Saturday, September 15, 2007

What Is In A Name?

I think the only bad part of having another boy is knowing I'll never be able to use any of the girl names that I picked out. Those names have all moved into the fantasy realm for me. Maybe if I actually starting, you know, writing the stories that I compose in my head, I could use some of them as character names.

An idea that got me thinking...if you could rename yourself, what name would you pick?

I've always liked my first name. It's quite pretty, and, at least when and where I grew up, it was also unusual. Unusual seemed to fit me well, but as I got older it sometimes struck me as too...pretty, soft, feminine.

I developed a fantasy name for myself as early as junior high; I had a secret desire to be called by my last name. It probably started because that's what my much admired older brother was called by his friends. Even today my internal voice calls me this, and I often indulge the fantasy by giving this name at restaurants and coffee shops.

The irony of course is that all the baby girl names I picked out were unabashedly feminine. I'm particularly fond of the fusty old grandma names. But when I started to think about renaming myself, I couldn't imagine any of these refering to me. Instead I'd want to be a Kennedy or a Davis or a Bennett - something masculine and last-namish. I'm sure this preference speaks volumes about my gender identity issues!

What about you? What name would you choose for yourself if you could? Do you think that choice says something about your personality?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have lots of good girl names for the daughter I don't have! I am not planning on having any kids so what am I supposed to do with all these names I've collected? :)
When I was a little girl I hated my name and decided I wanted to be called Charlemaine. HAHA!