Nasty side-effects

I went to school with a boy named Virgil. I think you know what his nickname was!

When my parents were choosing a name for my third brother, my mother wanted to name him Duane.
I was there, but too young to care (beyond worrying about the increased competition!) -- but it's been reported to me that my dad refused.

All he could hear was, "Duane the bathtub, I'm dwowning!"

Recycling...

In my grandmother's family, names were re-used.

For instance, David and Cornelius were each used twice in naming her brothers.
When the first David died in infancy, the name was used again for the next baby boy born in the family.
And like the first David, the first Cornelius died, and when the next boy came along, he was named Cornelius.

I guess you would run out of ideas when you have 16 children...

Should names be funny?

I'm not sure we should saddle children with joke names, just to amuse ourselves, but there is no doubt it happens.

I heard many years ago about the Lear family and their new baby girl, Krista Chanda....

For lots more silly (tragic?) names, have a look at this:
http://www.101funjokes.com/funny_names.htm

I can only hope no babies really carried these names!

The importance of initials

We had a pastor when I was growing up, who had chosen names beginning with "K" for each of his children.
His name was Walter, his wife was Erna, and he always referred to his family as "WaltErna and the 4 Ks."

I wonder, did he plan that when he named the children?

First child

My first child was born more than 21 years ago, but I remember how difficult it was to choose a name. First, I was convinced I was having a boy, and I didn't spend much time thinking about girl's names.
I did have Erin picked out. Then she was born, and she had a shock of red hair. Erin seemed even more appropriate, and the name "Heather" popped into my head.
Then it became a struggle -- would it be Erin Heather, or Heather Erin?

Anita's story

I grew up with an unusual name, for its time and place at least, but for me, that's not the most interesting part.

What stuck with me was the story my mother told me about how she chose my name. She talked about having met a beautiful dark-haired girl with the name Anita, and immediately falling in love with her, and because of that, her name. I'm sure there were more details in her story, but all I remember is the dreamy way her eyes drifted as she remembered my namesake. When she gave me the name, I think my mother was trying to capture some perfect picture in her imagination by giving the name to me.

Rather than being dark and graceful like my namesake, I came out blonde and clumsy, but I suspect that my mother let go of much of her fantasy the moment I was born, anyway :-)

When I named my daughters, it struck me that the name and its sound was less important than the mental picture each name evoked for me. When my daughters were born, I chose their names based on the mental images I have of the beautiful, tall, strong women they would become.

That made me curious about what other names evoke in the minds of people who bestowed them or carry them.

I would love to hear your stories. What is your name, and how did you get it? Is there a story behind it? Who named you?
Did you have the privilege and responsibility of naming your child, or a grandchild, neice or nephew? How did you choose, and what does the name mean to you?

Over to you ....