story of me

[violachic]

Do you know why your parents named you what they did? Perhaps you have chosen a name besides what you were given at birth. What's your story?


My mother wanted to name me Rachel. My dad vetoed that, because my oldest (half) sister is Rae Lyn, and he thought it would be redundant. My mother then suggested Rebecca. He vetoed that, too- he said it was "too biblical" (my father is pretty staunchly U/U).

But see, Jimmy Carter was running for president the year I was born. And his nine year old daughter's name was Amy. My parents both supported Carter, and my dad suggested the name. After finding out that it means "beloved", my mother agreed. They gave me the middle name of Marie, after my dad's sister, and various other ancestors. And here I am.


And I'll tell my sister's story, too, since she doesn't post in LJ anymore.

Before my sister and I came along, my mother really wanted a boy. She had picked out the name Martin David- the former after Martin Luther, and Martin Luther King jr, and the middle name after someone very special to her- for her first son. When my sister was born a girl, my mother was at a bit of a loss, as my parents really hadn't discussed girls names.

The pastor of the church my mother was attending at the time suggested that there is a female version of Martin, and it would sound very pretty if it were the Germanic version, rather than the English version. So she became Marta. Not Martha, as many people make the mistake; drop the "h", and it becomes a version from many different cultures. My parents gave her the middle name of Elisabeth, after my mother's mother.


I like these stories, and I like our names. I think they suit us well. And looking back and contemplating all this, I realize that my sister and I do our namesakes proud. And that makes me feel really good.



So if you'd like, leave me your story in the comments. I'll screen them, but if you say its okay, I'll unscreen your comment so others can see your story.

Comments

Yeah, sure it's ok

[ericcoleman]

My parents were stuck for a name. A couple days or so before I was born they went to see a german movie, and it seemed that about every other name in the credits was Eric. So there it is.

[misslynn.livejournal.com]

my name was originally going to be Jennifer Rebecca. seeing as i know about 500 jennifers (see: mike doughty song "27 jennifers"), i'm sort of glad they got more creative. my dad had studied greek and spanish in college, and "irene" (said "ir-ay-nay") is greek for "peace." the spanish suffix "ita" is a diminutive female form. so i became Renita, their "little peace."

(and, as the standard joke here goes, i gave them as little peace as possible. ha ha.)

(and sure, you can unscreen this:))

[violachic.livejournal.com]

That's so..... Mennonite :-) I've always liked your name, I think its pretty and unique. That's a cool story.

[fille-de-livre.livejournal.com]

My name story isn't so cool. My mom suggested Colleen for a girl, and my dad worked for a company that sounded somewhat close to Colleen, so that was rejected. She also talked about Kirsten, but she didn't want me spending the rest of my life saying "*sigh* No, it's not Kristen, it's Kirsten. *sigh*", and Kirsten Marshall had no flow. So my mother had an Irish moment and went with Erin Kathleen.

She was having another Irish moment, when she was pregnant with my little brother, well actually she had seen The Verdict. Had Daniel been a girl he would have been Caitlin, after the nurse in that movie. For a boy, they were tossing around Edward after my grandfather, when my stepdad said that he would like a biblical name. My mother, a cradle Anglican, got a little nervous about a biblical name (was he thinking something unpronounceable?), but she was game. And relaxed considerably when he said that he had always liked the book of Daniel. But, one problem she HATES the nickname Danny. So they had come up with James Daniel, which satisfied them both. Until the day after my brother was born, and my uncle went to visit at the hospital. He arrived and said,
"So how's ol' Jack Daniels doing?"
Suddenly, Daniel James was a lovely name.

(feel free to post)

[violachic.livejournal.com]

That's hilarious, about your brother.

[tanyad.livejournal.com]

Nothing awesome or special. My first name Tanya was picked because it wasn't popular or common at the time [or so mom thought. She thought names like Brianna, Bianca, Tiffany or the like were bitchy and unladylike.

Middle name is due to my Godmother Colleen.

Last name, well its what I got with the kit n kaboodle.

[feel free to unscreen]

[themiddlestates.livejournal.com]

I guess that previous first-born males in my family had been names James, but my grandmother didn't like one of the prior James', so my dad (who was the firstborn boy in his family) was named Bruce James.

My parents didn't want to name their firstborn James to irk grandma, so they named their second born (me) James. My middle name is William, after my grandpa on my mom's side.

My brother's first name is Jeffery (not Jeffrey). They just thought it was spelled Jeffery. :) His middle name is Charles, after my grandpa on my dad's side.

I guess my grandpa was originally named Burdinsky (or Burdinski?) when he came over from Germany, but changed it to Burton upon arriving in the states. :)

Sorry for so much info. :) It's ok to share.

[violachic.livejournal.com]

I like info :-)

s'all good

[donia.livejournal.com]

My mother says my name came from a combination of her name (Donna) and my grandfather's middle name (Donald), which he goes by. All fine and good, except where does the "i" and "ya" sound in my name come from? As my mother often does when she's confronted by a question she can't or won't answer, she ignored it.

Re: s'all good

[violachic.livejournal.com]

I like your name, it sounds Russian or something.

Unscreen if you wish

[evilbigbrother.livejournal.com]

I have never been given a decent explanation for why they went and named me Stacy. My Mom wanted to name me Arron and my Dad wanted to name me Manfred... I will agree that Stacy is better then Manfred, but I have never liked my name...