of any more names, made me quite grateful. CHEERS, Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: bubblyrat
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 05:51 PM

I guess Joan Baez ought to know something about Scottish - Mexican marriages, if what I read about her years ago is true ?? My middle name is Vaughan,but I have absolutely no idea why. I like to imagine that whoever picked the name enjoyed the music of Vaughan-Williams.!
For years, my grandmother insisted that my first name,Roger, came from my father"s time in the Royal Air Force,as a wireless (radio) operator / air -gunner ( in a Boeing B-17 )----it wasn"t until I was about 40 that I found out that I was,in fact,named after the brother of a girl my dad was keen on during the war !! I recall reading a story about Oprah Winfrey. Apparently, her mother wanted to name her daughter after someone in the Bible. The name she chose was ORPAH , the sister of RUTH.However,either Mrs.Winfrey senior,or the registrar of births,misread it,or was dyslexic, hence OPRAH !!One should always be careful with names !My sister nearly got called Amanda Lyn !!

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: JennieG
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 06:47 PM

My parents never ever addressed me as Jennifer, always Jennie, and they always spelled it that way. I knew I was in trouble (if not to say deep shit) when my mother started calling me "my girl" - "now see here, my girl....!"

My mother's maiden name was Mavis Davis. Why - she didn't know. She was born in 1924 when Mavis was a popular name for girls, but when your surname is Davis why call a daughter Mavis? why not Beryl? or Dulcie? or any of the other names popular at the time?

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Joe_F
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 08:08 PM

I was named after my father's father Joseph Fineman and my mother's father Clinton B. Hughes.

While my mother was expecting me, she called me Rachel in the hope that the perversity of fate would make me a boy. That did the trick.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Bernard
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 08:17 PM

Hmmm... my three-year-old granddaughter Amber knows she's in bother when her mum says 'Come here, lady!'.

One of the daftest names I can remember was the headmistress of the local infant school. With 'Olive' as her first name, why did she marry someone called 'Plant'? Could have been worse, I suppose... 'Grove' or 'Hoyle'...!

A teacher friend had someone in her class called Duane Pype... like they say, truth is often stranger than fiction!!

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Naemanson
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 08:38 PM

Wesley, your wife and I hav3e something in common. I too was named for Bret Maverick. However, my parents were not ones to go too far down that lane. They put an extra 't' on the end.

My middle name comes from my mother's youngest brother, David. When I was young he was my hero. He rode dirt bikes back before the Japanese bikes showed up with their two stroke engines. He liked to ride a customized BSA. My grandmother's cellar was always full of motorcycle parts and David's hearth was covered with trophies. He could enjoy looking at them while his latest broken bones healed.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: heric
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 08:41 PM

No, but I named my kid Neil so that his name wouldn't be too common in USofA-land. Left my elders out of the process, only to be informed after the fact that he has two recent ancestors of the same name, both of whom met their maker after being trompled by horses. (Prairie farm folk.)

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Alba
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 09:43 PM

Yes, I was named after several Family Members, but that all changed after I entered the witness protection program!

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 18 Feb 07 - 03:16 AM

Roger for the romantic hero of a novel my mother was reading at the time (OK, stop laughing!) Martin , my middle name, was my maternal grandmother's maiden surname. My dad was off in the RAF at the time so I guess he didn't get a say!

RtS

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 18 Feb 07 - 03:58 AM

nope, lucky me. Tho I was supposed to be Susan except one of mum's friends had a baby girl & named her Susan, so I got Sandra (dunno why)

But my sister has mum's name as her middle name (Joy), & my brother has dad's name as his middle name (Reginald) & my youngest sister has her cousin's name as a middle name (Valerie). Cousin was her second godmother. All first names are new to the family trees (Sandra, Pam, John & Diane).

Mum's middle name is her paternal aunt's first name (Alice), her sister's first name is her maternal aunt's name (Ruby) & if I remember correctly her middle name (Thelma) was another aunt.

