I am not named after anyone. I think my mother knew a girl named Dana in high school and liked the name. Incidentally, the story behind Sarah’s middle name is the same. There are two main schools of thought on naming children after others:
- Children deserve their own identities separate from that of relatives and should have a different name from all other family members.
- Naming children after family members, friends, or other people one admires is a way of honoring that person and connecting one’s child to the past.
While I see the point of proponents of position one, I tend toward position two. I think it is interesting to look at naming patterns in families, and it can be one way to help make connections. For instance, the given name “Martin” is so popular in Steve’s family, that when I ran into some Huffs who used the name “Martin” in the area where his grandfather was born in my genealogy research, I was fairly certain there was a connection. As it turns out, the name Martin has been in his family for at least 200 years. The earliest ancestor of his that I can find was Martin Hough, who was born about 1805. His grandson was named Samuel Martin Hough (and he changed the spelling of the last name to “Huff”). Samuel Martin’s grandson was Will Martin Huff, and Will Martin’s son was Ben Martin Huff. Ben Martin’s son Jack named one of his sons Martin. I’m sure each generation used the name to honor the person who had the name in the preceding generation. In other words, I believe that Steve’s uncle Jack named his son in honor of his father, not realizing the name Martin stretched back across eight generations.
I don’t think I have any names in my family like that, but there are cases in which relatives have been named for ancestors. My uncle is named for his grandfather. My aunt’s middle name is my grandfather’s first name. There are other names in my family that have some meaning, but do not honor an ancestor. My sister, for instance, was named after a character in the movie Dr. Zhivago. My mother was named for a girl that my grandfather thought was pretty.
Then there are the comic examples. My father was named after a cousin of his mother’s, who told her that he’d buy her a box of candy if she named my dad after him. That one doesn’t beat my school colleague’s mother naming her and her brother after the new monkeys at the zoo, but it makes me giggle.
My children’s names all have significance in that they are named after people or things that are important to me. Sarah’s name comes from Fleetwood Mac’s song “Sara”; however, I like the spelling with the “h” better, so I used that one (even thought the song doesn’t). Maggie is named for her grandmother, although I will admit I really wanted to name her Stella after my great-great-grandmother. Steve didn’t want to, though, because I guess he used to know a girl named Stella whom he disliked. Her name seems to fit her, and I can’t imagine her being something besides Maggie now. Dylan is named for both the poet Dylan Thomas and my father, which I suppose means he is (after a fashion) named thusly because my grandmother’s cousin bribed her with a box of candy.
My maternal grandfather was named for a book character. My paternal grandfather’s given name was changed (along with his surname) when he was adopted. I found that odd, as he was about nine when it happened. As far as I know, neither one of my grandmothers was named for anyone, but one of my cousin’s middle names is the same as my maternal grandmother’s middle name.
It seems it was the fashion in times past to name the older children after relatives. After the supply of relatives one felt like honoring dwindled (and people had 12 or 13 children), new names entered the family. I think this is the case with my great-great-grandfather Amos. His older brothers and sisters were named for grandparents, aunts, and uncles. He’s the earliest Amos in his family. Of course, I have six other people with some variation of Amos (either first or middle) in my family tree after him.
Then again, names seem to go in and out of fashion. I wonder how odd it will be to have older women named Kaylee and Madison instead of Margaret or Betty. I think some people don’t consider the fact that a name sounds somewhat juvenile when they name their children. The child will grow up and have to deal with that name. I also don’t understand why some folks give their child the diminutive form of the name. For instance, naming a child Bobby instead of Robert. If you name him Robert, you can call him Bobby when he’s little. When he grows up, he can use the more adult-sounding Robert.
Personally, I’ve always kind of liked my name. When I was little, I felt singled out because I was the only Dana in school, but as I grew, I met more Danas. That was the only reason I didn’t care for my name when I was little.
Where’d you get your name from? What do you think of it?
Interesting post! All I know is that my dad picked out my name, and for no particular reason. It means "night" in poetic Hindi (as opposed to colloquial), which I think is why I'm such an insomniac.
I guess I like my name. It can be pronounced the Hindi way or the more Anglicized way that my kindergarten teacher made up. I was embarrassed by my name when when I was younger because no one could ever pronounce it correctly and it just sounded weird, and I still feel a little like an outcast even today when surrounded by only Lauras and Jennifers. But I couldn't see myself being named anything else.
I'm not named after anyone either. I've always particularly liked my name, too, although all the other Kellys I've met are usually completely opposite of me – i.e. blonde and/or airheaded.
