The name police do not approve.
A rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet. Was Shakespeare right? Methinks not.
I have been accused of reading too much into names. I always notice them, and roll them about on my tongue, and repeat the especially silly or noteworthy ones to my family, with accompanying comment.
“How does one go through life, being taken seriously with a name like Gary Sprinkle?” I said the other evening, seeing his name on a newscast. Of course he is a weatherman.
“Your name is Toby,” said The Hubby. “Names are just cruelties inflicted on children.”
I happen to like my name, but I agree it is not the most mature, professional-type name, especially when attached to a woman in her forties. I can’t tell you how many people, when I introduce myself, break into smiles and tell about their dog named Toby. As if this forms a bond with me. For them it seems to.
“Maybe,” I said. I picked up a flyer on a professional therapy workshop on Oahu. “I can’t go to a workshop and spend a bunch of money to learn from someone named Catherine Moonshine, even with a Ph.D. She probably had to get a Ph.D. to compensate for her name.”
“She was probably descended from some Irish moonshine makers who settled in Tennessee and wanted to advertise their product,” said the Hubby, with unexpected whimsy.
“Yeah but now that she’s a professional she should do something about that name,” I insisted.
“She probably doesn’t know she is being reviewed by the Name Police.”
“Hmphf,” I said.
My children’s names were the source of much debate and reading of Kiddie Name Books. But in the end their names were both borrowed from people we had known: We wanted them to have unusual names, not Joshua, Evan, Britney or Ashley, as were popular in the early 90’s. Caleb had been a childhood friend, and had the added advantage of being a solid Bible name. We almost named him Caleb James, after my dad and grandpa which would have made my grandparents very happy and for that reason alone The Hubby didn’t want to.
Tawny was another friend of ours, a pretty blond woman we both liked who ended up having emotional problems but looked good doing it. I was suffering from the excessive dogginess and masculinity of my name, and wanted something unusual and feminine for a girl.
Little did I know she would later say, “Thanks, Mom, for giving me a stripper name.” Maybe she will have to get a Ph.D. to compensate. I can only hope.
I like names, too, and choosing our kids’ names was fairly easy, as my husband tends to think like I do (though I vetoed his “Tristan for a boy” fairly early). I’ve known people who named their children names that *will* get their behinds walloped on a regular basis in school. That is a certainty. I didn’t want that for my kids.
When I choose character names, they often have a meaning or purpose, beyond just pulling a name out of a hat.
But, I don’t always look at other people’s names unless they’re really unusual. The Moonshine one would have caught my attention. Sprinkle, probably not. But then, my maiden name was Melody, and I can’t tell you how often I was instructed to tell them my *last name.* Oh, and I can’t sing a note to save my life and I play no musical instruments. I wonder if quitting piano lessons was an unconscious attempt to avoid the whole name-hobby/occupation thing. 😀
Yeah, Dr. Moonshine is a psychologist. Nuff said.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment, Ms Melody!
Love it Toby. I like names too. I named my first daughter Molly-Rose. Everyone loved it. Then when daughet too came along–I named her Rose-Maree. People smiled. Little did I know that I would go on to have two more daughters after the son was born. Yes they both have Rose in their names–I kinda felt like I needed to keep it up. So when others make fun of families with odd children’s names….I just look away with my nose in the air and pretend I don’t hear!
That’s a truly great story and I hope you don’t mind if I use it someday for a character???
The androgyny of my own name has led me to insist my future daughters also have androgynous first names, but feminine middle names that they can go by instead once they’re old enough to care! 😉 I love my name now, but sometimes I wish I’d had an option. There’s a reason ‘Nagata’ is my only middle name now…
You’ll have to tell me your middle name now. Period.
It’s ‘Nagata’. (Now, legally) 😀
B . . . . . t
(give me a vowel)
I was just thinking about this the other day when I wrote a story about a man named Heribald: http://yearzerowriters.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/the-tribe/
When I was naming my kid, I wanted something that was normal, but not too overly-popular as we have a fairly common last name. I also like old-fashioned sounding names. So many of my friends have given their children the most popular names of the year (Sophie a few years ago, Mia this year). You just know they’re going to be in classes with five other Mias or Sophies.
You are lucky to get the dog name and you know it. Considering the parents were deep in hippy culture and psychadelic searching you could well be spending your years trying to live up to (or to live down) “Ketchup Blossom” or “Moon Lily”.
Toby!
Names are so important. I remember when I was a kid and realized that many girls names ended with a vowel sound and boys with a consonant sound. I had an interest ever since. Your kids names are very important. Unique, but normal, not overused, and not weird was my motto.
And character names, they have to have just the right sound. I recently needed to come up with an authentic name for a 5th Century Irish bad guy. There were 3-4, but they all sounded wimpy. One stood out, it was perfect! If you don’t get it right, it just doesn’t work!
True that.
As I write I’m mulling over whether I want to call Prairie (no last name) to sign up for her Pilates group.
Then there are the 19th century names such as (it’s true) Euthanasia Switt.
OMG. Prairie? Nice.
Euthanasia Switt? Can I use HER as a character too??
You weren’t named for the ubiquitous Toby jug?
A couple of years ago, I fell through a hole in a rotting deck. The wood gouged my leg open, and I was rushed to the hospital for stitches. As I waited on the gurney for the doctor to arrive and sew me back together (15 stitches), I heard on the intercom:
“Dr. Dick. Paging Dr. Dick.”
My first thought was of course he would have to be a doctor to compensate for the name.
Yes, I laughed.
Yes, he was the doctor that sewed up my leg, and I am sure he overheard my laughter, because as he was sewing up my leg, he was making jokes about failing out of upholstery school because of his uneven stitching.
He had a great sense of humor. As for my leg – well – someday I will have laser surgery to straighten that scar out 😉
Hilarious and awesome story! And “scars” is a great blog idea…
You’re right! I will put that on the list for blog posts to come. (expect a pingback 🙂 )
Thanks for the great post Toby.
Good dispatch and this mail helped me alot in my college assignement. Thank you for your information.
My parents say I was named after a Japanese army tank because I bulldosed over everyone and everything to get where I was going. I just don’t tell people what they ‘say’ is the meaning of my name.