BS: Were you named after anyone?

Subject: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Wesley S
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 10:42 AM

Are you named after anyone? I was named after my father's brother. At the time they figured he'd be a lifelong bachelor. They were wrong and he eventually married. He was just a late starter like myself - I didn't get married until I was 45. My wife Bretta however was named after Bret Maverick – James Garner's character on the old TV western "Maverick". They were expecting a boy – they were going to call him Bret - and when they ended up with a girl they improvised.

How about yourself ? Were you named after anyone ? Is there a story behind your name ? Those of you who are in the witness protection program need not respond.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Scoville
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 10:46 AM

I was named after Sojourner Truth (my first name means "truth" and my middle name is "Sojourner".

My brother was named after Grove Karl Gilbert, the father of modern geomorphology.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: artbrooks
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 10:49 AM

My full name ends with "III." My father is "Jr." and my grandfather was the original. We are all clones.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Scoville
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 10:50 AM

I should add that my parents are pacifist feminist geologists. Obviously.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 10:58 AM

I am named after my great aunt. My brother next in age has my great grandfather's first name and my grandfather's name as his middle name. My sister has a good Irish name, but not a family name. My youngest brother has my father's first name and a different, again non-family, middle name.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 11:04 AM

I was named as a JR after my father who abandoned the family when I was seven. I no longer use his name, nor do I think of him as my father; I haven't for most of 60 years.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 11:05 AM

I was named after my father's mother. Could have been worse. I could have been called after my mother's mother - then I'd've been Ethel or Winifred!

Limpit is named after her great great grandmother Phoebe. There's a story behind this. You need to know that grandmothers in our family were always known by their surnames.

My mother, having just had her first child, a boy, was visited by the family. Her grandmother, known as Granny Christopher, helped change his nappy (diaper). During this operation my infant brother sprinkled his great grandmother in the way that little boys do.

"Aha" says mother, "he's christened you, so that's what we'll christen him." And so he became Christopher.

Christopher was killed by a drunken driver when he was 17 and the family connection to Christopher went with him. My sister had 3 girls, none of whom are called Christopher. When Limpit was expected we had difficulty choosing a name we both liked. Manitas said he'd had a grandmother Phoebe(mistakenly as it turned out, she was Phyllis)
and so it was one of the final two (the other was Brighid). The choice between those two was made by the toss of a coin in a pub the day before I went into hospital to have her!

Her middle name also has a story. For a few years it looked as if I couldn't have children - leastways, I wasn't getting pregnant. At the Hastings Jack in the Green/May Day festival in 1995, I complained to the chief bogie who suggested a traditional remedy. I got taken up to the Jack, my problem was explained, I got under the Jack and my bottom was painted green. 6 weeks later I was pregnant.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: GUEST,Pattern-keeper
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 11:06 AM

I was given my Mother's family name as a first name, and my Father's Mother's family name as a middle name. I think in Irish families, at least of two generations ago, there was a pattern/formula employed in the giving of Christian names;

First son, named after father's father
First daughter, named after father's mother
Second son, named after father
Second daughter, (perhaps named after mother)?
Third son, named after father's brothers

And I don't know how it continued (I'm basing this on observation of several families, you see.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Marion
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 11:16 AM

Conveniently, both of my grandmothers were named Marion.

My friend gave her little girl the middle name "Trinity". At first, I thought this was a mildly surprising religious gesture. Then I watched The Matrix.

Marion

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 11:24 AM

Pattern-keeper - that's a shrewd observation.

My own family follows the tradition that it's unlucky to name the third generation first-born son after the previous 2 so we don't get John, John Jnr and John III.

I have a family tree stretching back nearly 250 years and for the first 200 years the names go William, William, John, John, Richard, Richard. The first William had 3 sons William, John and Thomas. the second William named his sons in order, John, William, Thomas, Richard.

The last Richard broke the tradition by naming his son Harold, who named his son after his wife's brother, Alfred. We seem to like kingly names in our family!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 11:27 AM

I'm not really named after anyone, but my mother happened across my name in a book she read shortly before I was born. Coincidentally, it happened to be the same as the "real" name of the comic book character "Batman". Mom was totally unaware of that coincidence, not being a comic book reader. But I sometimes tell people I was named after Batman because it's more interesting than the truth.

