By LUCY ORMONDE
Please don’t share the following information with my mother….
There’s a Martin Boyd book sitting on my bookshelf. It’s been sitting there for well over a decade now. Mum gave it to me for a birthday sometime during high school and told me I’m named after the protagonist – Lucinda Brayford.
The thing is, I judge books by their covers and Lucinda? She looks like the kind of book that inspires naps.
So I’ve never actually read it…. sorry mum.
I shared this story with friends last weekend as they were browsing through the bookshelves in my room. It got us talking about the name question. The question that everyone has an answer for – if not a hilarious story.
Orpah. Better known as Oprah.
Take Oprah as an example. If someone asked her why her name is what it is, she’d have to tell them the story of the birth certificate which was made in 26 BSC (Before Spell Check). You see, she was intended to be named Orpah until there was a little error in the paperwork. And the error stuck.
Then there’s my friend Sophia (I’m trying to say this as if it naturally flows on from my other buddy Oprah). Named as such because her parents saw a Sophia Loren film in the early days of their relationship.
My Dad is Benedict – named after Prime Minister Chifley, not the eggs. Another friend is Jasmine – born in Spring when the jasmine is blooming. Miriam was named after her great aunt. Her mum Kay was only given three letters, so her friends couldn’t give her a shortened nickname.
When I took the question of names to Twitter, Georgie told me she was named after a student in her mum’s Grade Three class. Patricia was born on St Patrick’s Day. And Nancy was named after Bill’s lover in the 1968 film version of Oliver. (“I’m also a redhead but I don’t dance on tables”)
There were the family names – “there has always been a Katherine in my mum’s family” – and then there were the more creative names. “I know someone called Lezah because her mother was Hazel,” one Twitter user told me. “My mother also went to school with a Cazna – Anzac backwards.”
I assume a similar logic went into the naming of my colleague Lana.
“My parents always assumed I’d be anal,” she said.
What’s the meaning behind your name? If you have kids, what about their names?
Comments
157 Comments so far
I was named mostly as my parents honeymooned in Greece and found a little cafe called Zoe (it means Life in Greek).
My dad had many names he loved such as Annalise, Sophie, Grace, and particularly Danika (due to our heritage). I am glad my mum won out as Zoe was never common when I grew up and I feel it suits me.
My middle name came from my mum’s sister, I don’t love it or identify with it but it flows well with my first name.
My siblings all have easy to pronounce and spell but not common names I have loved growing up with a name that wasn’t every second girl at my school. Their middle names come from grandfathers, uncles, father etc.
I already have my future children’s names and they certainly aren’t common although they are becoming more so.
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I feel you on the boring book – I’m named after a character in The Return of the Native. Even the title is boring! I’ve tried reading it but I can’t even follow it as Tamsin is also Tamasin, Thomasina and Thomasin. Blergh!
My mother decided she liked it after finding out it meant “Twin” with the explanation “You’re my heart twin!”
Suppose it could be worse. I could have been Eustacia (the other female in that book).
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named after Ella Fitzgerald (who my dad loves). I’m pretty happy with my namesake, she was a magnificent woman !
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As a baby I was adopted, when given to my new adoptive parents they wanted to name me after my birthname which was concealed in legal records. They waited for the copies of the court records but time ran out before they had to put a name to “paper”. So my new middle name became Mae after my adoptive mum’s mum, and my first name was Shauna… named after a little blonde girl that used to play knock and run in the street. Did I mention she also used to be in the nude?
I like my name, it could have been much worse – emma mae (what a mouthful) or Cecil if I was a boy eeesh
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I just wrote the following sentence at work (am doing bios of famous racing people).
“William Williamson, son of William Williamson, was born in Williamstown in 1922. Known as Bill and nicknamed ‘Weary Willie’ by punters…”
Surely there are other names out there!!!
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I’m pretty glad my parents didn’t continue the theme of calling the girls Marie something. My father’s sister are all Marie xxx and use their middle name as their first. His mother and grandmother also. Marie Caroline (known as Mieke) and Marie Josephine (known as Josephine). One of my sisters was supposed to be Josephine Marie (after great-gran Marie Josephine), but my mother wasn’t listening to dad tell the story and thought her name was Jacqueline, so that’s what my sister ended up as!
Our own kids have been given names that haven’t been used in the family before – wanting to move away from the Marie theme on my dad’s side and my husband’s family all seem to be called Thomas or Richard in previous generations!
