Names, identities, and confusion
My parents named me Victoria Mary. My mother's sister was named Victoria; she died of tuberculosis when she was young and I was named in her honor. Growing up, I was called Vic, Vicki, Vicky, and Victoria Poop (God knows why). In my Catholic grade school, I was Miss Kelly. Those nuns were so formal! When we moved to Florida in 1996, I decided that I wanted to reclaim my birth name, so I introduced myself as Victoria in this place where nobody knew me as Vicki. This was problematic when my husband called my workplace and asked to speak with Vicki; my coworkers had no clue who this mysterious Vicki might be. I love my name, so I'm grateful for the opportunity to be Victoria.
As I've mentioned in previous posts, I've been exploring my ancestry in both 23andMe and Ancestry.com. Both sides of my family present unique ancestry challenges. I know from childhood memories that my father's mother was called Chick; her actual name was Margaret. Her brother, Lee, was called Pucky. Another brother was called Ock; his name was Arthur. My mother's father called her Mike and in medical school she was know as Ma; her name was Marie. I just don't get it! Why name someone a child something wonderful and normal and then make the kid suffer by attaching a Poop to their beautiful Victoria?
My mother-in-law is a devout Catholic, as her parents were. All the girls born into her family were named Mary in honor of the Virgin Mary. To distinguish the many Marys from one another and to avoid certain confusion, they were called by their middles names, e.g., Stella, Beatrice, Flo, etc.
Why do we have nicknames? I'm guilty of naming my children one thing and calling them something else. We have these beautiful names that we toss aside for the shortcut: Katherine is Kate; Daniel is Danny; William is Bill; Beyoncé is Queen Bee. (By the way, it took me a long time to figure out how to put that little symbol over the e in Beyoncé. I'm learning all the time!)
More research is needed. Stay tuned.
As I've mentioned in previous posts, I've been exploring my ancestry in both 23andMe and Ancestry.com. Both sides of my family present unique ancestry challenges. I know from childhood memories that my father's mother was called Chick; her actual name was Margaret. Her brother, Lee, was called Pucky. Another brother was called Ock; his name was Arthur. My mother's father called her Mike and in medical school she was know as Ma; her name was Marie. I just don't get it! Why name someone a child something wonderful and normal and then make the kid suffer by attaching a Poop to their beautiful Victoria?
My mother-in-law is a devout Catholic, as her parents were. All the girls born into her family were named Mary in honor of the Virgin Mary. To distinguish the many Marys from one another and to avoid certain confusion, they were called by their middles names, e.g., Stella, Beatrice, Flo, etc.
Why do we have nicknames? I'm guilty of naming my children one thing and calling them something else. We have these beautiful names that we toss aside for the shortcut: Katherine is Kate; Daniel is Danny; William is Bill; Beyoncé is Queen Bee. (By the way, it took me a long time to figure out how to put that little symbol over the e in Beyoncé. I'm learning all the time!)
More research is needed. Stay tuned.
Excellent post, as usual. Interesting and stimulating. I am interested in alternative names. As people live longer, what to call the surviving elders changes. My wife is "Nana" to our greatgrandchildren and she is surprised that she chose that path. Her grandmother Nana was a severe woman and not easy to get along with. There are four grandparents but there are eight greatgrandparents. Those two levels alone need a dozen respective names. It gets to be tough to have them and to remember who is who.
ReplyDeleteBrava to you, Victoria. Five years after I retired, I started a blog, which this year is leading to a book.
ReplyDeleteYou are ahead of the game, starting now. You'll love the connection here you miss at the college. :-)
Thank you, Marian! I'm so excited about your book. Congratulations!!!
DeleteI do miss my college friends, but I don't miss being an administrator. I did my best, but, whew!!! I had such stress, and I developed physical symptoms of that stress. I'm finally calming the heck down after a couple of months.
Where is your blog?