I do share my first and middle name with a girl who is a year younger. We lived in a small town at the time, and her mom asked my Mom what my middle name was. Well, when she had her baby, she named her with the exact same first and middle name as me. Kind of obvious, and this other Kelly is nothing like me either.
I love names, and I think they are so important. (I love reading birth announcements in the paper just to see what names people are giving their babies.)
I was to be named Edith.. then at the zero hour was switched to Sybil, a character in a book.. and NO.. not +that+ book! (which was a lie anyhooo)
My name fits me. I am somewhat (very) psychic and sure Sybarite!
I gave this prompt (where did you get your name to my students last year (on the message board) and it was a popular question:
Here is what they said:
(paste).. Grade 7.. not required writing.
December Bonus!! – (41) replies
Posted on 11/27/2005 by S L [Reply to this message]
Tell how/why the people in your families are named what they are. This includes pets! I'll start. My cat, Tommy (Tomahawk), was named for the Atlanta Braves, the year they won the pennant in 1991. My 2nd cat, Meximelt (Mex), was pre-named by a former student, who knew what he was doing when he got me to take *that* cat! He has never learned to bathe! We have hardly seen him (except at meal times) in a decade! And, all three of our cats are indoor cats. The third feline is Cubby. She is a little whining princess. She was 1st named Rain 'cause we got her on a rainy day, but that didn't fit, and she likes small places, like cubbies- thus her name. My mother-in-law told me she was "rare and valuable" 'cause she has/had long grey hair. But then we got the dawg! And Cubby is afraid of the dog, so she stays hidden from her tormentor, and now the long grey locks are in huge knots an' my kids call her our Jamaican cat ('cause they say she looks like she has dreds.) Then for the real people! There's Zoe, the black dog featured all over this board. I was reading a book about 8 years ago. That was the name of one of the characters. I thought then, "If I ever get a dog, that will be its (unusual) name." Turns out it isn't unusual; we meet about one dog a day named Zoe! My kids have family names. Ann Talley is my girl. That was my mom's maiden name. Being from the South, we figgered we could get by w/ calling her by the double name. The boy, our son, is Burke. That's his middle name. He was born on his dad's b'day, so we had to name him David Burke Jr. The (senior) David was named for each of his grandfathers, David Lauderdale and Horace Burke. My name comes from a book. (and *not* that psycho book entitled w/ my name either!) My mom said she had planned on naming me Edith but switched to my unusual name (from a novel) at the zero hour. As a kid, I didn't like my first name. But, I have grown into it. Next?
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 11/29/2005 by Branson Coltrane
OK well my rat terrier is named Beeja. We were going to name him Oreo, but then we like Beeja. It was actually the name of my dad's secretary at the time too. Beeja is usually asleep, because he is old and grumpy and has cataracts over his eyes. My hedgehog if named Mrs. Tiggy Winkle after the Beatrix Potter books. She was given to me by one of my moms friend. I call her Tiggy for short. Not exactly the most cuddly of pets, but she is nice. I have a hamster named Sushi, because when her rolls up to go to sleep he kind of looks like sushi. I rescued a turtle and will be keeping him until he is old enough to live on his own. His name id Kumquat and he is a painted turtle. He is so small! I have an older sister named Lauren, she is a senior in high school. My mom works at the school and my dad works in Beaufort. Next?
