My story starts back in the 1970s, when I was one of several zillion Jennifers roaming the elementary schools of these great United States.
Don't get me wrong, I do love the name Jennifer! But for those who haven't researched this obsessively, I submit that it's sometimes difficult being a free-spirited, unique child who bears a name that has been in the top 50 names since 1961, and was #1 from 1970 through 1984. That's a LOT of Jennifers. In fact, there were many times I couldn't even go by the old standby "Jennifer L.," because there were 2 or 3 of those in my classroom of 30!
I decided early on that any children of mine would have names that would be IMPOSSIBLE to find personalized items for. No Michaels, Janes, Saras, or Toms for me!
There was a minor bump in the road when I married a boy named Davin, who after a lifetime of having his name misspelled, mispronounced or just completely undone (it's not unusual to get mail addressed to Gavin, David, Darin, and even Doris!) wanted his children to have run-of-the-mill names more than anything. This was settled by me declaring, "When you push one out, you can name it!"
So, I gave my children well-thought-out, unusual but not too unusual names. Not too hard to spell, not too hippiesh, but hippie enough. KWIM? People would have to know right off the bat that they were a little different. Not like me, with me you have to wait until I open my mouth and something completely insane comes out, and that might take me a whole 10 or 15 minutes on a good day!
But, I have always been open to them changing their names, since I always wanted to change mine. My parents were always very resistant to me, though. They liked my name, they were used to it, and what would the neighbors think? I still think I might change it someday, but that's a story for another post.
Their birth names are Anya, Maya, Sage, Tiernan and Torleif. Not TOO weird, right? I figured they might want to go a little more normal as they got older, and I would be OK with that.
When Sage was 12, she decided on a name for herself. She'd always hated Sage, and had been plotting for years already to find something new. We have always told the kids if they chose something "reasonable" we would help them change it. At 6, she asked if she could be called "Demon." I don't think we were being soul-crushing ultra-conservative parents to say NO to that one...
So, at 12 she made up the name Lyddeth (pronounced like Lillith, with d's in the middle) and later chose Lovecraft as a middle name. That was about 3 years ago.
Recently, Maya (Lyddeth's twin) has decided on Maezel. (Pronounced may-ZELL) It's partially made up, and partially modified from an Edgar Allan Poe story. No change to her middle name as of yet.
I have to say that I didn't suspect they would choose MORE unusual names. Maybe one of the three other kids will decide they would rather be called Joe or Lisa or something?
And, before anyone asks, in the unlikely event that I have any more children, I'm not even going to attempt to name them. I'm just going to give them placeholder names like Newbie or Stinkpants that will serve until they choose something for themselves...
Boring old Jennifer,
mom to Anya, Maezel, Lyddeth, Tiernan and Torleif
Don't get me wrong, I do love the name Jennifer! But for those who haven't researched this obsessively, I submit that it's sometimes difficult being a free-spirited, unique child who bears a name that has been in the top 50 names since 1961, and was #1 from 1970 through 1984. That's a LOT of Jennifers. In fact, there were many times I couldn't even go by the old standby "Jennifer L.," because there were 2 or 3 of those in my classroom of 30!
I decided early on that any children of mine would have names that would be IMPOSSIBLE to find personalized items for. No Michaels, Janes, Saras, or Toms for me!
There was a minor bump in the road when I married a boy named Davin, who after a lifetime of having his name misspelled, mispronounced or just completely undone (it's not unusual to get mail addressed to Gavin, David, Darin, and even Doris!) wanted his children to have run-of-the-mill names more than anything. This was settled by me declaring, "When you push one out, you can name it!"
So, I gave my children well-thought-out, unusual but not too unusual names. Not too hard to spell, not too hippiesh, but hippie enough. KWIM? People would have to know right off the bat that they were a little different. Not like me, with me you have to wait until I open my mouth and something completely insane comes out, and that might take me a whole 10 or 15 minutes on a good day!
But, I have always been open to them changing their names, since I always wanted to change mine. My parents were always very resistant to me, though. They liked my name, they were used to it, and what would the neighbors think? I still think I might change it someday, but that's a story for another post.
Their birth names are Anya, Maya, Sage, Tiernan and Torleif. Not TOO weird, right? I figured they might want to go a little more normal as they got older, and I would be OK with that.
When Sage was 12, she decided on a name for herself. She'd always hated Sage, and had been plotting for years already to find something new. We have always told the kids if they chose something "reasonable" we would help them change it. At 6, she asked if she could be called "Demon." I don't think we were being soul-crushing ultra-conservative parents to say NO to that one...
So, at 12 she made up the name Lyddeth (pronounced like Lillith, with d's in the middle) and later chose Lovecraft as a middle name. That was about 3 years ago.
Recently, Maya (Lyddeth's twin) has decided on Maezel. (Pronounced may-ZELL) It's partially made up, and partially modified from an Edgar Allan Poe story. No change to her middle name as of yet.
I have to say that I didn't suspect they would choose MORE unusual names. Maybe one of the three other kids will decide they would rather be called Joe or Lisa or something?
And, before anyone asks, in the unlikely event that I have any more children, I'm not even going to attempt to name them. I'm just going to give them placeholder names like Newbie or Stinkpants that will serve until they choose something for themselves...
Boring old Jennifer,
mom to Anya, Maezel, Lyddeth, Tiernan and Torleif
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I've always loved that my name is a palindrome. My dad always called me "the backwards-forwards girl from the upside-down year". And I've only met a few people with my name that I wasn't related to.