On Mum's side of the tree there are very few repetitions, however Dad's paternal mother's tree is full of repetitions, lotsa' Johns, Georges, Ellens, Eleanors, Sarahs ...

Dad's middle name was his mother's maiden name (Bowie) & my brother gave his son Jack this middle name. John was called Jack by many of his mates, so used this name for his son.

Mum's dad was named Harry (not Harold). Dad's dad was born Isaac Francis & always called himself Frank Isaac - he even used those names when he was married & was also buried under that name.

Speaking of older relatives claiming a child was named after them - Dad's cousin Clarice was not named after her aunt Clara! But Aunt claimed her.

Worse case of not upsetting rellies was the friend who was named after her 6 aunties! Her first name was Edna & I can no longer remember the whole list.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: MBSLynne
Date: 18 Feb 07 - 04:09 AM

I once saw an interview on tv with Diana Ross. They asked her the names of her children. I don't remember the others (I think there were three of them) but the youngest daughter was called Chutney!! My family didn't hear much of the rest of the interview, we were all laughing too much. I guess chutney is possibly not something eaten in America?

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: GUEST,Andy
Date: 18 Feb 07 - 06:10 AM

I was born on 30th November and named Andrew, after the saint of that day.
I always thank my lucky stars that I wasn't born on St Swithins day!!

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: GUEST,Dani
Date: 18 Feb 07 - 11:16 AM

Depends on who you'd ask, but no one is left to tell the tale, so this is my memory:

My father wanted a daughter called 'Dani'. I think there was a character in a book that he liked, but if I ever knew the name of it, I've forgotten.

My mother's father was the youngest surviving of 13 children of Daniel McCarry and Ellen Gallagher. Pop-Pop's name was Daniel Donald, but he always used Don/Donald. I've often wondered where the 'Donald' came from to a poor widowed Irishwoman early last (pre-Trump) century; though the McCarrys DID live in Atlantic City. Hmmmm.....

As first grandchild, I became Danielle, French version apparently offending no one. The first MALE grandchild became Daniel as well, and we are thus 'the other Dani/Danny'.

Dani

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: heric
Date: 18 Feb 07 - 11:32 AM

My story is kind of like that. I was (contrary to my version above) named after my grandfather who had no sons. One Donald MacDonald in a family full of Donald MacDonalds. But he always called himself Dan/Daniel. So that's what I was give. Because according to these people, Daniel and Donald are the same name, and who am I to argue?

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Mooh
Date: 18 Feb 07 - 12:48 PM

My grandmother was named Rosetta Lily, but for all of her 99 years was known as Birdie. Few people knew her real name, even friends. I didn't name Rosie The Wonder Dog for her directly, though it figures in there somehow. Rosie was named for a character in Led Zeppelin and AC/DC songs..and I just like the name, maybe because my grandmother wasn't known by it.

My older brother got my Dad's name, and I'm glad I didn't as I already answer the "are you related" question a lot.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Ebbie
Date: 18 Feb 07 - 06:35 PM

MBSLynne, yes, Americans *do* eat chutney. My neighbor even makes his own. I have no idea why a child would be named that, though. I don't suppose it's much weirder than calling a child 'May' or 'April' or 'Charity' or 'Civilla', or for that matter, Dolores (dolorous), or Victor. When you think about it, names are strange.

I heard from a school teacher of a child whose name was pronounced 'Fee Molly', spelt 'Female'.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Bernard
Date: 18 Feb 07 - 06:51 PM

On the subject of daft names...

My daughter takes her two young 'uns to swimming classes, and it seems a family of four children have the names Mercedes, Harley, Aston and Jensen...

Okay, Mercedes is a girls' name, and Mercedes Benz gave her name to the car. Jensen isn't that uncommon for a boy, neither is Harley. But Aston? It's more common as a surname, and apparently means 'East Town'.

Each name in isolation probably wouldn't seem so unusual, but the four together indicates a different reasoning, methinks.

Sometimes parents don't think through what they are doing to their children!

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: GUEST,Dani
Date: 18 Feb 07 - 07:58 PM

Can someone tell me why Blanca is a common Mexican name?!