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 11/29/2005 by Nat Glass
K well my First dog Magellan (Maggie) was not named after anything the family that had her before us named her and they had 2 children a boy and girl and they just made something up for her so they named her that. Me….I wasn't named after anyone my parents just loved the name Natalie so they gave me it. My little poodle Vegas. I named him Vegas because my Dad had actually giving up a trip to Las Vegas so that I could get him and, I also love Las Vegas so i named him after that. My Dad (James) my daddy was named after his dad James. And last but not least my mom (Phyllis) wasn't named after anyone her parents did the same thing my parents did with my name and just loved that name and named her it.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/01/2005 by Maraia Tremarelli
Well, let's start with how i got my name. Well, my parents couldn't agree on a name for me. Dad wanted to call me Stephanie and my mom wanted to call Bryn (which I've never heard of before). So my great uncle decided to help them out by sking his friends who were Italian opera singers. He told them that I was a girl and my last name and to come up with some choices. They came up with Gabriella, Francesca, and Mariella (which is how they spelled Maraia). So my parents liked the name Mariella (Maraia) and my mom looked in a big book of names and found how my name is spelled now. The worst part is they are like most people they kept on saying my name wrong. They remembered by saying, remember it's Ma-Ray-A. My brother's nick-name but we always called him that,is Chip. That was my grandfathers nick-name and the family wanted to call their son Chip, but they knew that they had to give him a real name. So his real name is Thomas and they got that name from my mom's brother. My mom's name is Karen. There is no history but she got her name because back when she was born Karen was a popular name. And my grandparents don't really like original and unusual names. My dad's name is David. It came out of the bible. My grandpa opened the bible put his finger in a random spot and said if it is a boy his name will be Daivd and if it is a girl her name will be Bernadette. My dog's name is Devo and he his a whippet. We were going to name him Lunar (I have no idea why) but my dad came up with Devo. Now we have heard of the song Whippit Good and the bands name is Devo. So my dad thought of it and that is how Devo got his name.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/01/2005 by carly barron
i have 2 dogs and they both got named after castles in the luiv valley. one of them is named chamboard and she is the mother to my other dog named chen! chens real name is chenensous!! they are bothstandard poodles!! i got my real name(carlene) because my moms middle name is carlen.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/04/2005 by Mackenzie Johnston
My guinea pig is called Gumdrop because a bunch of kids thought he was dropping gum. It was really poop.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by MARSHEA MIDDLETON
My brother got his name from a diamond. I think I really didn’t know there was a diamond actually named Marquise. Until one day I was looking in a catalog and I was looking at birth stones and I said, “ Oh that’s my brother’s name, Marquise and I said, oh Momma look that’s Marquise’s name and I said Momma, did u know that there was a diamond named marquise?” “She said no I didn’t know.” So I said how did u get his name? So she said 1 of my friends liked his name and so I decided to name him what his name is. How I got my name was 1 of my mom’s friend liked the name Marshea and so when my mom had me she said that she just named me Marshea. My mom got her name from a match box. When she was born her dad use the match box named Victoria and when my mom was born her dad said we should name her Victoria and I said, “Mom, how did he get that name?” So she said off a match box so I said “oh” (lol). THIS IS A TRUE STORY!!
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by matthew Brown
Well my first pooch’s name was Chayna that’s just the first name that came to my mine was that name it has no meaning to it, I guess I just liked that name. She was the first dog I ever had and then she got pregnant with eight babies and we kept them for nine months. We kept one I named him Chance I got that name from one of my favorite movies called Homeward bound. Always when I was growing up it seem to me that he looked like a rottweiler because he had a black and brown color and was always playful love to wrestle with other pups. Then Chayna got pregnant again with eight more and we kept zip but in the third litter the puppies were so gorgeous so we decided to keep two and we name them B.B and Champ. My mom came up with the name B.B because she wanted to short it out for Brown bunny rabbit because his coat was like a bunnies. I got the name Champ because he was so big and he looked like a Champ. I had a rabbit for a while He was a good bunny and loved to hop. I had a gerbil that was name Mickey he ran fast and I got his name from the house of mouse plus he looked liked Mickey mouse a little bit. Well that’s all my pets and I love them all like they were one of us. My name is Matt Brown.That is from my dad, so I am a junior. My mom is called(named Val),and she isn’t named for nobody.This is a true strory!
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by luis olvera
I named my dog Oreo since it was all black and with white on its chest. I also named it Oreo since it liked to eat Oreos. The best part was that it didn’t die when it ate chocolate. My dog was a female pit bull that loved to eat Oreos. How I found out that it liked chocolate Oreos was because I took him for a walk down by Barker field and I let him loose. And he was running toward something and when I got there he was eating a pack of Oreos that he had found. When he finished eating the Oreos we went home I told my mom that my dog had ate some Oreos. And my mom got mad at me because she said that dogs couldn’t eat chocolate and Oreos had chocolate in them. So at the end it turned out that he did not die after eating Oreos and that is how my dog got its name. My name, Luis, is the name of mt dad. So I am a Junior. My mom, Irene, is a beautiful name that her mom loved, so that’s why she is named Irene. My sisters, Pamela and Jackie, are named for names my mother was fond of. This is really true!
