Who is your namesake?
What's the story behind your parents naming you?
What does your name mean?
Do you have any great "name" anecdotes to share?
As we begin reading our first book together this year, Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake, we will share all of the trivia surrounding our name that we know. The questions above should get you thinking about your name, and you should talk to your family about your naming process if you don't know the story. You could even research what your name means. These will be fun stories to share on Friday, September 11, so be prepared to do so when you get to class. Over the weekend I want you to comment on this blog post with one or two fun facts about your name. Make sure that you only use your first name though since EHS's Web 2.0 Code of Ethics require that you do not use last names.
So I know that you are dying to know the answers to those questions for me, so here goes . . .
My namesake is Jacqueline Kennedy. My mom loved the Kennedys. I use the past tense not because my mom stopped loving the Kennedys, but because my mother died when I was 26. She was hit by a truck while walking across a road. Anyway, I was born in the 60s, my mother loved Jackie Kennedy, so she looked up the spelling of Jackie's full name, and Jacqueline Mary Roehl was named.
My mom took a lot of grief from family and friends for her choice for my name, not because people were opposed to the Kennedy reference, but people were opposed to the Jack connection. You see, Jacqueline is just a variation of Jack which is a variation of John. So technically, Jacqueline is a male name. And the irony is that I have five older brothers and no sisters. My mother's friends and family couldn't believe that after all the years of having boys that my mother finally got the girl that she always wanted, and then she gives the baby a BOY'S name. I guess that's what constitutes scandal in the 60s in the farming community of Medina, Minnesota.
In addition, my middle name is Mary, even though many people including my own brothers, still believe it's Maria even though I keep correcting them. I also didn't change my last name when I got married, so I have always been Jacqueline Mary Roehl.
My Namesake
My mother, her mother, my son, and me in 1987.
Hello sophs. You made it through the first week. I can't wait to read your name stories.
ReplyDeleteJackie R.
Congratulations. One week down 8 + 8 + 8 + 9 to go. Peter W.
ReplyDeleteMy namesake is not after anyone. My story is that my dad wanted my name to be Andrew and my mom wanted it to be Benjamin so they compramised and Andrew is my first name and Benjamin is my second. Apparently Benjamin means leader and I'm not so sure about Andrew. As far as anecdotes go I don't really have any.
ReplyDeleteAndrew P.
before i was born my parents were watching a movie called the Player and one of the main characters was named Griffin and they really liked it so they decided to name me that they also like the fact that it could be for both boys and girls. And, my middle name is Siu-fung meaning little Phoenix in chinese because my moms half of the family is chinese.
ReplyDeleteMy parents named me Sara because it was one of my moms best friends names and they agreed that not adding an "h" to the end of my name would be a different sort of idea. Also, my name was the 9th most popular name in Spain in the year of 2006, which I did not know before.
ReplyDeleteSara M. Period 5
My parents couldn't agree on a name but they could agree to let my grandparents pick my name. Both of my grandmother like the name matthew. The name matthew means god's gift. My parents couldn't agree on my middle name either so i have 2 middle names
ReplyDeleteMy parents couldn't agree on a name but they could agree to let my grandparents pick my name. Both of my grandmother like the name matthew. The name matthew means god's gift. My parents couldn't agree on my middle name either so i have 2 middle names
ReplyDeleteMatt M.
I don't have a namesake. I know that the name Angel is defined as messager of God and that Angel's also a greek name. The name Angel can have have different meanings in many cultures. When I was little, my mother told me a short story about how I got the name Angel. I remember she told me I was a cry baby and I'd cry about 95% of the time. She said whenever she'd call me an Angel, I'd stop crying and by calling me an Angel was the only way she could get me to stop crying. But by the time she realized it, she had already gotten used to calling Angel. That's how i got the name Angel.
ReplyDeleteAngel W.
I don't have a namesake for my middle name but my middle name, Elisabeth, is kind of a family name. It's my aunts name and it's how I get the second half of my first name. Katy is from Kathryn and beth is from Elisabeth so Katybeth is the end result. Kathryn means pure but that has nothing to do with why I was named that. I don't have any stories.
ReplyDeleteKatybeth B.
I was named for my great grandmother on my mothers side. It was her families last name, both my parents agreed Carter worked just as well as a first name. The family was from Virginia, and the name originates from England. To make it equal I gained the middle name William from my great grand father on my fathers side of the family.