Even more coincidentally, my father had brothers named "George Bruce" and "David Wayne", both of whom sent "Thanks for naming the kid after me." notes after I was born. I don't think Mom and Dad ever bothered to straighten them out.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: mack/misophist
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 11:30 AM

When I was born, California birth certificates had to be filed within 24 hours. My mother was a military dependent, traveling alone, and was unconcious for 3 days. So the doctor named me after his father. I was supposed to be Steven Vincent, which doesn't fit me at all.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Rapparee
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 11:43 AM

Well, no. Just St. Michael the Archangel (whose name translates into "Who is like God," and I mention my godlikeness whenever it's appropriate).

But aha!

My first and middle names are Michael Anthony Ralph. (My father was Ralph George.)
My brother is Anthony Thomas Ralph.
My other brother is Theodore Ralph Anthony.
My sister is Martha Antoinette Esther. (My mother was Esther.)
My oldest nephew is Ralph Paul Caspar. (Grandfathers and the ghost, I guess -- he picked it.)
There's nephew Anthony James.
There's nephew Daniel Michael.
There's nephew Theodore Edward.

So we have Big Tony and Little Tony (who's taller than Big Tony). We have Big Ted and Little Ted. And I forgot nephew Joseph Anthony....

My parents a big thing about St. Anthony of Padua, patron saint of lost things....

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 11:48 AM

Ah Rap, what a heavenly pair we'd make... my names mean 'Beloved by God' and 'Chosen by God'.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Rapparee
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 11:57 AM

What's more, my surname means "Altar Keeper" in old dutch or old german or one of them. I'm told that in modern language it means "Goalie."

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Lox
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 11:59 AM

I was named before everyone (just by the altar)

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Bill D
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 12:17 PM

My grandfather's name was William, so I guess that's it....then my middle name is Martin- my mother's maiden name.

I may be lucky I wasn't named after my GREAT-grandfather Tarsus...or my father, who was Audley..(You can meander thru several generations of my family there...my surname is pretty well known anyway. I guess I ought to contact the guy who researched it, as he is missing a couple of names.)


Anyone else ever find this kind of info online?

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: fat B****rd
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 12:22 PM

I come from a long line of Charlies. My mother flatly refused to have me inherit the family middle names of Victor Eugene.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Bill D
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 12:23 PM

Wow...I guess he is still researching! He has added names I hadn't seen...the Lopers and Lowbers....back to The Netherlands in 1677 or so.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: *Laura*
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 12:23 PM

I was named after Laura from Lark Rise to Candleford... cos my mum played Laura in it at the Minnack theatre and there she met my dad - who was doing the music for it...

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Ebbie
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 12:26 PM

I was given my middle name in honor of my great aunt, my grandfather's sister. However, they spelt it differently: my great aunt's name was 'Civilla'- Never saw that name before or since. Good thing mine is not spelt that way, I ain't hardly never been civil.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Alec
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 12:27 PM

I was named after both my Grandfathers. My Maternal Grandfather gave me my first name.The scots diminutive Of Alexander is Alec rather than Alex,My Scots born mother was always very insistent on this as am I.
I was,originally,going to be called after my Father but "Dad" is such a stupid name for a child that I'm very pleased I wasn't.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 12:35 PM

I wasn't named after anyone; in the end my parents had 2 names in mind and I'm just grateful they chose this one. It has exactly the same letters as my father's mother's middle name, just in a different order. My parents had considered naming me after my mother's mother who died before I was born. She was called Leah and at one time that was quite an unusual name so for ages I was disappointed that I hadn't been called that. However, it is becoming more popular so I'm not bothered any more.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 12:39 PM

How I got my name is a real embarassment. But hey, I'm among friends. My Mother wanted to name me Peter after my Grandfather Rasmussen. I could be a Pete without a problem. Actually, my Grandfather's first name was Lars. That wopuld have been even better. Nobody messes with a kid named Lars.

At the time when my parents were making their final decision on my name, my oldest sister Marilyn, who was all of 5 at the time, was madly in love. You know how that is. When you let the man you love use the blue crayon.. Turns out, the love of her 5 year life was named Jerry, and she kept hounding my parents to call me Jerry until they finally relented.

Shortly after I was born, Jerry was given a new box of crayons and dumped my sister. It was too late to change my name to Lars.

Rats.

Lars Peter Gerald Elmer Henry Hornsbuckle Rasmussen

How I got the other names is another story..

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: kendall
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 01:35 PM

Ebbie, when I was a boy we had a neighbor named Civilla.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: gnu
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 01:40 PM

My father was to be named William Kermit. Kermit was my gramma's father. At the Christening, Father MacDonald, a barrel of a man, boomed out, "Kermit? What kind of a name is that? I Christen thee William Kenneth Owens." The story is that Kenneth was Father MacDonald's father's name. Which would be kinda cool, as Dad was named William after Father MacDonald.

