The Name Game
When I went to grade school, there were at least three other girls in my class with the same name. However, they were spelt differently.
I’m: Vicki (that's me over there!)
The others were: Vikki, Vickie, Vicky
Later on and when I thought about it, Susan, Cathy, and Kathy names dominated, as did variations with full names or short names, like Katie, Katy, Kat, Cathie, Cathleen, Suzie, Suzy.
So when I was pregnant with #1son, Handsome and I struggled over naming him, even though we didn't know he would be a boy. I’d toss out something. “No.” And more. “Nope.”
I was determined he would not have a J name: Jonathan, Justin, Jacob, Jake, Joshua, etc. Those names were way too popular. I didn’t want him to have to go through what I did. Finally when watching an old and favorite detective movie, I said, “What do you think about this?”
Handsome said, “Yes.”
Great Rejoicing! I can’t say what #1son’s name is because he doesn’t want me to tell via social media. Lol. The funny thing is in his Sunday School class of 24 kids, there were two other boys with the same name. Yikes!
I never thought I’d have a boy. I come from a family of four girls. In my mind, I was going to have girls. And name the first, Holland. The second, Hayley. And the third, Hattie.
Sadly, no girls came my way. Instead, I got #2son: first name is his dad’s, second name is a church friend’s.
And let’s mention, they get the wonderful Batman as their last name. lolol.
A lot of character’s names just pop in a writer’s head and as a writer, I know when this instance does happen, that name is most likely absolutely perfect.
I have gone the route of looking at the census and seeing which names were popular in specific years. In 2014, these are the names used:
If you want to look up your birth year, go to: Social Security
Now back to naming the girl thingy—I did get to. I named my heroine from my romantic comedy mystery, Harriette Lee Cooks, Hattie for short. I thought Hattie sounded sassy. And the background for her name came from her grandmother, Harriette.
When I grew up, if my mom yelled my whole name, Vicki Lea, I was in serious trouble and had better hotfoot her way instantly. Hattie’s mom does this also. And I used an L name for the middle name. It’s a way of honoring my sisters whose middle names begin with an L, as well as my mother’s, and my grandmother’s first name was Lillie. Her sisters’ names began with an L too.
So lay it on me: Do you like your name? Were there too many others in your class with the same one? What is your favorite name?
To discover more about Hattie and her wacky journey through unemployment, her romance with a hunky hero, and murder, go to: Amazon
3 comments:
Holy Toledo ... names? I have what is called an old name ... Florence ... old and never spelled right ... Florence that everyone wanted to shorten to Flo ... God help me ... Flossie.
NOPE ... I never and I mean never let anyone shorten my name. But I longed for a sassy nickname. It happens that if my mother finally had a girl, she would be names for both grandmothers. Because my father gave The Big Guy our paternal grandfather's name and my mother gave The Middle One her father's name ... my dad expected the same order of business. My first name for my paternal grandmother and my middle name for my maternal grandmother.
Then fate stepped in and my maternal grandmother passed one month before I was born. So instead of being Antoinette Florence, my dad allowed my mother to call me Florence Antoinette. I so wanted Antoinette 'case then I could be Toni with an "I."
I got even and made my first female character Antoinette, or Toni, but I never truly liked my name. No one. And I mean no one had it ... not in school or work ... and it is still considered an old name. I guess I had to get old to grow into it :)
BTW ... I never use my family's first names. The kids are my first born and my second born ... "the boy" and "the girl" and my brothers are always as I mentioned before. If my daughter wants to use my granddaughter's name on FB that is her choice ... I always refer to her as my grand baby girl or my angel :)
Hi, Florence! You do have an old name and there's a wonderful place in Italy with the same one with magnificent handbags. Sigh.
My mom never liked her name Eva. It doesn't fit her. She has a wonderful light in her eyes that says a whole lot more.
I'm with you on FB: I don't use names, thus Handsome is Handsome. And I'm not supposed to use #1 and #2son's names in books. Teehehe, but I did once.
Yes, for the sake of this comment I did neglect to say that my father told me I was named more for his favorite city in Italy than my maternal grandmother. But I still wanted to be Antoinette.
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