Names. They can define us.
Do you like your name? Everyone has one. But be honest. Do you like yours? I have always loved my name. I am just Beth Ann. Not Elizabeth. Not Bethany. Nope. Beth Ann. Plain and simple. Perfect. Short and sweet. Nothing fancy and I think it suits me. Beth is a Hebrew word that literally means “home” or “house”. It has also been suggested that it means “house of God” or “vowed to God”. Whatever meaning you subscribe to does not matter. What matters is that I like my name and am glad my parents chose it for me.
When I was younger I was just plain Beth. My siblings call me Beth. My mom calls me both Beth and Beth Ann. In college I started adding the Ann to everything and though I answer to Beth I usually introduce myself as Beth Ann. It would be very rude of me to suddenly stop answering to Beth when my family and many who know me from pre-college days call me that! It’s really not a big deal honestly. I like both Beth and Beth Ann.
Found this on a Florida beach for my mom!
For some reason the two name name is difficult for some folks to wrap their heads around. I end up being Deb Ann or Mary Beth or Ruth Ann or Bethen or Ann Marie or Mary Ann. Seriously. And I answer. To all of them. Because I know that some people just don’t get the two name thing. So sometimes I correct and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I have been called Chris (my husband’s name) and it makes me wonder whether after so many years together we have melded into one. That kind of scares me in a way.
I think a name is a wonderful gift that a parent can give their child. When we chose names for our boys we put as much time and thought into them as any other expectant parents do. But when you name a baby Micah Brandon do you really think that he will end up being able to grow into that name? Or when you name a preemie Aaron David how do you know that he is going to be able to develop his personality around that name? Fortunately for our boys they both have successfully claimed their names and have filled them out. They suit them. Thank goodness. One less thing to feel guilty about.
So when you think of your name today how does it make you feel? Do you love it? Do you embrace it or have you changed yours to suit your personality more? Have you adopted a nick name?
21 Comments
Leave a commentInteresting post! (Love that you found that image in the sand for your Mom!)
My name is Dianna (the “D” for my Mom (Donnie was her given name, after a grandmother). The “Anna” part of my name was for a great grandmother named…. Ross Anna. Had my son Marshall been a girl, her name would have been Amanda Ross.
When I was born, my sisters were 15 and 16, and the 15-year old decided that Dianna was too long a name for a baby, so she started calling me Dianne. And for many, many years, everyone except teachers and schoolmates called me that. But many years later, because of the family connection, I decided to mostly use Dianna. (But I still answer to Dianne.)
Have a great weekend!
I have always loved the name Dianna and am often called that as some people have a problem with Darlene (not sure why) I don’t mind being called Dianne or Dianna. I can’t believe you chose Amanda Ross for a girls name. That is the name of my character in my Amanda Travels series, Amanda Jane Ross. Great minds think alike I guess!
I love your story! isn’t it fun to think about names and how they came to be? If we had had a girl her name would have been Christa Marie after Chris. My dad was Paul and my sister is Paula. My brother in law is Carl and my niece is Carla. It seemed right but no girl for me and I couldn’t be happier with my two boys!
I think I like my name. It’s Susan. But I’ve been Susi for most of my life. I usually introduce myself as Susi. It seems more me than Susan and in Germany it was just plain easier. No one could ever pronounce my name right so Susi stuck. My mom named me after a character in an American romance novel. I like to think she knew that one day we’d end up in the States. 😉
What a great thought—I think you are right! Your mom knew even then that you would become a US citizen. Thanks for sharing your story!
I was blessed to have the grandfather I never knew choose the Ellen part of my name. My parents chose the Joe part. Early in my life it was mispronounced by everyone. I was frequently Jolene, Joanne, even Janelle. But as I grew to be an adult I grew to appreciate the name that I had in the connection with the grandfather I never knew. I will occasionally correct someone on their first or second attempt but after that I just answer to anything that’s not distasteful.