My older brother was named William Burton. Burton was his mother's father.

My middle name is John, after my father's father. My first name is Gary because my old man liked the pipes (Garryowen). Only one "r", though. Practical lad... who needs to write out a second "r" all life long? Of course, when giving my name, even though I always say, "One 'r', one 's'.", and spell it out, people still get it wrong half the time.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 01:41 PM

Kevin Barry for my first name, and William, for my father, as the second

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Mooh
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 02:10 PM

Michael for Saint Michael, Bruce for Robert The Bruce (a very distant relation) and the county, Knucklehead for a strong and proud tradition...

Named myself Mooh, but that's an older thread.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: GUEST,Partridge
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 02:14 PM

Patricia cos my Dad liked Patsy Anne Noble. Elizabeth because of my fathers aunt who was called aunt skins, Frances after my mothers aunt who was known as auntie gertie..............I don't understand it at all.

Pat x

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: North/South Annie
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 02:15 PM

I was named after some opera singer 'Anna Maria Albergerti'but it was slightly changed to Anne Marie. I now get called various things, amongst them Anne, Annie, and AnneMarie.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: ClaireBear
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 02:32 PM

Anna Maria Alberghetti! There's a name I haven't heard in awhile. She was quite a gal, as I recall.

Well, I was named after Santa Clara University, where my father was head of the history department for many years. Lucky for me, my parents decided that the French form "Claire" went better with my French second and German last names than the Spanish "Clara," which sounds, umm, less-than-euphonic in American English.

Of course, when I went to the university myself later on, it proved somewhat awkward to have been named after the institution, but again the different form of the name saved me, so only the history professors knew for sure.

Claire

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Ebbie
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 02:39 PM

Kendall, that's amazing. Unless your neiaghbor was my great aunt? Not likely, though, Aunt Civilla and Uncle Sam were both born in Indiana and grew up in Oregon.

Uncle Sam, by the way, was brother to my mother's mother. It is a tangled web.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: MBSLynne
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 03:02 PM

I'm not named after anyone, but when I was born, my father was away at sea as he was in the Navy. The whole of the crew of the HMS Cheviot seriously discussed what I should be called and came up with Lynne Christine.

Ted's middle name is Ansley. His Watson family came from the village of Ansley in Warwickshire and his Great grandfather named his son, Ted's grandfather, Ernest Ansley. Ernest gave all four of his children, boys and girls, the middle name Ansley, and all Ted's generation have it too. In our kids' generation, there are only two who don't have it at all. Both Shady and Richard have it as their third names.

Richard's second name is David since both his godfathers are called David. Shady, is her second name and that is after her great great great grandmother. I've liked the name since I discovered that ancestress, and wanted to call a daughter that. The reason she got Sarah as a first name and Shady as second is because my Dad, who had only grandsons, wanted a grandaughter named Sarah.

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 03:09 PM

During this operation my infant brother sprinkled his great grandmother in the way that little boys do.

Objection! I never did this!! OK, my great-gran never actually met me. But she knew about me, even if she did die just 2 months after I was born. I never widdled over her (it wasn't my fault, I tell you...). So there!

And, Liz, as another Michael, can I just say I'm glad Rap got there first :p ("like unto god" is the standard translation that I know, & Robert Graves asserts that that's merely a masculine version of Michal, a pre-hebraic name for one incarnation of the Triple Goddess).

I'm Michael because it was one of my mother's favourite boys names (she had a doll she named Michael, her sister named her's John, so there but for the Grace of...). My middle name (whence my nom de plume/guerre here) is from my maternal grandfather.

The full translation of my name is the "godlike cunning son of the mighty army". Work that one out if you can!

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 03:17 PM

I was called Alan.

