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HelpRe: Why Do You Love/Regret Your Name?
in reply to a message by DarkLily243
I like and use family names, but only if I like the name and the family member.
I adored my mother and her mother: respectively Beatrice and Florence Beatrice. I always knew I'd want a Beatrice daughter.
My father was Cecil. Not my choice; given enough daughters, I'd have used Cecily.
Both my grandfathers were Thomas, known as Tom. Given enough sons, I'd have used Thomas.
My father loved his mother, Sarah Anne, very much. He was the youngest of five, and very close to her. He wanted to name me Sarah Anne. My mother got on with her MIL but didn't like or respect her; which my dad never knew. But she refused to use Sarah, found a name she did like, claimed that it was a delivery-room inspiration, which I doubt, and gave me Anne as my mn, which I like and my dad appreciated.
My son was named Peter after a friend, David after my birth surname, Davies, and Alastair after two friends and to include the initial A.
My first daughter was named Caroline because it suited her, Beatrice after my mother and Mary after DH's late mother, Bertha Maria.
My second daughter was named Beatrice after her late sister, Elizabeth after my step-mother-in-law, and Anne.
My mother liked her name, but disliked being called Beattie and, worse, Beat! She was OK with Bea, which is my daughter's nn of choice. In my experience, people sometimes dislike having a very popular name, and sometimes dislike the shortened nn form of their name.
I adored my mother and her mother: respectively Beatrice and Florence Beatrice. I always knew I'd want a Beatrice daughter.
My father was Cecil. Not my choice; given enough daughters, I'd have used Cecily.
Both my grandfathers were Thomas, known as Tom. Given enough sons, I'd have used Thomas.
My father loved his mother, Sarah Anne, very much. He was the youngest of five, and very close to her. He wanted to name me Sarah Anne. My mother got on with her MIL but didn't like or respect her; which my dad never knew. But she refused to use Sarah, found a name she did like, claimed that it was a delivery-room inspiration, which I doubt, and gave me Anne as my mn, which I like and my dad appreciated.
My son was named Peter after a friend, David after my birth surname, Davies, and Alastair after two friends and to include the initial A.
My first daughter was named Caroline because it suited her, Beatrice after my mother and Mary after DH's late mother, Bertha Maria.
My second daughter was named Beatrice after her late sister, Elizabeth after my step-mother-in-law, and Anne.
My mother liked her name, but disliked being called Beattie and, worse, Beat! She was OK with Bea, which is my daughter's nn of choice. In my experience, people sometimes dislike having a very popular name, and sometimes dislike the shortened nn form of their name.
Replies
I love how your mother handled the situation. Very diplomatic and graceful. I adore the names you chose for your children. Truly stunning! My condolences on your first daughter. It's beautiful that you kept her name alive through your second. I'm glad to know I'm not alone in hating it when my name gets shortened. It happens mostly with English speakers, and I know it's not malicious, but... :( Also, who shortens "Beatrice" to "Beat," seriously? Whose brain goes "yes, this is something a person would like to be called??" Astonishing.
I am so jealous of your strong family ties! I'm a sentimental person and I love the idea of treasured family names; I was always mad that I was quite literally the ONLY person in my family that didn't get some kind of honouring name!
For your delight, and everyone else's: my mother's cousin Fred (not Frederick) and his wife Mary (my mother's best friend) had the surname Thompson. Initial T, therefore, and they wanted to name their son Robin Arthur. Then they looked closely at the initials, and named him Arthur Robin instead, though he was always and only known as Robin. Rather Art than Rat!
I'm glad they looked before he was registered XD People forget about initials with unfortunate consequences.