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Quintin Smalls
In my family there are six living thing in our house. There is our dog and his named is Speckled. We named him that because of the Speckled “things” on his on his skin. He is a pit-bull mixed with a hound. He is still a puppy. He grows really fast. Long time ago I had a dog named Crystal. She was named after my sister. Her and my sister had the same birth day. My name is Quintin; I am named after no one. My dad got his named from his dad. That name is Robert Smalls and we are VERY pround of the Senior and Junior Robert Smalls!! Tiffany is my mom. She was named for nobody.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by nydria smalls
My cousin’s name is Vanessa. She is named after our aunt who died when she was first born with a water jug head. A water jug head is when your head has a lot of fluid in it, so to honor her, they named her that. My aunt also had a brother who died also with a water jug head. My aunt and uncle would be in their late 30’s if God spared their lives. I never got a chance to meet them but I wish I had a chance to say good bye, and that is how my cousin got her name.I am very proud of the names, but sorry they did not live to see the beauty of their names and lives. By: Nydria Smalls
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Katelyn J. Grant
I got my name from both of my late great grandmothers its fun having both of my grandmother’s names. They died of old age but that was a blessing that I got to see them before they passed away and I know there’re looking down on me saying I love you and my name is going to be famous one day.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by brandon painter
My name is Brandon Painter I live on Daufuskie Island, I have a pet racon named Tatter because he likes potatoes. We raised him since he was first born, his mom was running across the road and dropped him. My dad stopped his dump truck got out picked him up and took him home. We had to feed him from a bottom; we keep him inside until he was big enough to live out side. We did not keep him in a cage, he gust ran around outside. Now he lives in the swamp behind my house. When ever I go out side all I have to do is call his name and he comes running out of the tree he lives in. when ever we have a b.b.q he thanks he’s going to get a peace of meat.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Seth Anthony
My dog is named Bridget because we found her on a bridge. My bird is named Moe because he has a Mohawk. My dog is a westie and my bird is a cockatiel.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Mike Fotia
I got my name from my parents, my mom wanted to call me Zack or Anthony, and my dad wanted my name to be Frank or Matt. So both of my parents couldn’t agree on a name for me and then when the doctor asked them and my dad said, “Whatever just call him Michael” and so my name was Michael. My mom got her name from the meteorologist up in her hometown whose name was Kathy Kosaski. So my grandpa named her after the meteorologist in Scanton. My dad got his name from the doctor who delivered him whose name was Jeff Uphart. So my dad’s name was Jeff. My sister gother name from me because one of my friends in pre-school was name Ana and so I couldn’t think of anything else because I was five and a half at the time so I wanted to name her Ana. As for my second sister, we just pick a name off the top of our heads, kind of like how I got my name, her name is Maria.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by haley pinkston
Ok well I will start with my dogs. Cleo got her name because she is a princess and my other dogs name is Sophie, because she had a reindeer name and my dad thought of Sophie. My moms name is Celeste and I have no idea why and my Dad’s is William and he is named after his granddad, mine is because my mom thought of Halley’s Comet.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by George Lee
I got my name from my dad I’m the only boy so my grandma got to name my two sisters and he wanted to name me after my dad name George. So when my dad found he was having a boy he shaved all his hair and quit his job just because he was having a boy. Then when I was born they called me George William Lee jr.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Wen Kendrick
My cat got his name Devil because when we bought him he was all crazy all his sisters look like puff balls but he looks normal. My sister got her name from a movie. I don’t know what movie but my dad wanted to name her one name and my mom wanted to name her another thing so the out them together and the name turned out to be the name they wanted. My to other cats got there names from my sister and me I named my cat Trunks because I was playing a video game and one of the characters looked like him kinda ,and my sister named her cat Tiger for god knows what reason. He is white and puffy so ya I don’t know why.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Margo Dill
Ok well I guess I’ll start with my name. My parents named me after my Grandma my moms mom Margaret. But my real name is Margo. My parents thought Margaret was to long. Now my brothers name was going to be Luke but my cousin was born about 6 months before my brother and my aunt named him Luke so my parents named him Andrew because on their honeymoon they stayed by a church named “Saint Andrews Church.” Now I had one pet and he was a Hermit Crab. I named him Hypno because he had swerves on his shell. Now my mom got her name because I guess my grandparents liked J’s because the first 4 children were named Jeff, Jim, Julie, Janelle My mom and Brad. Brads name was going to be John Bradley, but I guess they liked it the other way around. My dads name is very common so I guess my grandparents liked the name.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Badlyn Rolfe
Well it started with my dad wanting to name me zingo but my mom didn’t want to name me that . So I got my name by my dad going to the badlands in South Dakota. My dad was playing baseball when he thought of my name. He thought it was cool because I could be one of the only kids named badlyn . Then when I went to South Dakota to see where I got my name we were staying in a lodge, and we ran into this one guy and he offered me a horse. That guy really liked my name because since we couldn’t keep the horse he named it after me. I thought it was pretty cool knowing I had a horse named after me . My mom , Brenda got her name who knows where from all I know is she likes it. My dads name is Douglas but we say Doug for short. My sister Victoria well I don’t really know where she got her name ether .