We gave them easy to spell first names and odd middle names with interesting meanings (my husband has a vague hope that they will rebel one day and use their middle names as first names).
Their middle names are:
Lucien (named in honour of a friend of my husband who died of cancer in his 20s, Lucien is the gothic version of Luke and was the name Luke used when he was in ‘character’)
Atticus (after the Roman publisher and also To Kill a Mockingbird)
Lorcan (just because we liked how it sounded. It’s Irish and means little fierce one)
Sabriya (means “tough on the outside, soft on the inside” – a name meant to mean survivor after I had a ruptured appendix at 30 weeks pregnant with her and had to have an emergency operation to clean it out. Amazingly she survived and stayed in until 42 weeks!)
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My mum said she chose my name ‘Gail’ just because she liked it. However when I was born apparently I cried very loudly and didn’t stop for 12 months! Mum said I lived up to my name as I was a ” bloody howling Gail! ” My middle name is Grace after my grandmother. I hated it as a child as all my friends had Lee or Anne as their middle names. Now I prefer Grace to Gail.
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My oldest boys name is Finlay. I just loved that name for years, and also when I found out the meaning (‘fair warrior’).
And when I was pregnant with him (in my first trimester for my my 3rd preganancy after 2 miscarriages) I saw a huge billboard after getting off the train for work at Town Hall station in Sydney, about some communication company, where the text said something like “my name is Finlay …”. I thought it was a sign that this one would be the one. And it was …… He is 5 now
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I was supposed to be called Lauren Elise and had a surname starting with O and due in August, so Ineould have been LEO in a few ways. However my Dad changed things when my mum was still unconscious after my early arrival and he named me Rebecca instead. Apparently Mum wasn’t happy! Still contention as tonight it was after the book Rebecca or the Shirley Temple movie ‘ Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm’.
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I’m named after my auntie. She died in a car accident when my mum was 15, so I never got to know her – but always felt a strong connection to my namesake. I got her middle name as well. The only difference is that while she was Deborah, I’m Debra (but we are/were both Debbie’s).
My family don’t talk about Debbie too much. And it’s particularly strange to listen to my grandmother talking about her because she always calls her ‘our Debbie’ to distinguish between the two of us.
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My mum named me Emma, which she thought was a classic unappreciated name in the 80′s. That is until the other three women in her ward named their daughter’s Emma as well!
My sister was going to be a Fleur for a long long time until mum changed her mind at the last minute to Claire, a decision my sis has been thankful for for a long loooong time!
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My name is Kirrilly Jayne. Kirrilly after my mum’s friend. Jayne is my mum’s middle name.
So much of my time, it spent correcting peoples spelling or pronunciation. when i was younger i wished my name was Rebekka (yes, with K’s instead of C’s) now i have pretty much dealt with it. Its different, a little interesting and i probably wouldn’t say mainstream.
i don’t think i’ve met anyone with the same name, definitely not with the same spelling (not even mums friend)
I plan on naming my kids Nathan & Sophia.
Simple and relatively easy to spell.
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There was a kirrily in our school. Love that name.
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My children’s names are Sophie and Nathan. Nice choices
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middle name JOY because I was (am ) a joy!I have always disliked the name though and usually disown it. My daughter has no middle name as a consquence.
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My name is Madeleine Frances. Family names. My mother is Marianne Frances. Her mother was Myrna Frances. Getting the theme?
My daughter will be Mietta Frances Jessica. Mietta because I love it. Frances because I kind of feel I can’t break the theme. Jessica for my hero, Jessica Mitford.
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I’m the name that matches your friend. I’m also named after Sophia Lorren, but my parents decided to throw in an extra ‘r’ for shits and giggles.
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I’m Rhianna – named after the song ‘Rhiannon’ by Fleetwood Mac… My aunty is welsh and told mum that Rhiannon means ‘witch’ so mum changed it up slightly (though some may actually think the witch thing is quite appropriate for me! Haha!).
I was supposed to be Sarah but the student Sarah my teacher mum liked at school got busted for running a prostitution ring behind the bike sheds so she changed it after that!
Our 3 month old daughter is Natalya, named after her Aunty Natalie, who is disabled and doesn’t have a firm life expectancy. We’re calling her Tali for short. And her middle name is one that is shared throughout my Mum’s family (me, mum, her mum, her Mum’s Mum’s, etc).