This was a compromise. My father wanted to called me Alec - after Alec Bedser - the cricketer.

my mother said no - people will always call him 'smart alec'.

given my general level of academic incompetence - I think her fears were groundless.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 03:25 PM

My middle name is Mary after my Grandmother and I have followed that idea through my own kids so that they are also all named after a grandparent as their middle name. The one exception is my eldest son who is named Alexander Robert Thomas after my father, his paternal grandfather and my maternal grandfatherin that order. We can't have any more children now as we've run out of names.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: frogprince
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 03:53 PM

I was named after "anyone", but I'm not sure just who. My father was named after his uncle, and was always uncomfortable with the fact; it's far too late to ask him why. He insisted on a name for me that was distinct from anything in the family. My parents looked through a newspaper listing of recent draftees, and he found and liked the name "Delton". If you google that, you'll find a number of places and a very few people.
By about the halfway point in my life (so far), I was getting really tired of telling people my name, and having at least 80% of them mis-remember it, so I shifted to use of my middle name when I went into a new setting. I've found it a marked relief to have most people get my name right.
A couple of years ago, the local paper reported the death of an unrelated "Delton" in the next village down the road. He was a veteran, of about the right age. The odds may be a little long, but nowhere near as long as if he had been named Jim.

                      Signed, Dean

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: catspaw49
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 04:27 PM

I was born after several billion other people since the beginning and so I would say yes, I was named after a lot of other people had been named.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: skipy
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 04:37 PM

My Indian name is :-
prances with gloves, I think I was named after Kevin Costner!
Skipy

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Becca72
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 05:07 PM

My middle name, Ellen, is shared with my mother's favorite cousin (in law). I'm not sure where they came up with Rebecca, but mum always told me that my father named me after his old girlfriend....she lied a lot, though...

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Gulliver
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 05:16 PM

I was named after a horse called Little Don. My father put a bet on this horse and won enough money to pay for my parents' wedding, and I was to be called Don.

However, when the official came to my mother to register me, she was out cold, and when he returned my mother had left the hospital, so I don't have any "official" first name, just a "--".

To confuse matters, when my aunt brought me to the church to be baptized, the priest (like in Gnu's case above) cried: "There's no Saint Don, I'll christen him John Francis". My parents never recognized "John" on the baptismal cert, and I've always gone by the name of Don.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 05:40 PM

frogprince, my brother's name is "Delton!" He was named after our maternal grandmother's brother. Do you have any info on the origins of it? His middle name, Lorenzo, is a family one passed down in my dad's family, so he went by Delton and is mostly known as "Del." I've never *met* another Delton. Have seen one or two on google, but no one we know.

I wasn't named after anyone. My mom told me they were thinking of "Deborah Sue." I'm really glad I didn't get that one!

katwhoisKathleen

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: RangerSteve
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 05:42 PM

My great-grandfather was Stephen Scott, and my grandmother's last request to my Mom was to name me after him. Since my father's family came from Mexico, people always ask how I got "Scott" as a middle name. The idea of a woman with Scottish background and a man with Mexican backgound marrying is totally inconceivable to some people, although it's been done thousands of times before. And the people who are puzzled by this are usually of mixed heritage themselves. Some people are just stupid, I guess. The other annoying and stupid question I get is "How does someone named Garcia end up playing banjo"? I bet no one ever asked Jerry that question.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Wesley S
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 05:58 PM

I would have asked Jerry Garcia "how does someone missing a finger end up being such a good banjo player". I never have figured that one out.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Amergin
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 06:10 PM

I was so named as I am a gift from god....however little did my mother know that I was to become god's gift to womankind...

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Helen
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 06:14 PM

My older sister Anne was given our maternal grandmother's second name, and my mother's name, Gwyneth, as her second name, and then my sister named her daughter with a first name which is a combination of our maternal grandmother's first two names (i.e Sarah & Ann - with no 'e' on the end) and then Mum's name as her second name.

So when I was born my father's side of the family was the inspiration. The given names of my father's father were Albert Henry Victor but he was known as Harry. My grandmother's name was Henrietta and my father's second name is Henry - which he hates - so I escaped the fate of being called Henrietta and became Helen instead, to keep up the 'H' tradition. My father's maternal grandmother was Frances and her father was Francis, and the name was used a lot in her family so my second name is Frances. Helen means light and Frances means free, so a nice legacy.

I just found out at a family party that my great grandmother Frances was a midwife and was the first woman in our region to get a driver's licence.

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Kaleea
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 06:49 PM

About 15 years back, my mother quite seriously told me that I should have my name legally changed to "Sharon Rose," (Biblical reference) to which I replied, "huh?!" It seems that my mother had my name all picked out, but my dominating paternal grandparents insisted that I be named after a long deceased great aunt, as their generation of Choctaw (& most any other tribes) were not allowed to name children "indian" names. Daddy said he & Grandad loved this aunt very much, so when the nurse handed him the papers to take to my mother to name me, he just wrote what he wanted without telling my mother.
I was shocked at this story, but probably not as shocked as my mother when she found out what Daddy had done. I told my mother that I thought it was a bit too late to change my name, and that everyone would continue to call me by my birth name even if I tried, which I did not want to do.

