After the giveaway I emailed her for an address and my email was promptly dumped into her Spam folder! I wonder why?
Well the thing I'd forgotten and the thing I'm unable to change given my very limited computer knowledge is the lead name of our email address. We only have one main family email, I monitor it all as my husband, the builder, has a much more limited (if that's even possible) knowledge interest than me. However when the email address was initially set up it seems to have been given my husband's full name, in capital letters (ie shouting!) and that name is not the best!
He is the youngest of quite a few children and his Mum was best described as "alternative" or possibly "eccentric"! His brothers and sisters have reasonably normal names for that era,
Peter, Susan types of names.
Well apart from one of the girls, who seemingly has 2 very nice Christian names, until you hear the full story. The midwife suggested to my Mother in Law that she should consider maybe naming her new daughter after the month she was born in, June? My Mum in Law was not one to conform and didn't like to be told what to do at any time of her life so rejected this suggestion. However after giving it some thought she decided it wasn't a bad idea and gave her the middle name of May, she didn't like June!! So she is named after the month she wasn't born in!
However the youngest got a raw deal and ended up with two Christian names best suited to an old, bearded, wrinkled man! (he is turning into a wrinkled old man but that's not really the point!)
I really need to change our email moniker to something more suited (and less laughable) but despite trying, I can't!
So Justine had initially thought that my email was from someone "trying to sell her diamonds from Nairobi" or advising of the unclaimed millions held in a Hong Kong bank account!
At the time of the giveaway I did mention to the family who are now slightly aware I've been writing a blog, that I was sending a parcel to a reader; they immediately warned me not to do so! You should never contact strangers on the internet (my own words echoing there), "Stranger Danger" came the cry from my youngest!
However we eventually got over that and the giveaway gifts were duly posted. I did explain to Justine that I was in fact a lady somewhere in middle age and not a seedy old man with an old mans name; I trust she believed me - did you Justine?
Anyway it did get me thinking about names and how we choose them, all the thought that goes into finding the right name for your children, such a responsibility.
How did you manage to get it right; or maybe you didn't get it right?
I distinctly remember the discussions with our eldest, I preferred the slightly more unusual names, the builder quite the opposite. However we went with my choice (quite rightly!) but only after he had said several times, in the hospital ward, and very loudly, in his best BBC TV presenters voice
"And now, walking out to the wicket at Lord's, to save the day for England is ........"
As long as it sounded ok we could go with my choice!
For his middle name we were a bit stumped (he he Stumped, couldn't resist!) so, just for a giggle, we decided to ask the builders Mum what she thought. As I've said this choice wasn't to be taken too seriously. But she came up with a perfect name, a solid, old English name but still current; and it also happened to be the middle name of my darling Grandad.
My Grandad never got to see me married or to meet my children but he was the mainstay of my childhood and is never far from my thoughts.
Anyway the two other children's names came more easily, especially our daughters which had been in the back of my mind for years.
However it has been pointed out that all of our children are named after something sporty, the eldest a Formula 1 racing team (2 racing teams actually), number 2 son is a boxer and Little Miss is after a cricket team (a country in reality).
I'd love to hear any of your name related stories......
ps My camera remains lost so sadly no up to date photos, I considering getting a new one when payday arrives.
My Nan's middle name was May too and she wasn't born in that month either.
ReplyDeleteAs I've never wanted children, I haven't given it much consideration. I did once know a Richard Head - honestly!
Lol Richard Head, really? Oh dear! One of my neighbours is called Dick Turpin and I do know a Cherry Pye (she married Mr Pye)
DeleteWe used to have a 'family' email address, a computer engineer I worked with suggested using 'family.(your surname)@ who ever blah, blah' It worked, we didn't have to keep trying other names before choosing an original email address.
ReplyDeleteMy daughters middle name is the title of a film I watched when I was heavily pregnant...it had me in floods of tears. There, I feel better for that - I've never admitted it before!
Rose H
x
Interesting isn't it - we had a name for number 1 son whilst I was pregnant but changed our minds after watching a film where a boy (aged about 5 or 6) of the same name tried to set fire to his brother!
DeleteI'm presuming the name you'd chosen was the 'naughty' boys name?!
Delete;o)
So your eldest is called Red Bull, your middle one Mohammed Ali and your daughter Windies? Good grief!