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Sam Stir
We named one of my dog’s rascal because she always gets in trouble and nobody wanted her but we did. We named my other dog westie because she is a Westland high terrier other wise known as a westie. My old dog stubby died by getting ran over by a car I don’t know why we named him that. They named me Sam because that was my grandfathers name. My grandparents named my mom Laurie because they felt like it. My other grandparents named my dad David because it was his dad’s name.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Joey Housey
I got my name from my mother because when she found out I was going to be a boy she said that I’ am going to be just like my grandpa. My grandpa just died when my mother just found out I was a boy. His name was Joe so my mom said that she was going to name me Joey, That’s how I got my first name. So they decide to name to Joey Housey from my dad last name. My brother (Perry Smith) was name after my dad for his first name and my dad last name. My mother (Jennifer Smith) and father (Perry Housey) got there name from there parents just because they like it. My aunt named my sister. My sister has the same name as my farther and me, but my aunt name her first Carmela
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by freddie pinckney
My name is Freddie Bernard Hamilton Pinckney jr. I’m named after my farther. My pet name is scrappy we did dint know what to name him. My cousin named him because he would tear every thing apart. MY mom name is Tracey young she got her name fro her god mother. My aunt Elina is named after her grand mother. My cousin name is Tavares Washington his grand mother named him. That” the end of my time line.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Seth Bolthouse
I’ll start by telling you how my dog and parrot got named. My dog Rutger was named after the singer back then who had all white hair and, my dog was all white and was very fluffy. My parrot was named Yams because, well I don’t know why he was named that, he can say “Tuts”. Now lets start with my family My dad was named Micheal because his great uncle. My mom’s name is Rhonda after her dad’s sister. My brother’s name was given to him by me actually. My mom says when she told me she was pregnant I said Chandler and that’s his name. My name was given to me by my Grandma, she goes to church a lot and she gave my mom the name. Seth was Atom and Eve’s third son.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by lilia grageola
I had a dog and a cat named Cindy and a dog named junior like my brother. my cat was named Cindy cause every time a show named I like Cindy she would get up the bed and watch it and my dog was named jr cause that is my brothers name and we named him like that cause my brother likes the dog a lot. And my cat and my dog like to fight a lot and one day Cindy got lost and my dog junior was howling because he missed her and I asked my mom why is he sad if all they do is fight all the time and my mother told me that it’s like me and my brother and I asked why and she told me well you and him like to fight but when one of us get hurt we are all worried and that is what happened with junior the dog and Cindy my cat but then this lady that liked Cindy a lot and she told us that if she can have her and my mom said yeah cause she is kin of allergic to cats but she never told me that she gave her away and I didn’t talk to her for 2 days and then my dog junior died cause he was lonely and sad.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by cecilia camacho
Ok well let me get started and tell yall why I think I got my name .First of all my name is Cecilia and I’ve been told that when I was still in my lovely and wonderful mother’s tummy, my parents were going to name me … uh I forgot but I know it wasn’t going to be Cecilia. What happened was that I popped out on November the 23, which were a couple days before or after (I’m not sure) a virgin named Cecilia. I think because they are like very religious people .N E Way I also know that my brother got his name after a king in the holy bible named SAUL but that’s all I know about our names .Of course my story of how I got my name is way more interesting.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Pam Jimenez
Well let me tell you why my parents choose to name me Pamela. First of all my dad was really the one who choose to name me Pamela. My dad Porfirio named me Pamela cause Pamela started with a p and his name did too. Also he named me cause one of his sister died like two three weeks before I was born. And also my grandmother’s name was Pamela too.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by tanya Ambrocio
I had a goldfish named Rudolph. He was named like that because I got it last year when it was Christmas and my brother saw a cartoon about Rudolph so we named our goldfish Rudolph. My sister named is karimen but we called her bolita because when she was little she was fat and we were in Mexico so bolita is a word in Spanish so we still called her that. Well my parents just liked the named Tanya so they called me like that. My sister Erika got her named because my uncle loved that named so he told my dad to named her like that. My mom Maria got her named because my grandmother was named like that. My brother Cristian got his named because my mom looked in a book of names. My parents could not decide what named to called him.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by david snodgrass