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

I come from a very strong Finnish heritage, on my Father's side. This is a culture that is NOT to be messed with. At a very early age, my Father decided to stay within the culture. And yes, he had a choice.

I am named for his Father, "Roope", which translates to "Robert" in American. I grew up with several knicknames: Robby, Bobby, Bob, Little Shit, Asshole, SOB, ... any of these sound familiar?

My Grandfather died as I was born. I sense his presence today.

My older brother, who is equal with me in keeping the family heritage and strength, teaches me every day the meaning of "sisu". Mina Raakistaan Sinua! Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: bassen
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 07:35 PM

I was named after my father and both my grandfathers. My maternal grandfather was named Olav Johan and my paternal grandfather was named Peter Benjamin Johan, so giving me Johan as a middle name was a way to satisfy both sides of the family. My paternal grandfather was named for three older brothers who died in a fever before he was born.

My father's name Sverre is the name of a medieval king of Norway, a common enough name in Norway, NOT what you wanted to be called in LA in the 1950s...I decided that being called Swear or JOE-han was not cool, so I went by the name John. My family still calls me that even though we now all live in Norway.

Bassen
which was my first nickname

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: JennieG
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 07:50 PM

My first name, Jennifer, is because my parents liked it; my middle name, Grace, is after a cousin of my mother's who died young. Her full name was Dorothy Grace Kidd - I should be thankful that they didn't go for Jennifer Dorothy, it's a bit of a mouthful.

A few years when doing a geneaology course, we were told about the naming of children in Scottish tradition; it seems they used the same system as pattern-maker mentions.

Cheers
JennieG

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!!

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Teribus
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 11:15 AM

Similar sort of thing to Ole, Ole, Ole and Ivar except involving a single mother in Glasgow who -

Goes tae the social tae register fur child benefit.
"How many children?" asks the civil servant.
"10" replies the girl.
"10???" says the civil servant. "What are their names?"
"Alec, Alec, Alec, Alec, Alec, Alec, Alec, Alec, Alec
and.....eh...Alec
"Doesn't that get confusing?"
"Naw..." says the girl "its great because if thur oot playin in the street, ah jist huv tae shout ALEC, YER DINNER'S READY or ALEC, GO TO BED NOW 'n' they aw dae it..."
"What if you want to speak to one individually?" says the perturbed civil servant.
"'at's easy," says the girl... "Ah just use thur surnames"

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Wolfgang
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 12:13 PM

As I know now since two weeks, I was named after a German war criminal.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: GUEST,jOhn
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 02:26 PM

I was named after my uncle Albert's favourite ferret.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 03:01 PM

I wasn't named after anyone but Paul and I named our son after our maternal grandfathers....he has their middle name which is Walter.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Joe_F
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 10:07 PM

My mother's mother's full name was Magdalena Carolina Wilhelmina Augusta Opperman Hughes. There must be a song in that.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: HuwG
Date: 12 Jun 07 - 06:20 AM

I presume fictional characters count.

Apparently, my Geordie father and Welsh mother had quite a tussle over my names before I was born. They agreed on what the names were to be, but not which way round. My mother, who had been deeply affected by the book "How green was my Valley", won the coin toss. Thus, my first name is Huw, after Huw Morgan, the central character of the book. My father gave me the middle name "Lindsay" (his own first name and that of my paternal grandfather) as a consolation prize.

(My mother also won the battle over the name of the family dog, a retriever bitch who became "Bronwen", or "Bron" for short.)

I don't think either had quite foreseen the future course of events. At the age of five, I found myself in the middle of Yorkshire with a set of forenames which infant school teachers insisted were a combination of a misspelling and an impossibility as it was a girl's name. (These were the same narrow-minded conformists who insisted that Kishor Solanki put down his Christian names on various forms.)

I suspect that my mother's insistence gave me my predominantly Welsh outlook and accent. When I was briefly engaged in my late twenties, my Welsh fiancee and I discussed what names we were to give any fruit of our union. We decided that we would take great pleasure in giving them names unpronounceable by English schoolmarms, both the traditionalist and PC variety. The first arrival would be "Dafydd" if a boy and "Meillin" if a girl.

Oddly, in spite of everyone's insistence that "Hugh" is the correct spelling, I have not met one single "Hugh" in my lifetime, though about twenty "Huws". (To be fair, I went to University in Wales, and spend much time with my mother's relations in Wales; but nevertheless, the correct spelling from that sample is the Welsh version, nem. con.)