ReplyDeleteI learned that Carter, is the English occupational name for one who transports goods and merchandise by cart.
Carter G.
I do not have a namesake. But my duedate was on christmas eve and natalie mean christmas child. My middle name, Rochelle, is a combination of my dad's name, robert and my mom's name michelle.
ReplyDeleteNatalie P
I was named after my father. Even though his real name is John, everyone has always called him Jake. And my last name has a curious meaning, as in Hebrew it means "small domestic animals"... but in Czechoslovakia where my name was invented/made it means something along the lines of powerful, yet picked apart means "8 legged ground dwelling creature" however that works
ReplyDeleteI was named after my grandpa, his nickname was dan. That is why my parents named me Daniel. People just call me Danny though. My parents also named me Danny because my grandpa died before I was born and they wanted to keep the name Danny in the family.
ReplyDeleteDanny Kovack
i don't have a name sake but i know one of my middle names, David is after my uncle and my granpa. My name is originally brittain and it's also used a lot in french. My name means famed warrior.
ReplyDeleteLoic A
My name is named after morgan county, ohio. My dad grew up in Ohio and my parents met at college there. My middle name is named after my grandma's middle name, marie.
ReplyDeleteMorgan F
My namesake is for my middle name, Betty. I was named after my mom's mom, who died before me or any of my cousins were born. It means conecrated for God. The reason my first name is Jordyn is because my mom and dad simply liked it and they liked what it meant, decended from God. Both of these names are Hebrew. My mom's maiden name acts like a second middle name, and then I have my dad's last name.
ReplyDeleteJordyn M.
While my mom was pregnant, my parents were visiting a cemetery, and they saw the name Isaac on a tombstone. They thought it was an interesting name and chose it for me. I think the name means 'laughter'.
ReplyDeleteIsaac S
My first name came from my great grandpa Alanzo (he spelled it different) my middles name (St.Elmo) is my dad's middle name and my last name (Tulloch) is a scottish name given to be by it being passed down on my dad's side
ReplyDelete-Allanzo T
I do not have a namesake. My mom was reading through a baby book of names, and writing down the ones she liked. She then circled her favorites from the list, and scratched off the names that didn't cut it. Her top two picks were Haley, and Jessica. Of the two she liked Haley for a first name and liked the sound of Haley Jessica. The meaning of the name Haley is hero, or ingenious. I do not have any stories.
ReplyDelete-Haley N.
My namesake was the character Paige Mathison from the popular drama "Knots Landing". I was born very early and my parents did not have a name until I was over three days old. My parents eventually came up with the name Paige. The name Paige is English in origin meaning young child.
ReplyDeleteMy namesake is my grandmother on my mother's side. She died a few years before I was born and my mom wanted he first daughter to be named after her. My dad wanted to change it to Natalia because he didn't like how my first name sounded with my last name but my mom wanted the name to stay the same. My middle name is my other grandmother's name.
ReplyDelete-Natalie B.
My first name, Madeline, isn't after anyone, but my middle name is my grandma's name, Kathleen. Madeline is hebrew and means "woman from Magdala"
ReplyDeleteMy namesake is Carly Simon because she is one of my dad's favorite singers. Because my dad chose my first name, my mom chose my middle name. She chose Elizabeth because it is very close to her middle name.
ReplyDeleteCarly C.
My namesake is peter because i was named after my great grandpa. Also my great uncle was named peter along with my grandmothers last name was peterson.
ReplyDeleteMy namesake is peter because i was named after my great grandpa. Also my great uncle was named peter along with my grandmothers last name was peterson.
ReplyDeletePeter W.
my namesake is for my middle name. My middle name is James and I was given this name because two of my greatgradpa's first names were James. My first name means God is gracious.
ReplyDelete-Evan P.
My name is David because my dad decided that the first born son would be named David. The name is hebrew and means "beloved" or "friend".
ReplyDeleteMy name is David because my dad decided that the first born son would be named David. The name is hebrew and means "beloved" or "friend"
ReplyDeleteDavid M.
I don't have a namesake but Aaron means enlightened in Hebrew. They just liked the name Aaron no other reasons for it. Also my middle name is Mark which is my dads name.
ReplyDeleteAaron P.
I was named after my gradmother Margaret. Megan is a shortened version of Mararet, but my real name is still Megan. It's welsh and means "little pearl". My middle name is my great aunts name: Ruth. My other middle name is my mom's maiden name: Pearson.
