Do you like your name? Why or why not?
My mother said because I was a little baby, she wanted a short name for me. It's not short for Kimberly, just short, like me. I'm perfectly happy with that name, but never really thought it blended well with my last name . . . Bailey. The m and the B just didn't seem to flow together. My married name works much better. A different name? Maybe Carli, sounds spunky.
Judge me if you will, but a new last name could have been a deal breaker during the dating years. I mean how would Kim Pond sound? Oriental? Not happening. When I get a wedding invitation, I always look to see how the bride's new name will sound. Hopefully she is getting a good trade.
When you look at someone with your own name, doesn't it feel odd? I mean you have a perception of yourself and the personality attached to your name, and you think they don't look like a "kim" at all. How many people have told you that you look just like so-and-so? I got that so often in college and even just recently. I would be interested in meeting these other people and see what the resemblance is. My father told me in high school that Valerie Bertinelli reminded him of me.
Have you Googled yourself? In looking for some of you folks, I did just that. Which of the following do you think I have been sometime in the last 30 years? Real estate agent . . . race horse trainer . . . porn star . . . graphic designer . . . lesbian author . . . interior designer . . . manager of Parks and Recreation . . . 2nd base softball player?
One of my pet peeves is when liberated young women steal my boy names and turn them into girl names -- I have a Devin and a Kendall. They are getting out of control with names nowadays. When you look at Christmas cards, sometimes you would never be able to tell if they were boys or girls if you didn't have a picture. I have a granddaughter named Antigone (An-tig-uh-knee) which is a mouthful, but a m.i.l. doesn't have much input. Some of the old names are being recycled, but I don't think Betty and Laverne will ever make a comeback :)
Next week: Do you remember an awkward dating situation?
3 comments:
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” That might have been true for Romeo and Juliet and their feuding families, but I can’t imagine being anyone other than Dene Rae Brooke. Years ago when I asked my mother how she came up with my name, she didn’t really have an answer. Of course, it is always mispronounced. When introducing myself I say, “It’s Dene, like Denny’s Restaurant.” Even then, if they see the spelling they try sounding it out.
Growing up in Glasgow, my last name was sometimes confusing, too – “I’m Dene Marricle...no, not one of those Markles.”
Through different stages of my life some family and friends always use both my first and middle name, calling me Dene Rae. Of course, Mom used both names to get my attention or when I was in trouble. A friend I have worked with for 20 years always calls me Dene Rae. A new employee asked me last week if that was really my name or if my friend had made it up. It’s fun to hear my Texas relatives say Dene Rae with their slow southern drawl. Barry’s best friends always use both my first and middle name – don’t know why, they just do. I just answer to anything, but my favorite name is “Mom.”
I know that Kim’s pet peeve is people using boy names as girl names. Having said that, we named our daughter after my Pop – Whitney. I decided years ago I could do that when I saw that the actress who played the mother on Hazel was named Whitney Blake. I know there are a bunch of boys named after Whit Levanger, but she’s the only girl. Whitney says she is set up for a lifetime of frustration with a first name for a last name (Brooke). It could be either way, Whitney and Brooke can be first or last names – but some day she may change her last name.
Okay, I have done my Monday Musing (on Tuesday) and have even Googled myself and others. I doubt the people I have found with the same spelling of Dene pronounce their names the same as I do, but there is one in Ireland that takes beautiful pictures, a knitter in Texas that makes fun socks and someone in the music industry, just to name a few.
I look forward to looking at this blog all the time to see what Kim has to share with us. Now “What’s-Your-Name” let us hear from you. You know who you are.
I think we can all figure out how Tana got her name ... but I have never personally known another George, Ruth, or Dale my age. How did your parents choose those names?
Yes, I got my name from the Big Sky country. Dad loved to introduce me and then say, "We nicked name our son Monte, so that we have a Monte and a Tana for Montana". Strange thing though, He never called me by my name unless he was giving me a blessing or something, I was T, Charlie, Jimmy or Sal. Go figure! Speaking of Dad, since it is now his birthday, one quote he would tell us is, "Remeber who you are and what you represent". To people who were leaving that he would not be seeing for a while, he would say, "Run both ways and hurry back!"
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