Friday, October 17, 2008

Names

I have tried to use people's names in my blog list...I like real names, and faces, and feel uncomfortable when bloggers are too selective with the information they choose to share...but then I realised that my own name might seem like a pseudonym.
I was christened (yes, once upon a time I was a christian!) Katherine Eirlys David, and as Eirlys is Welsh for Snowdrop, (my father was Welsh) my name was "shortened" to Snowy. In France I am called Katherine or Kate, because Snowy contains too many unfamiliar sounds (and no, Tintin's dog is not called Snowy in France, but Milou, I tried that already!)
Otherwise my friends all call me Snowy, and while I don't think it particularly suits me, (when I was at school a friend asked me if it was because I looked like a rabbit...) I am not sure that I can think of an alternative, so there we go.
My brother's name is Morgan, usually shortened to Morg....one of his friends at university once asked me "Is he called Morgue because he's such a miserable bastard?"
Typical sisterly solidarity, I answered "Yes"!
If anyone doesn't like being "named" for their blog, please contact me, and I'll change it.

10 comments:

Lace-lovin' Librarian ~ Diane said...

Thank you for sharing the story of your name... I feel like I know you better now! I love being called by my name. I don't hear it often... everyone at school calls me Mrs. Cademartori, and my husband calls me Dear. I think he's forgotten my name! ; )

Jane Eborall said...

Well that's a LOT more (100%) interesting than being a 'plain Jane' like me. I'd change places/names any day. Thanks for a very interesting post.

Jeff Hamilton said...

You know, I've always wondered if Snowy was your real name or not. Thanks for sharing. I feel like I know you better now too.

Tattycat said...

I, too, enjoyed the story of your name. Very interesting. That is funny about your brother! I always love being called by my name. I have always heard it said that the "sweetest sound to anyone is their own name." Isaac calls me Lala or Mama, my nephew calls me Darda because he couldn't say Laura when he was little. My dad called me Ginny, but we never knew why. I always thought maybe it was because I am stubborn as a mule. If you don't know, female mules are often called Ginnys.

Katherine said...

Reading the comments made me laugh, the idea of Diane's husband puzzling to remember her name...(No, don't tell me...I know it..err)
and Jane who's more zany than plain, surely!
and Laura, I can't believe you are stubborn...you look so sweet and gentle in the photos.
So thank you for sharing your names too.

Tat-a-Renda said...

You can call me Jon anytime. Here is a story about my name.

When I finished writing my snowflakes book, I thought about what I should use as the name on the book. Finally decided on 'Jon Yusoff' because it is short, easy to say out and because that is what I am called at home and by my friends.

I showed the book to my father one day and he got angry about using that name. I asked why not, because that is what everyone know me as. He said, that is the name that he uses for me and he doesn't like anyone else to use it. Mother and I had a good laugh about it. BTW, my father has dementia and has no control about what he says sometimes. But we had a good laugh anyway.

Tattycat said...

Jon, this is particularly funny to me. In my comment I said that my nephew called me Darda because he couldn't say Laura when he was little. When he was 4 his little sister was born. When she got big enough to talk and called me Darda, he was incensed! He said, "Her name is LAURA!" No one was to call me Darda but him. Sounds like your dad, huh?

zarina said...

Did I prompted you to write this blog? LOL. My name was derived from the novel Anna Karenina (the queen of Russia).

OmonSan said...

Hi Guys!
It is nicer to now your first name and thank you for sharing. So I'd like to share my story if you have the patiencen to read it.

I am actually blessed with three first names. Omon after my paternal grandmother who came from some island in Malaysia, Elsa from my maternal grandmother and my parents decided that Helene was my own name. How ever turning 22 I decided that it was much more fun to have an unusual name in Sweden like Omon so I switched. I believe I am the only one in our country who has that name. Kind of cool.

When getting an alias for the net I just thought I would add a San for mrs/ms/mr making it simple.

Marie de la Chaume said...

Marie de la Chaume is not my real name. In fact, I am Isabelle Collas.
Marie is my second name (third is Suzanne) and I live in La Chaume which I bought in 1991...
Isabelle de la Chaume did not sound right to me, and when you have to make drawings with capitals, I is not the funniest one... So this i so romantically call myself, Marie de la Chaume, which really sounds like the name of a princess!!!