Wanna Play A Name Game?

What’s in a name?

Who said that? Shakespeare? Or is that just a common question asked everyday by run-of-the-mill yo-yos like moi? According to a Shine Yahoo article on the internet, the most hated baby names for girls are Gertrude and Bertha. Duh. I can dig that. I would go to my deathbed regretting the fact that I had labeled my kid with one of those dumpy monikers (with apologies to all Gertrudes and Berthas).

I don’t regret naming my oldest daughter Gillie. When she was born I wanted her to be different, to stand out from the crowd. I got her name from the Hayley Mills movie Tiger Bay. I fell madly in love with Hayley Mills and her English accent when I saw the move as a teenager. Hayley’s movie name Gillie just stuck with me. The nuns at the Catholic hospital where my daughter was born fought me long and hard about naming her Gillie, but I stuck to my guns. Hopefully she hasn’t suffered too much teasing because her name is so different. My other daughter’s name is Heather, which is not so unusual, but I love her and her name too. Turns out, although I didn’t know it at the time, that Gillie and Heather are both of Scottish origin. Maybe I am a little bit Scottish on my grandmother’s side. I’m all Italian on my grandfather’s side.

You know Mila Kunis, the actress? There’s an unusual name; at least in my culture. How about Uma Thurman?

Women’s names I particularly like include Natasha and Tanya. I was in love with a Tanya when I was younger too. Tanya was older than me, but I used to daydream a lot about us being together. I like Leslie a lot. For some strange reason, I’ve always gotten along well with Kathy’s, Kathleens and Catherines too. So I married a Kathleen. Janet and Janice are good names too.

I did an internet search on my name awhile back. Do you know how many Jim Perkins there are in the world? Good Grief! And I always wanted to be special. Fortunately, a lot of guys named Jim Perkins have accomplished some pretty good things. When I was younger I thought I would like to be named Terry. But after getting to know a couple of Terrys - NOPE. And it seems like every Richard I’ve known turned out to be a real turkey.

I’ve never cared for the name Ralph for a man. I’m not crazy about Howard either. And how about Butch? No. No. No. I’ve got a brother David and a brother Peter and I like those names (I like my brothers too). Andy and Barney are cool too. Why do you suppose I like those names? I have a nephew named Three and I like that name a lot. He’s the third generation, not the senior nor the junior, but the third. So we call him “Three.” Cool huh? Hopefully, he’ll think it’s cool when he grows older.

I like the name Sam. I love my dog and his name fits him to a T.

To answer the question, “What’s in a name?” I think we like or dislike certain names mainly because of our associated memories that go along with them. Get it Bud?

A bag of poop on bad names. But if a name is yours, you probably don’t dislike it (hopefully) and that’s good on you mate.