As for my middle name, would anyone care to tell the Earl of Crawford that he is a girl ? Apparently, "Lindsay" is, or was, quite popular as a boy's name in Geordieland (the counties of Northumberland and Durham), as well as in parts of Scotland.

I refuse to give my last name here. That's too embarassing.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 04 Dec 07 - 07:47 PM

I was named after my aunt Alice who was named after her aunt Alice who was named after her aunt Alice...

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Gurney
Date: 04 Dec 07 - 09:21 PM

Saint Christopher.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Mark Ross
Date: 04 Dec 07 - 09:40 PM

I was named after a hairlipped dog.


Mark Ross

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Rapparee
Date: 05 Dec 07 - 09:19 PM

I was named after John Wayne, All-American Hero. Or maybe Knute Rockne. One or the other.

Now my middle name is my one brother's first name and another brother's second middle name. My second middle name is the same as one brother's middle name and the second middle name of the other. One brother's oldest son has as his first name my middle name and his brother's middle name is the same as my first name. Another brother's youngest son has the same first name as the other brother. My sister has the same middle name I do, only feminized. One brother's oldest son has a first name which is the same as my second middle name.

There are no "juniors" in our family.

I can make this worse, if you want to do the logic of it all....

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Gurney
Date: 06 Dec 07 - 01:37 AM

My dad and I have the same initials, and that caused some abrupt words about opening each others letters when I lived at home. Rapaire's family must have had lots of moments like that.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 06 Dec 07 - 04:09 AM

My father wanted to call m Alec, after Alec bedser - a famous cricketer. My mother disagreed, she said everyone would call me 'Smart Alec'. 'Alan' was the compromise.

PS Thats a lovely story SharonA!

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: GUEST,Jonny Sunshine
Date: 06 Dec 07 - 01:13 PM

I was named after a character in a series of children's books.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Janie
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 12:50 AM

Not that I know of. Unless it was the shoe.

Mary Jane

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Mr Happy
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 07:35 AM

I was named after all the people named before me!

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 05:39 PM

I'm named after my great grandfather on my father's side Neil Kenough MacMillan. Neil

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 08:45 PM

I was named after John Wayne, All-American Hero

I imagine it might have been quite hard at school at times, being called Marion, Rapaire...

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 Dec 07 - 03:58 PM

The French Republic!

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: The Sandman
Date: 08 Dec 07 - 05:54 PM

My Christian names are Richard Josef,richard is a family name but I was named Josef after ...Stalin.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 09 Dec 07 - 04:26 PM

The whole French Republic? I'm impressed. Neil

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: GUEST,Neil D
Date: 10 Dec 07 - 02:30 PM

I was intentionally NOT named after anyone else. Mother wanted me to have a unique name and she didn't know of anyone named Neil at the time. After Mr. Armstrong landed on the moon she was afraid that suddenly there would be a trend of parents naming children Neil but I don't think that actually happened. I still seldom ever run into another with my given name.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: RoyH (Burl)
Date: 10 Dec 07 - 04:58 PM

I once knew a young woman named Florian. I commented on her unusual name and she explained it thus - Her father had been a fighter pilot in WW2 and haad as his crew two Polish airmen. They all became such great colleagues that her father declared that when he had children he would name them after these two men. However, his two children turned out to be girls. Nothing fazed, he still named them after his Polish comrades, Florian, and Marion.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 10 Dec 07 - 06:41 PM

Not such a rare name as that, though for a girl it would be. There's a Prince Florian in a Philip Pullman book, Clockwork, or All Wound Up. Saint Florian is the patron saint of Poland, chimney sweeps and firefighters.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: GUEST,Seiri Omaar
Date: 10 Dec 07 - 11:18 PM

Florian is also the name of a silly hare who leads an acting troupe in onr of Brian Jacques' Redwall books. I rather like it.

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: goatfell
Date: 11 Dec 07 - 11:09 AM

My Sisters Margaret, Jean Joanne my Brothers John and Jim and myself were all named after someone in our family, Magaret was named after my Aunt Margaret, Jean was named after my Aunt Jean, Joanne was named after my Grandfather and Grand Mother John and Anne, they took the letters Jo from John and the name Anne and stuck them together, John named after my grandfather John Jim named after our father James and I'm named after my uncle Tom.

Tom (not Thomas)

Subject: RE: BS: Were you named after anyone?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Dec 07 - 09:24 PM

Should look to see if I've already posted before I post... again...