ReplyDeleteDamn! I'd meant to keep them anonymous!
ReplyDeleteNot only did your email come from a name I didn't recognise, it was also entitled 'Giveaway Winner!' Or something like that, which really set the alarm bells ringing. Please forgive me for not saving you from the Spam folder more quickly! The penguin cricket book has become a favourite with our son - he likes to carry it around and pretend to read it.
ReplyDeleteHubby and I often ask ourselves where our son 's forename came from. Can you believe we don't know?! He has two middle names, one is my Dad's name and the other is an old family name from my husband's side.
My husband also said that it had to sound like a good name when our son leads the batting at Lords!
That's 2 of them in the England team of the future then Justine, see you in the crowd (I'll be the one with my head in a book!)
DeleteMy husband always says naming the kids was the most fun part of having them. I was named after a saint , well two as was my parent's want, then nicknamed after a barge that my brother saw called Jody (my story says it was a yacht!) and we tried to name the kids things that were different without trying too hard and sadly Demi Moore came back into the news with the WHip its scandal and so did her daughter Tallulah - bummer for my daughter.
ReplyDeleteI was named after a great grandmother but with the spelling changed to that of a busty 50's film star, no irony there!
DeleteI was determined to have Jessica - husband said people would think of the classic yacht - what people ?! sister in law said she'd be "Och you wee Jessie" so I pointed out they had an Aunt Jessie.
ReplyDeleteJessica she was. If she'd been a boy she'd have been Sam so we called the dog Sam so when Joe came along we couldn't use Sam.
Both husband & I use the shortened versions of our names as hate the full names - Penny & Roddy. Poor man had to endure months of
" welease Woddewick " after Monty Python made The Life of Brian !
My mum is Rosemary after her two grandmothers Rose & Mary and mother in law says her name Peggy is mostly used for Poodles & maids !
Great post.
Well, my husband has kept his middle name a secret from the entire family for 40 odd years! And I don't blame him. It was his grandmother's surname, and a somewhat chuckle-making one. Not to be had as a first or middle name!
ReplyDeleteI had some nice neighbours called High, and he was Dick, his little boy was heard to say to the older brother, why is my daddy called dick-head? So it seems to be a common enough problem. (As to Cherry Pye, I nursed at the same hospital as she quite a few years ago - well, I'm assuming, here, but surely there can't be two of them???)
We know someone who named their girl Jenna with a last name Taylor. Jenna Taylor. Oh Dear!
ReplyDeleteOur only consideration was that Australians love to shorten names but if you have a really short name they'll lengthen it. So John would be known as Johnno....our Kids have fairly classic, traditional names, except for the 5th as it was starting to sound like the royal family :-)
Jenna Taylor?? I just had to say that out loud before it clicked - got some weird looks from the family! Poor girl though!
DeleteI found it easier to choose a boy's name rather than a girl's. It was the other way around with my husband! Your husband must have known you were going to have a family full of good cricketers.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you still haven't found your camera.
Sarah x
I've got three boys, and I ran out of names after the first two! Number three has quite an unusual name, but it does suit him. And we're very big on nicknames in this house, everyone has at least two.
ReplyDeleteI believe in family names, so each of my 3 sons has one as a middle name to carry on tradition. Their first names are easy to spell, gender-specific, don't rhyme with anything naughty, are not trendy. I have some strict naming perimeters!
ReplyDeleteI tried to avoid going with family names for fear of upsetting someone else in the family, having said that I should have gone with the girls name as a middle name as it's lovely - Lucy. Didn't really want to go with the boys name on my Dad's side as it's Wallace - at the time of Wallace and Grommit too!
DeleteJay--about the bumps--I have tried cortizone cream to good effect.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this post, and all the comments! I don't have any naming stories but I do have a silly surname, one that (working with children) often gets a laugh.
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed reading all these name stories in comments! My mum couldn't think of a name for me so I was called Sweet Pea for my first few weeks, then one day there was a knock at the door and outside was a lady collecting money for the Alexandra Rose charity, and that became my name :)
ReplyDeleteFor my daughter I first heard her name on Big Brother (haha). When I looked into the name it translates into Golden Queen and when my daughter came into the world she had a full head of golden hair, and it just fitted so perfectly. She is named Orlaith (pronounced Orla) and her middle name is Grace. My priest told me kindly, "Golden Queen full of Grace"
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