Naming Names

Names are a very important part of life. People once thought if you knew their name, it gave you power over them and it does to some extent. Funny names, weird names, awkward sounding names can make life much harder than it needs to be, or, as some people believe, it can create character. I think most of us have heard of "A boy named Sue" and Barack Obama said is wasn't always easy being a Barack.

I had a very distant relative who named all his daughters boys names, Billie, Jo, Charlie, and thought it was hilarious. He wanted boys, and in my opinion he ended up with something that was neither this or that. They were very odd women. Although I am very sure it was much more than their names that made them that way.

Then there are the names that seemed to inspire their carriers. George Washington Carver more than lived up to his name. I had relatives that some of us were inspired by, Grover, Burl, Vivian, but I never was inspired enough to name my children after them. My grandson is named after John Lennon and if you ask him he will tell you that, adding, "but he is in heaven." I'm not sure how he learned this, or even what it means to a two year old, maybe when he is older I can ask him.

I had a fish named Claude, after Monet, and I named Chauncey after Chauncey Olcott, who wrote My Wild Irish Rose. His first companion was a male cat, Nijinski, named after a ballet dancer. His next was Chester, named by the vet's daughter. Neither had the best luck, so I was not going to get another pet after moving out here, but I have the yard and Chauncey does not do well with the big dogs upstairs. Soon we will add a small female shih tzu and I am trying to come up with a name for her. She will probably be off white. I thought of Gabrielle, Gabby, Gwendolyn, Gwennie, Isabelle, Izzy, or Merry Grace, Gracie. I even considered Frosty and Pearl, but those just aren't me.