Dani (curious)

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: number 6
Date: 18 Feb 07 - 08:08 PM

I was after someone called William. He was of some importance to my parents, and had in many ways impacted both their lives, but no need to post who he was here, as it really wouldn't matter.

biLL

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: GUEST, heric
Date: 18 Feb 07 - 08:51 PM

Oh c'mon, Bill. Even if William of Orange was gay, which isn't necessarily established, there's nothing wrong with that and nothing to be shy about. You're among friends here, man.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: number 6
Date: 18 Feb 07 - 08:52 PM

Jeeeeesh.

It doesn't matter heric, it really doesn't matter. Believe me.

LOL

biLL

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Rowan
Date: 18 Feb 07 - 10:26 PM

My mother was pregnant with me while my father was away in the army (WWII) and had had a bit of a set-to with his family so I was never sure why I ended up with a Scottish name (and Robert Graves, already mentioned above, had a lot to say about "Rowan") as the first of my two Given names; I scored my father's for my second. It was many years later, when I received a letter, apparently addressed to me but really intended for an academic medico I had known about at university, that I found out a possible connection. I rang him up to tell him of this letter and he recalled meeting my mother during her pregnancy. I suspect she liked the sound of it and just went with it while my father was away. My brother and sister (both younger) acquired similarly Scottish names so I guess she just continued the thread. It was only when I was 40 or so that she discovered that some of her ancestry was, in fact, Scottish. Her mother's maiden name was Aston and, apparently, related to the Aston's of Aston Martin; I thought I might inherit a wheelnut or so until I found out the severance had been in the 1930s.

When my wife and I were researching our respective genealogies for suitable names to give our first (well before birth and without interest in gender) we couldn't discern the naming patterns described above but a couple of other aspects were quite striking. Boys' names were extremely conservatively selected (a dozen would cover 90% of the known list) whereas girls' names (for the same period; 1790s to 1940) number in the 4 score or more. In Oz, we don't do the "Fred Nurk, Fred Nurk Jr., Fred Nurk III" routine (as far as I've noticed) and it's rare for someone to be routinely called by their 'full' name. Even when kids are in the parental poo I rarely hear them called by more than their first given name. But yes, it's ALWAYS their birth name and not any diminutive or nickname.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Scrump
Date: 19 Feb 07 - 11:14 AM

Aye, my dad were named before I were.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: dianavan
Date: 20 Feb 07 - 02:10 AM

I know a boy who was named Samacab (seven in Somali) and a man named Tre (three). I started thinking that numbers were pretty good names, especially if was your birth order in the family. Then again, Forty or Fifty are pretty cool names but lets hope that has nothing to do with the order of birth.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: SharonA
Date: 20 Feb 07 - 09:38 PM

I was named after a Mouseketeer.

True story.

My older brother was 4 at the time my mother was pregnant (late 1955 into early 1956), back when the original Mickey Mouse Club was all the rage on television. My parents were real Bible-thumpers and had raised their kids on their religion, so of course my brother went to Sunday School at their church. One day he told his Sunday School teacher excitedly that he was going to have a baby sister named Sharon (after his favorite Mouseketeer, Sharon Baird).

After class, the teacher excitedly congratulated my mother on her pregnancy... which puzzled my mother since neither she nor my father had yet announced the pregnancy to anyone and she hadn't been "showing" as yet. Turns out that my brother had been praying for a baby sister, and had had such innocent faith that he knew he would get one... so why not tell his teacher so?

Of course, when I was born and it was discovered that I was indeed a girl, my parents had no choice but to name me Sharon. They did have a contingency plan in case I was a boy (I would have been named George -- ugh), but it would have crushed my brother's faith, perhaps irrevocably.

As it was, my brother retained his faith to the point that, after attending college and entering the teaching profession, he felt the call to the ministry. After several years of that, he re-entered the teaching field, but he still performs the occasional wedding.

...and I am saddled for life with the legacy that I am the namesake of a Mouseketeer. See ya real soon!

