What's in a Name?

My mother swore that she went to school with girl twins named "Ima" and "Ura" Hogg.  Really! What do you think those parents were thinking?  "Which one of our twins will get teased the most?  Yuk. Yuk", as, with gleaming eyes, they smiled their evil smiles.

I had a female student when I taught fifth grade named "Eureka".  Cruel, cruel parents. Of course, her classmates would taunt her every day. "Why'd ya mama named you after a vacuum cleaner?!"  Also, "Ya really have a 'suckie' name."

A friend of mine in grade school was named Orilla.  I really liked Orilla. I lost touch with her after eighth grade.  I wonder if she lived. I don't think anyone would be able to live through all those "Orilla the Go-rilla" jokes.

Mallory is a nice-sounding name.  But who would name their boy or girl "Mallory" if you knew it meant "unfortunate and unlucky". Or that Caleb is the Hebrew name for dog.

My maternal grandfather's first son died shortly after birth.  He'd named him "John Vallery, Jr."  Now, that didn't stop him from naming his next son, who lived a long life, "John Vallery, Jr.", too. Ya think maybe the second "John Vallery, Jr." had some problems in his life.  Yep.  But my grandfather would just laugh and laugh at "Junior".

Some names, whether male or female, are spelled the same - Like Evelyn.  I have a female friend from High school named Evelyn.  There's a male British novelist whose name is Evelyn (Waugh).  The only difference is that his named is pronounced Eve (as in Adam and Eve) - lynn. 

A lot of folks don't know that if you are a guy, and your name is Francis, you spell it with an "i".  If you're a girl, it's Frances with an "e".

Other unisex names are Alex (my oldest grand daughter's name) and Aubry.  My sister in law's mother named her Aubrita when her dad's name, Aubry, woulda been fine.  Then there's Kiley and Kendall.  Which reminds me of my best friend, Chris (female "Chris").  She was obsessed with the letter "K".  No, I don't know why.  She named her three children Kim (female), Kyle (male), and Karina (female).  Her son, Kyle, decided to carry on the tradition and his three kids' first names also begin with a "K".  Kim had no kids and Karina didn't follow in mom's footsteps.

I always thought "Donna" was just a female name. As Gomer would say, "Su-prise!  Su-prise!"  When I was a Red Cross volunteer, I was checking in patients for a doctor.  I noticed that the next patient and I shared the same name.  When he  showed up, I said, "There must be a mistake... They have you down as "Donna"."  He said, "That is my name."  I replied, "...Donna?".  He repeated, "My name is Donna!"  Blush.  You just never know.

My son's names are Scot, Tod, and Jeffery.  I figured that Scot didn't need the extra "t", and Tod the extra "d".  Then we moved to Germany.  Berlin. No problem with Scot or Jeff.  But "Tod' in German means "death".  So, I realized early on, as I called my son to come in for supper, I was yelling, "Death! Death!  Where are you, Death!  It's time to come in, Death."  No wonder my German neighbors looked at me funny.  

Now the name Althea comes from the Greek verb "to heal".  The Greeks called marshmallows Altheas because of their healing powers.  No, no.  The Greeks did not sit around a campfire, in their togas, roasting marshmallows and makin' s'mores. Marshmallows are plants of the Hibiscus family. These beautiful plants do grow in marshy areas.

So parents, be careful what you name your kids.  

And, Althea, The Healer, have a good day.