Names are awesome! Love all the stories!!!
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I have a friend called Rhiannon named after that song. Her roller derby name is Fleetwood Smack.
I’ll have to tell her about the witch thing… she’ll get a kick about that
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I’m named after a Joan Baez song from the early 70′s. a really daggy folk song my mum liked. Geordie.
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I was named after the little girl in Corrina,Corrina (a movie). I love my name because everyone can spell and pronounce it but you don’t meet many!
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I was meant to be a boy and was going to be called Alistair or Callum. Thankfully, I am a girl and got the name Kate. Aparently, my parents hadn’t thought of a girls name and just arrived and agreed on Kate.
There are times when I wish I was a Katherine but mostly I’m happy with my name. It means ‘pure’ or ‘blessed’ which I think is nice, but I don’t really think my parents considered that.
My mums name was Shona which I love and my great grandmothers name was Elsie. I would love to use these names if I have girls one day. I also love the names Daphne and Josephine, but they would have to be twins.
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1978. Barry Manilow. The rest is (very boring) history.
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I’m named after Eliza Doolittle from “My Fair Lady” after mum saw it film and loved the name. Needless to say, I’ve grown up to be a very big Audrey Hepburn fan.
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Eliza, I am also named after Eliza Doolittle, except that my mother being a little dyslexic,and my father thinking a ‘z’ was too harsh, decided it would be a grand idea to put two ‘s in my name, needless to say I have never gotten the full effect of being called Eliza, so I went Liza Minelli style and started calling myself Liza- at least it can be pronounced correctly!
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My name is Alisa which would be the german pronunciation of Eliza. I love the name because it’s pretty rare.
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Afroz means enlighted ,my elder son is Aslan ,when i was pregnant we watched chronicles of Narnia and my husband loved the name .My young one is Riaz ,he was born pre-mature, when he was born my in-laws were at holy Madina to visit Prophet Mohammad’s(peace be upon him) grave ,and there is a graveyard called Riazul Jannat which means Gardens of havens…it is said that there any prayers from any pure souls are granted to God …so my mother-in-law prayed for her grand-son there …so he was named Riaz
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I was named after Kylie Tennant too.. But my parents spelt it Kylee. I have spent my life correcting the spelling of a simple name.
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My sympathies!!
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To all the Sara’s and Sarah’s out there…
My name is Sara (pronounced Sa Ra). My grandmother knew a Doreen who danced for the Royal Ballet in the 50′s, who chose her stage name as Sara. My mother is Phillipa Sara and she loved it so much she bestowed the name.
Sara and Sarah are the same name. They mean Princess.
The only difference is that Sara (pronounced Sa Ra) is Jewish and in the Old Testament. The pronunciation is Jewish. India, and the Middle East also pronounce Sara in it’s original form. Sarah comes from the New Testament where Sara and Abhram make a covenant (pact) with God and change their names to Sarah and Abraham. This change is pronunciation coincides with the Roman influence and dialect in that part of the world.
When someone calls me Sarah I respond. My friends (and even people I’ve just met who become my friends call me Sara). Some people have a little trouble with it (I’m not sure why). My friends defend my name to the death, it’s hilarious to hear someone (a stranger or someone I’m not close with) call me Sarah to hear the resounding cry’s of ‘It’s Sara’!!!!
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It’s hard to know exactly because some people do pronounce it differently. I have a friend who is Sara but pronounced Sarah. Names are very subjective and can have multiple spellings and pronunciations (believe me, as a Debra I know).
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My mum really wanted to call me Henrietta, but my dad didn’t like that name (thankyou so much dad, i really don’t like that name either) so they settled with Harriet. I don’t love or hate my name, I’m a bit “meh” about it. I wish I could say I was named after Harriet the Spy :p
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Please tell me you don’t like the name Henrietta after this http://youtu.be/vo4rbhR_vsk
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I was given my mother’s maiden name. I have never met another person with my name. I like having an original name.
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My name is my parents name put together. Female version of Peter and shortened version of Lynn. (I know you are trying to imagine your own parents names together, I’ve heard some strange combos). Yes, no hyphen and yes if there was a hyphen I would not need to explain the pronunciation of my name regularly. However, I would still need to explain over the phone that Lyn is not my surname and it is all my first name. I am the youngest and yes inclined to joke that my parents couldn’t agree on a name. Nonetheless, I like my name, without a hypen, but sometimes wish it wasn’t so unique so I don’t have to explain it so often.