Well let’s start with me. I got named after my dad (john). You might know me as David but my real name is john. My brother got named well I don’t know how he got named. I have three dogs named buddy Lizzie bell the vacuums and blob (a.k.a. girlie) my dog blob got named when all she would do I sit around the house. My dogs Lizzie bell and buddy got named when we gave them dinner 30 seconds later they were done with it. I also have one bird named frank. My brother named him he just thought of a name.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by brandon foss
Hey I’ll tell you how my family got there names. I got named Brandon because my parents thought it was an uncommon name. My brother got named after my grandma’s mom, Rehn. My dog got its name because we wanted are dog to have a name most dogs don’t have. Are dog a name is Kia, we thought that that name was unusual for a dog to have, or we just call her pretty girl. My dad, I really don’t know how my dad got named but my dads name Is Eric and my moms is Roberta. My mom has 10 brothers and sisters: Karen, Candy, John, June, Mary, Mike, and that’s all I can remember. I guess that my grandma got tiered of naming 10 kids, so I think my grandma had a hard time to think what to name them. I have a friend named David who got named after is dad.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Andrew Ravaioli
One of my brothers, dogs named Baby got her name when she was a puppy. She was so little that my smallest brother Mathew named her Baby. My Dad and I have the same initials my Dads are M.A.R. and mine are A.M.R. I was going to be named after him but my Mom and Dad agreed on Andrew instead. My great Grandpa was in World War 2 and was named Andrew and that is how I think I got my name. My Uncle was named after my Grandpa Donald and so my Grandma named my Dad.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Brian Zavala
I was named Brian because it is not a very common name in Mexico. Cosita my dog was named Cosita because in Spanish it means small thing in Mexico and she looks like a small thing. My mothers name is Victoria she was not named after anyone my grandparents just loved the name Victoria and named her it. My dads name is Rafiel because my parents thought it was a good name because when he was born he looked like a Rafiel. I have 7 fish and their names are King, Dirty, Shrimp, Flower, T-bone, Frog Eyes, Flea and these names just popped up in my head when I got them. I have 2 birds and their names are Nicole, and Richard and my mom named Nicole and she named her that cause she thought it was a good name for a bird and, I named Richard that because he looked like a Richard.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Leighanne Martin
Alright I’ll start. One of the closest people in my family was my grandpa and I called him Papa Bill. I called him that ever since I was little and could talk. I called him this because his first name is William but everyone called him Bill. The reason I chose to write about him is because in February I lost him from a long battle of cancer. It was the worst I felt in a long time and was crushed. And I also called him that because my other grandpa I called him Papa. Now I’ll do one of my pets. One of my old pets name was Fred. My step dad called him that because one of his favorite movies was Smokey and the Bandit and the dogs name in that movie was Fred. We had to get rid of him though. My other dogs name is Hank. I think the reason we call him this is because my step dad like hunting and I guess Hank is a hunting name. Another one of my family members is my older cousin named Jennifer. When I was about 3 or 4 I guess the only 2 letters I could spell were H and O. It was obviously around Christmas. My mom and my cousin Jennifer were telling me what HO spelled like HO HO HO. So Jennifer was sitting there and she is like in her 30’s now. But anyway I called her Jennie Ho and it has stuck with her ever since I was a little baby. One more thing; how could I forget this?!! The reason I was named Leighanne was 'cause my grandma's middle name was Lee and my parents wanted that to be part of my name. My first name is Cynthia because my aunt who died before I was born had that name. I never met her but I try and honor her name.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Corrine Groff
We got my dog Rusty about three years ago. We had him for a couple days when we finally said okay we have to name him. So the first name that popped into my head was rusty because he’s a rusty color. Then the first thing shot back at me by my brother was “Nooooooo that’s werid!” Of course that’s what a brother always says so we were going through the names as my older brother comes down and says “Rusty!!” the dog wagging his tail so fast. Everyone was like yeah what a perfect name and I said “Oh my gosh I said that earlier!” of course no one listening what I said so I was thinking oh whatever. So that’s how we named my dog! My Mom named me Corrine even though she was debating whether or not to name me Carly. Like it of love it my named me Corrine after her old Best Friend that had separated after a long time. My mom always remembers that she promised her best friend that she would name her daughter after me and she did. Corrine may not be the most common name and not the easiest name to say but I respect my mom for sticking to it! Jed is my other dog well not anymore as of 12/10/05 but my mom named him Jed because he’s a blue tick coon hound. I wanted to name him pepper because he seemed so sweet (we had got him because the owner was going to put him to sleep because he had ran over the back of his leg and it was broken and he didn’t want a coon hound with a limp) with his broken leg a 6 months I could carry him and everything. Well I’m glad my mom named him Jed because when he grew up he was such a handful and I was sad because I couldn’t carry him anymore.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Kendall Cofer