When naming my children I wanted strong adult names. In the 70s so many people were naming their children really bizarre things. I didn’t want them to have to live with those the rest of their life. I also didn’t want them to have a name that would be constantly mispronounced. I think they’ve grown into their adult names wonderfully! Nathan Edward named after my father and Katy Ann named after my grandmother. They are not Nathaniel or Kathryn. Thank you for making me think about names!
What a great story! I love that your name is unique and special for the reasons you shared. I am sure you never could find anything personalized with it on, though. 🙂 I think your children’s names are perfect and I am partial to Katy Ann for sure!
When I was young, I didn’t really like my name. Everyone knows me as Cindy but my given name is Cynthia. Not sure why my parents didn’t just name me Cindy since that’s what they called me except when I’d done something wrong, then I was Cynthia! We considered names long and hard for our three children and they all do like their names. We definitely wanted names that would serve them well as adults someday.
I love both Cynthia and Cindy –your parents chose well for you. And yes–the full name is always used when we are in trouble, right?
I wasn’t keen on my name as a young girl. My favourite teacher’s name was Shirley so that was what I wished my name was. Later I was happy with my name but for some reason people always want to call me Diane or Dianna instead. Here in Europe, they think Darlene is a very odd name. My middle name is Dale after Dale Evans which I think is cool. Todd Douglas suits my son very well. I thought long and hard over what to name my daughter and finally decided on Marcelle Dion. It suits her, an artist, very well and she usually just signs her work, Marcelle. I didn’t know it at the time, but Marcel Dionne is the name of a hockey player who played for the Detroit Red Wings at the time she was born. She thinks that is great. (Thankfully) Nameing children can be tricky.
Dale Evans? I absolutely love that! Thanks for sharing all your name info – so interesting!
I really like being called Ozzie. Not my legal name but even my mom and dad called me Ozzie at a young age rather than my legal name. Think it came from the movie The Wizard of Oz.
I wondered about your name! That is so interesting that it came from Wizard of Oz. Does that mean you are magical? 🙂
Names are so important! Love this! And yet I have never ever liked my name. Always teased about it. And about ten years ago I asked my mother why she named me Virginia and she said “because it is a beautiful name.” That helped some. Choosing Mitchell, Allison, and Leslie was a labor of love as I know it was for you with Micah and Aaron!
Kids can be so cruel, can’t they? But I love your name as well and can’t imagine you being named anything different. It is a beautiful name just like your Mama says. And yes—we thought long and hard about the names we gave our children and they like them which is good!
My full name is Valerie and when I was growing up my parents were adamant that it was Valerie. But as time went on, friends in school starting calling my Val and probably by middle school I started writing Val on papers – after all it was shorter and faster. My parent still call me Valerie and even some of my classmates from growing up but now to many I am Val.
I know you as Val but I love hearing the story of your name. It is so interesting to see what people think of their names and how they came to be. Thanks for sharing.
Back in the early fifties it seen like everyone put Ann on the end of girl’s names so my parents named me Shirley Ann. Mommy told me I was named about my baby nurse at the hospital. I have always like my name. In todays’ world only my family call me Shirley Ann, Everyone else calls me Shirley, sweetheart, Mom, and Mammy. Old family name that has been in my family which stands for Grandmother. It can be traced back 4 generations. May times I have been questioned about why I would want to be call Mammy. I simply say it is a term of respect and love in my family. I am very proud to be called Mammy to my grandsons. Another wonderful blog. Love it. Have a good weekend.
I love that you are called Mammy! That is such an honor to be carrie don through the generations and of course you would embrace it. I would as well. Thanks for sharing your name story!
I go by both the shortened & long versions of my name to the confusion of some… I’ll answer to just about anything LOL. I’m happy that I wasn’t named Something, something the III… Which almost happened. Whew.
I think it would be difficult to be a junior or a third or even a fourth. That’s a lot to carry!