Oh and no I don’t respond to Pete or Lyn. That’s my parents names. My abbreviation is Petal.
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My Mum’s first name is Peta Lyn (no hyphen two words) named as my grandmother was expecting a boy called Peter Lindsay. How lovely to find another one, she’ll be delighted! She does respond to Peta either.
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My husband is tom, and his brother is Jeremy…. Tom and jerry!! Ha ha. I was supposed to be Kristy, but ended up being called Joanne. I go by Jo, and love it when people call me Josephine by mistake. It would kill my mum if I change it.
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I was named Freya in honour of my fathers’ favourite hunting dog back in Austria. A great friend to him and a great hunter for the family during the war.
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We have all family names. Michael is 7. Eleanor 2 and Margaret , 10months old.
They have old names but I love them
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My daughter’s name is Sophia. Her fiancé has a VERY Italian name that begins with ‘S.’ Although she has not a drop of Italian blood, only Irish/Scottish, she will sound like a character straight from the Sopranos!
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My mother always loved the name Edie, her aunt’s name was Edith nick-named Edie. When my parents told my Dad’s family they wanted to name their child Edie there was uproar because my last name starts with d-i-e. So, they added Louise, the name of my Dad’s cousin, to my name and hey presto I was born Edie-Louise. (Yes I respond to both) Interestingly, both Edie and Louise died young…
My brother was also due to be called something else but my parents changed their mind last minute because there was a bully in my kindergarten with the name they wanted to give my brother…
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Just remembering a story from the NICU where my daughter was a resident for 4 months. One of the nurses told me about a little boy whose parents could not decide on a name. You have only 60 days to decide, then they apparently get named by the state. In order to prevent this from happening, at the 11th hour the nurse signed the form, (which apparently they are allowed to do as the baby was in their care), to make sure the family could get any benefits from medicare etc for the baby’s birth. She couldn’t think of a name, and it was 2007, so she named him…KEVIN! She told the parents and let them know they could change it later if needed, but they liked it so he is still Kevin to this day.
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My name is Miriam Elizabeth. Miriam cause my mum loved the name as well as after Dad’s sister. I hated it as a child, but have come to terms with it as a grown up!! And Miriam means “long awaited child” which is appropriate as mum waited four years for me
If I ever have children, a girl will be Emma Charlotte (Charlotte is my mum’s name), and a boy would be Noah.
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My parents had another name in mind for me (Romy) but changed their minds when I was born. Two days later and still no name, they decided to borrow my cousin’s middle name, Kahla, because they loved the spelling – in return, she was named my godmother. It had come from a novel set in Afghanistan & means ‘sweetheart’ or ‘beloved’ in Arabic. Despite popular opinion it is NOT pronounced Kayla
I have never understood the confusion there – when is “ah” ever pronounced as “ay”?!
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I know exactly how you feel. My name is kahlie, pronounced ‘Carly’, but get ‘Kaylee’
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I hear you. I get Kayley, Callie, Kylie.
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I was named Lauren after a character in a book – that my Mum can’t remember!! I’d love to read it, but she had totally forgotten it by the time I was old enough to ask.
It was a relatively rare name at the time.. my Grandfather called me whatsherface for the first 6 mths!!
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My elder daughter was named Annabel which means grace and beauty, my second daughter was named Marguerite as we could shorten it to Maggie – her eyes are the same coloured as a marguerite daisy – luminous and blue… My husband and I argued over naming our son – finally we put our choices aside and chose Will… After my boy was born (13 pounds 2 oz) my husband came in and said ” he isn’t a will, I think he is a Harry…” and Harry he stayed.
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I was named after Jennie Lee Bevan, a Labor MP in the UK. Everyone assumes I’m a Jennifer, nobody spells my name right and I often get called Jeannie, as in “I dream of Jeannie”.
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My name was determined through a system of preferential voting, by my parents and their friends at a red wine and curry party in Canberra in the 70s. The result could have been a lot worse!!
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What a crack up! That’s the best story I’ve read so far. You’re parents sound like they are fun people. I’m intrigued by what name they all picked for you, and what the runner up names were.
