Monday, February 05, 2007

What's in a name?

Peyton Manning (QB for the Indianapolis Colts who just won the Super Bowl in case you didn't know) has about a million and thirty two kids named after him! Isn't that crazy? Forget parents and grandparents, everyone name your kid Peyton! (Or Peighton or Paiton if you'd like to get fancy!) There was an entire section on this is an My Town newspaper on Super Bowl Sunday. It featured boys and girls, unborn to preteens, all named for the football hero.

There was one family from High School Town, TN that named their children Peyton, and Manning. I think the real Peyton Manning should consider a restraining order against the tacky, redneck stalkers. In my (humble) opinion you lack a certain amount (great deal) of class to do such a thing. Only in a podunk town such as that can you name your children Peyton and Manning and feel cool.

It leads me to ponder, what's in a name? What and how do you choose what your children will be called?

My three names (of which I only have one now because I changed it all up when I got married) came from my grandmother and two great grandmothers. However my first name came from the grandmother that raised me and that I am very close to. However, I think she was named after a soap star by her dad, so in a round about way I suppose I was named after a "celebrity" if you will.

J and I have rough drafts of our children's names picked out. (I can't tell you though, they're a secret!) They're a combination of family names and names we like. Of course when the time comes who knows what we'll go with. A lot can change in the three to five years, which is when we'd like to plan our family. I know my parents had totally different names picked out for me until I was born and they went with the grandmother thing. But seriously, it's so much better. I'd have totally changed my name if they called me Misty Dawn (no offense to anyone!) and the other is so bad I won't even type it!

How did you get your name? How did you come up with your kids (future kids) names? Tradition? After family? You just liked it? Was it after a hero? Celebrity? Sports Figure? Do you like your name?

2 comments:

Southern Belle said...

I got my name through a combination of family names. My mother's name is Anita Charisse and my great grandmother, whom my Dad was very close to, was Amy Beale. So my Dad combined the two and hince I became Amy Charisse. My mom and I shared innitals until I got married, and I have a ghetto middle name for one of the whitest girls in Memphis. However if my Mom had been concious after giving birth I would have been Sara Renee, so I guess drugs were a good thing for her.

girl from the south said...

My mom found my name in a dictionary a few days before I was born. Had she not, I would have been Jennifer or Megan. If I was a boy, I'd have been Jeremy. She wanted to name me Adrienne Elizabeth, but thought it was a huge name for a little baby, so she chose Elise.

Growing up, I hated having an unusual name. I never got to have personalized pencils or name tags for my bike. It got much better as I got older, and it's so strange when there's another Adrienne around. It's also a good guide when meeting guys. If they do the Rocky thing right after I meet them, I know they're not worth a second glance.

Does the celebrity thing go for dogs? I'm still planning on getting a white English Bulldog and naming it Smokey along with a few borders or a bluetick called Neyland and Peyton.