My Sisters Name… My sisters name is Madison Isabell Cofer, because I picked her first name. I picked it because I was looking through a baby name book and it just really stood out to me. She got her middle name from my grandmother whose name was Isabell.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Daniel hernandez
My little brother has a funny name we call him Gabo his name is Gabriel . We call him Gabo because of the way he use to look when he was little . He kind of looked like a bird and cried like a turkey so until this day he still cries like a turkey . We chose Gabo because it went with his name well it was at least short for his name
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Sebastian Silva
My Guinea pig was going to be called Nelson but when my sister was 2 years old she pronounced Nelson Leton so we had to name him Leton. My mom Monica was named like that because my grandmother just liked the name. My father Alvaro was named like that because my grandpa, great grandpa, and his brother were named like that. My sister Belen is Spanish for Bethlehem Jesus was born, I didn¡¦t know that until I was 5 years old I just liked the name of it
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Courtney Collett
Well I have a dog named Hershey he is just the cutest little thing on the face of the earth. We called him Hershey because he is chocolate brown and is long and skinny, just like a Hershey Chocolate Bar. He is part wiener dog and part Maltese. One time I and my best friend Mackenzie was over at my house and we were taking a Christmas picture so we can have a picture of us to give Victoria my other friend, and he just had to be in the picture, but we didn’t want him to, but of course he got his way, he had to be in it. Then there is me, my parents were going to name me something other than Courtney but they saw a game show on TV and there was this beautiful lady on who’s name was Courtney so they thought they might name me Courtney because it was such a beautiful name to them, but not to me, no sir I hate my name. My brother my mom and dad they just called him Kyle they liked it a lot.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Sherice Walker
Okay my name is Sherice Katherine Walker. The word Katherine is underlined because that is one of the names I would like for you to know about me. How I got the name Katherine was see my dad’s (Sammie Lee Walker) Mother died like way before I was born and her first name was Katherine Walker. Katherine was a very nice women and when she died it crushed my father. So I guess so he could still have part of her around was he made Katherine my middle name, and before I never knew where they got Katherine until they told me the story. See and even though I never knew my grandmother she is inside of me. Well let me tell you about how I got my dog’s name see my dog’s name is Cocoa Lee Walker. How we got Cocoa was about 2 hours after we got Cocoa we were walking on the bike path we was like what can we name him and since he is black with a little white on his chest. So first we said lets call him Chocolate but it didn’t work out so well. So then I said how about Cocoa then everybody agreed. Where we got Lee from was see my dad is in the U.S. military, yes that’s right he serves for our country he is over in Iraq and we missed him so much so we gave him our father middle name because our father never likes to give up and it’s the same as our dog when we’re playing with fetch with our dog even though he’s tired he never gives up so that’s were he got Lee From. And Walker is just our last name.
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/08/2005 by Mackenzie Ogden
Hello, my name is Mackenzie Ogden and I am here to tell you about all of the pets I have had in my past and present. Well let’s start with the past, shall we? Well after my dog Scoobie died I had an urge to have another pet, so I tried to find the perfect pet for me. Okay, when I was young around nine or ten, my eldest sister, Lyndsay got about two fish and let me tell you they were not quite the pet because they died about three days later. So I knew that, that was not the pet for me. Then me and my little sister, Abigail started to think about how life with a cat would be, but that is out of the question because my mom and Lyndsay are allergic. Then one day I was looking through a catalog and I saw these butterflies and I thought that my parents couldn’t say no because they don’t do anything. Guess what, they said fine! So I got them and I found out that I did not want them anymore because I missed what I said to my mom, I said they don’t do anything. Of course they group up and then I let them go. Then my family took a dog in named, Skye for while. We tried to find a home for him. Finally, someone that saw the love in him took him in and is still taking care of him now. Yes, I do miss him, but it makes me happy that someone is taking care of Skye now. My family was desperate to have another dog after we had to let two go. So here is where I will start with the present. So, finally during last Christmas our parents gave us an envelope that said merry Christmas and it had a picture of a boykin spaniel like which is a dog that is brown with wavy, short hair and they said that they were getting us that dog and now he is our dog, Tucker for the past present and future. What will I get next?