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Oh, and another comment re names… the best I’ve come across was an old man I met about 20 years ago, when I was a psych student and he had come into a clinic I was working in for an aged care assessment. He was named “Coronation”, as he was born in the year of King George V’s coronation (1911- people were clearly pretty patriotic back then.) He was gorgeous and got a real kick out of his unusual name- but told me just to call him “Corrie, like everyone else does.” Nice.
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My parents named me after Kylie Tennant, the indigenous author…. which is weird , as neither of them read fiction AT ALL, but mum saw her name on a book in a bookshop and just liked it. It was quite rare when I was born (3 months before that other Kylie, who ruined it for the rest of us), and I don’t really like it that much to be honest… but what I do like is that I am also a novelist, just like my namesake. Fate is a funny thing.
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Not a super interesting name, but an amusing story-
My mum told me that she had been intending to name me Rachel, but when I was born, she thought I was a bit too ugly to be a Rachel, so it became Rebecca.
She told me the story because she and my father had a bad divorce, and she thought he might tell me to spite her.
Interestingly, throughout the whole course of my life, if anyone has ever forgotten my name and called me the wrong name by accident, that name had been Rachel.
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I married a German with the most English sounding name – including a a Nigel in the middle. We decided to use German names. In utero our son was called “Gunther Axel Helmut Wolfgang” – because we couldn’t agree on ANY German boys names. One night I grilled the in laws for ideas and asked about place names and maiden names – they were all foul but then I found out that the state they were from was Saxony. So my son became Saxon. Funnily enough the Drs and the hospital all referred to him as Gunther – always said with a bit of a giggle.
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With similar German heritage we also named our son Helmut in utero. But he became Remi when he was born as it was the only boys name we both liked. 20 years ago I travelled with a French muso from the Ivory Coast named Remi and I’ve always loved the name.
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Nothing interesting about my name, Mette, other than my cousin had already been named my mum’s first pick, Dorte.
My children are Naya, after my grandmother Maja, and because the meaning of the name suits our family well.
Her brother Kai also has a meaningful name, and incidentally my grandmother married a Kaj ten years after my grandfather passed away.
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My mum randomly picked Carissa. She saw Clarissa and didn’t like the l, every body I meet says clarissa and I have to correct them. I have always hated it but most people say what a beautiful name. My daughter is Elizabeth because every Elizabeth I have met is beautiful and lovely in nature. I have loved the name since I was 5. My son is Angus – my favourite breed of cow, we were stumped for anything else that was a strong name that wasn’t already in the family. His middle name is Ophir Roy named for his great grandfather who had it as his middle name, love the way it all runs together.
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I was named after Katharine Hepburn, as “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?” is my mum’s favourite movie. She went with the more conventional spelling “Katherine” though. I love my namesake – I love her style, her attitude, and everything she stood for.
My middle name is Elizabeth for my grandmother and also for Her Majesty, of whom my mum is also a huge fan, haha. My mum is an avid monarchist (I was born in the early 80s and my mum says the reason I turned out to be such a princess is because she devoured so much Princess Diana gossip while she was pregnant with me).
I like my name but it’s VERY common (by which I mean “not rare”, as opposed to low-class, haha). I have met a few Katherine Elizabeths in my time.
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I named my first son William and my second son Henry, not twigging until later that Prince Harry is a Henry so I had named my sons (accidentally) after the English princes!
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oh wow, i’m dumb, totally did NOT KNOW that Harry was actually a Henry
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The ‘Jo’ comes from the Scots word for darling/sweetheart/loved one, and the Anne is my Mums middle name…
My Mum was all about making sure my brother Nicholas and I could get a good nickname/short name from out long name; so we’re Jo and Nick… and although I don’t have children yet, I’m seriously considering how their name will be shortened in my decision making process!
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I’m a Joanna, but only have ever liked Jo and been referred to as Jo. I’ve fallen pregnant and am now considering names, but I want to keep them short also, as I loved being just Jo.
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Hi Jo.
I’m a Joanna too! But definitely always called Jo. I used to quite dislike my full name but over the years it’s growing on me. I can’t ever imagine introducing myself ever as Joanna though.
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My daughter is India- named after India Hicks who was one of Princess Diana’s flowergirls. I remember being very young when the wedding happened and being so jealous of this little girl in the beautiful dress with a beautiful name. I vowed then that one of my children would be an India. She gets called Indi by just about everyone and India Rose by me when she is in trouble!
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I named my son Jake after Jake in Melrose Place because I was totally in love with him
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