Sharon

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: autolycus
Date: 21 Feb 07 - 03:28 AM

Flash Company's story was interesting as, in Judaism,you are expected to name children after recently-deceased relatives.

   So I was named Ivor after a great-grandparent Isaac (which is my Hebrew name), and there are Ivans and so on also named after him.

   When I reply I'm called 'Ivor',people usually say,"That's an unusual name", and I occasionally think they're thinking,"You don't look Welsh. My older brother and younger sister both have middle names,and I don't,and IIIIII'm not bitter.






       Ivor

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: guitar
Date: 21 Feb 07 - 05:09 AM

i was named after my uncle Tom, the only one who wasn't named after a family member is my sister Margaret who was named after our Aunt Margaret from Glasgow, the rest was named after my members of family from Saltcoats.

Tom
not thomas or tommy, but Tom

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: bassen
Date: 21 Feb 07 - 05:39 AM

For lack of imagination in giving names it's hard to beat four brothers in this part of Norway who were named Ole, Ole, Ole and ... Ivar. The story has it that the mother refused to name her fourth son Ole, even though that was what her husband wanted to name him. In daily parlance they called themselves Big Ole, Little Ole and Olaus (the latin form for Ole).   Considering the fact that Ole is historically THE most common name in Norway, this guy really was not exerting himself when it came to names.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Mr Red
Date: 21 Feb 07 - 07:53 AM

I was named after my mother looked up in the sky.

On the beach at West-super-Myre (when the tide goes out, the mud comes in)

There were a few clouds, and a bi-plane was giving pleasure trips.

Aunt May (not an aunt and May was not her real name but... ) was sitting with my mother and I was sitting with her also (internally).

My name is total invention. Mother probably wanted an extrovert - I am working on it, OK?

link fixed
el joe clone

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Rasener
Date: 21 Feb 07 - 03:12 PM

Yes My Dad

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Feb 07 - 03:59 PM

bassen, if i remember correctly, George Forman did that...named all of his kids "George." Yep, here ya go: He has named all 5 sons George Edward Foreman, because he "wants them to know who their father is". He has named one of his daughters Georgetta.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: The Walrus
Date: 21 Feb 07 - 09:04 PM

I was named for my Mother's Brother who had died not too long before, but they reversed the names to Alfred Thomas because of something to do with the initials (preferring ATM to TAM). Incedentally, despite the order, I've always been 'Tom'
I'm just glad that I wasn't named after my Mother's eldest brother (who died as a child) - I could cope with Jack as a name, but I might have had a real problem with Vierstraat.

Tom (Walrus)

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 21 Feb 07 - 10:02 PM

The story always went that I was named after my mother's favorite dog, the one she had in late high school, when my parents met. A Boston terrier.

I'm Becky and not Rebecca, but it's probably significant that my mother's mother (who died before I was born) and her grandmother and her favorite cousin were all Rebeccas, although only her cousin went by Becky.

My sister Jody was named after the main character in The Yearling (who happened to be a boy), which my mother read during pregnancy.

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: GUEST,Steve Cockayne
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 08:50 AM

Bernard,
Bernard Fitch (DFC & bar) is my Uncle and Mothers Brother.
I am glad his crew thought so highly of him to name a son after him.
Tail gunners were usually the first to get it if a fighter clocked a Lanc in its sights. Your father was fortunate to have him as am I. He would have suffered the delighhts of a corkscrew if you Dad saw a fighter. Ask him what it was like, as Bernard would have been steering!
Great men both.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: skipy
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 09:54 AM

I was named after countless millions of people & millions more have been named after it was my turn.
Skipy

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: GUEST,Mrrzy - where's my cookie?
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 10:52 AM

I was named for the French Republic; my parents met in Paris.

My kids were very carefully named - twins, with the first names from their father's side (both from both parents' sides) and middle names from their mother's side (one from that mom's, one from that dad's families), and one last name each.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Teribus
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 11:02 AM

Maternal Granfather - 100 Up!!