ReplyDeleteMegan R.
I don't have a namesake. My parents picked my name from a baby book. I was going to be named either Hannah or Mara, so my parents named me Hannah and saved Mara for my little sister. My middle name, Parker, is a middle name that has been passed down through my family, so my grandpa and my mom have the same middle name. The name Hannah means graceful.
ReplyDeleteHannah S.
I am named after my great-great Uncle who died in WWII. My parents were going to call me Samuel if i was a boy and Anna if i was a girl. Samuel is an old hebrew name meaning "God's voice"
ReplyDeleteSam C.
I don't really have a specific reason for being named Brian. I was actually supposed to be a girl and my parents were going to name me Nicole. However, I turned out as a boy! So, my parents agreed on the name Brian because they both always really liked it and my dad's best friend from college was named Brian. I just found out that Brian means hill in Celtic Irish, but that has no relevance with my parents naming me how they did.
ReplyDeleteBrian B.
i was named Danny/daniel because my mom and dad liked the name. my middle name Thomas i got from my grandpa on my moms side. the other names i was going to be named was Scott or Peter. if i was a girl it would of been katie. My name Danny means God is my judge.
ReplyDeleteDanny R.
I was named after a football game. The Chiefs were playing the Broncos the night I was born. My mom wanted me to be named Joe after Joe Montana. The Broncos won, however, and I was named Jon after John Elway.
ReplyDeleteJon H.
My name has a very special meaning because i was named after my grandpa who had Alzheimer's and lived a great life. He traveled the world because he was a archeologist and went places like the amazon and south america and other such places. Also my parents liked the name james and that is my namesake.
ReplyDeleteJimmy G
My mother named me David because there wasn't a person named David she didn't like. She also liked the meaning; beloved. My middle name was Andrew because on the night I was born, my father and his friend were watching the Andrew Dice Clay show, a comedian. Mom got to chose the first name because she won a wager with my dad.
ReplyDeleteDavid G.
My first name, Allison, or Allie, has no special meaning. My parents just named me Allie because they liked the name. My middle name, Isabel, was given to me because it is the name of my great aunt.
ReplyDeleteAllie A. 4th period
My namesake is St Sebastian who was a saint in christianity. My parents named me sebastian because they liked the name sebastian. In the greek language senastian means majestic and revered. It is also a very popular name in france.
ReplyDeleteSebastian P.
My namesake is my great grandfather who was named sebastian. I was named sebastian because i was my grandpas 1st grandkid and he wanted his first grand kid to be named Sebastian
ReplyDeleteSebastian R
My parents had named my older brother Adrian, and when I was born my dad wanted us to have similar names, so they named me Adriana. My name means "from Hadria". which is a city in Italy.
ReplyDeleteAdriana O.
My first name has no namesake because when i asked my parents why they named me Olivia they simply said they did it because they liked it and it was unique. Although my middle name does have a namesake. My middle name is Lee and I was named after my then already deceased grandmother MaryLee. Beyond all else I googled my name and found out that it means little olive tree.
ReplyDeleteOlivia W.
I don't really have an exciting namesake, except that my parents needed a first name that sounded good with my last name. So they decided they'd name me Elena because it was also greek. And it sounds better with my last name than an american name would
ReplyDelete-Elena T
My namesake isn't very interesting but my parents thought it would be cool to name me after my grandpa on my dads side Greg, and have my middle name be the name of my grandpa on my mom's side, Louis.
ReplyDeleteGreg M.
My namesake is my mom really wanted to name me Analise after my great aunt, but my dad thought it was to similar to her name Elise, so they compromised on naming me Anna and having my middle name be Elise.
ReplyDeleteAnna L.
My namesake is that my parents knew that they wanted my name to be Irish since my last name is Irish, so they named me Meghan. Normally Meghan is spelled with out an H but they added an H because that is the irish spelling. Meghan also means Pearl.
ReplyDeleteMeghan B.
my namesake is that when my parents had me my mom wanted for me to be named jeb after my great grandpa but my dad wouldnt let that happen because he thought that was too wierd of a name so they finally agreed on the name john.
ReplyDeleteJohn H
My Namesake is for Eric Clapton a Famous Blues Musician Who played With Cream a Famous Band From the 60s.
ReplyDeletemy mom loves eric clapton and she wanted to name me after him.
i think it means Ultimate Ruler or something.
Eric A