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/13/2005 by Steven Rybeck
well, my golden retriever is named Cinnamin because of the fact the she looks like cinnamon. I'm named after my dad. and we named our cat birdie cause she likes to catch birds :]
Re: December Bonus!! Posted on 12/15/2005 by Jessica L.
Heyy!! I have two dogs, ones name is Chico and the others name is Pancho. We named Chico, Chico because theres a show with someone that they call Chico and the Man…maybe??? My parents used to watch it. I'm not sure. We named our other dog Pancho, which is Chicos son because there is some famous person named Pancho-Villa, or something like that. 🙂 Then we have me, Jessica, I wasnt named after anyone and then my sister, Jenny wasn't named after anyone either.But she has the same name as My Aunt. I never knew her. My dads name is Chris. His real name is John Chris. My grandpas name is John also. My brother is named after my dad. He is name John Christopher. We call him Christopher, but his friends and teachers call him Chris. My moms name is Marcy. She was named after her grandfather. His name was Morris Packer. They called him Marcy for short. Her middle name was Packer, which is his last name, but now that she is married her name is Marcy Lindgren.
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I like the way my name sounds, but I would prefer it if it wasn't so common for women my age. It seems that every other baby girl born in the late 70s/early 80s is named Jessica!
Your rant on nicknames as given names and the future Grandma Kaylees made me laugh – I think you'd like this site: http://www.bigbadbabynames.com
I was called Roger because this is the call sign of pilots and my father served in the Royal Air Force as a pilot in the last years of World War Two.
It is amzing how much naming practices vary around the world and I've written an extensive essay about this here:
http://www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/useofnames.html
I was named after Meredith Baxter Birney's character on Family, a show that she was on before Family Ties.
My sister, Dana, was named after a character played by Matthew Broderick's father, on the same show, I believe.
My sister, Shirah, was named after my mother's mother, Shirley, (who died before any of us were born), as is the custom in the Jewish religion.
My sister, Kate Alix, was named after Alix Kates Shulman, the author of Drinking the Rain.
My grandmother died recently. Her name was Ann. We haven't talked about it much but I think secretly all my sisters and I are jockeying to be the next one to have a kid, in order to claim my grandmother's name.
If you work in health care, like education, you get to see all of the problems with names. Thus, I have these recommendations for parents.
1. Never give a kid a first name that can be confused with a last name. I sure that someone named Martin David goes through life being called David Martin.
2. Do not name you kid after someone famous. Having a name like Michael Jordon or James Bond draws attention most people do not want.
3. If you use a strange spelling like Tym instead of Tim, your child will spend their life with their name misspelled.
4. Women I worked with always speculated on people who were named after soap opera stars. If you see a woman around 25 named Laura, you suspect that the mother was a General Hospital Fan.
5. Think about what the initials spell out.
Well…. I am an April Fool's Day baby!! My mom says she had already picked the name out though, and I was actually due in late March. I don't know where the Rene came from, I guess she just liked it, but on my b. cert. it is spelled with two e's. When I got a social security card in 7th grade I only put one, I don't even remember why, probably being rebellious ; ) I love this post! and I love what all the kids wrote! I had to read every one! Dana I love that Sarah is named after the song! I like it better with the H too : )
I was named after my mom and dad. Dan(a) and Ela(y)ne.
😀 just to let you know – there are still some Martin Hough's around!!! I am a Martin Hough in Wilbraham, Massachusetts (but was born in Liverpool, UK).
I was named after my father’s sister (Bettye) and given my mothers middle name (Sue). I named my daughter Amanda after the song “Amanda” by Waylon Jennings and her middle name after my mom Winnie Sue and myself Bettye Sue making her a third generation of the middle name Sue. My mom and dad had an exceptional way of coming up with names for instance my oldest brother “Gwen” was named after my dad Arvel Gwen Bolding that making him a Jr. my middle brother Jackie was named after a best friend of my moms and Danny the youngest of the boy’s was named after the song Danny boy my big sister was named after (I think) my moms twin sister Minnie who later changed her name to Penny and my little sister Denise Lucille was named after my granny (Lucille Thurman).
co0l! site 😀 i was named after my dead aunt Pauline (My Mom's sister).. its sad i didnt even get to know her or even spend time with her .. When i was born she's already gone .. 🙁 Well, when my Mom told me that i was named after my DEAD aunt, I was shocked and kinda sad .. And i was wondering why did she named me after her? .. and I was scared too, because she's already dead .. But know I appreciate it. Because my grandma said she was the prettiest and the nicest in the family! 😀