WeWrite4Ten today is: Do you know why you were given your name? Were you named for a relative, a movie star, etc.? Tell us about your naming.
My name is Pamela Louise. And yes, I know how my name came about. My mother was reading a romance novel at some time during her pregnancy and came across the name Pamela. At that time, there were very few Pamela's around and mom really liked the name.
My mother's oldest sister is my Aunt Louise. Hence, Pamela Louise. I'm sure that my mom thought it was an honor to my Aunt Louise to name me after her, but I wonder just how many times she said the name aloud before putting it on my birth certificate.
Now, there is nothing wrong with either name and I like them both. I really liked my Aunt Louise a lot. She was rather an unusual lady, but then I'm not the most normal person on earth, so the name probably fits. The problem for me was the La-la part of the name.
PameLA, Laweez! Get it? It was just too much of a mouthful to suit me as I was growing up. Actually, not just as I was growing up. It's too much of a mouthful for me now too.
When we were asked what name we wanted on our high school diplomas, I said I wanted Pamela L. Huston. I went home and told my mom who had a royal fit and insisted I go in the office the next day and change it to Pamela Louise. She said that was what she named me and she wanted it on my diploma.
As soon as I was married, I followed my mother's lead and took my maiden name as my legal middle name. That solved the Louise part of my name problem.
There is another fun part of my naming though. As I said, my mom read the name in a romance novel and really liked the name. Although my family is not Catholic, I was born in a Catholic hospital, the only hospital in a 75 mile radius of the town where my family lived. After I was born, a nun came in to ask my mom what she was naming me. When she said Pamela, the nun said that that was a heathen name and she couldn't name me that.
So there you have it, I was marked from birth. Good thing Jesus didn't hold my name against me, isn't it?
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You heathen!!
ReplyDeleteI had a friend in HS whose naming in a Catholic hospital was even more awful. Her parents took a short trip, to a relative's wedding, I think, and on the way home labor began. Her father pulled into the hospital in a town they were passing through. My friend was born, and when the nun came in to fill out the forms to register the birth, the parents had picked Jamie Lynn. There was an argument because the nun said that she must have a saint's name, and Jamie's parents insisted they did not have to follow that tradition as they were not Catholic. Finally the papers were filled out and submitted. When the birth certificate came to them a few weeks later, it bore the name "James Lynn"!!!!! The nun had changed it on the form!!
Yes, they had the name legally changed back to Jamie!
I like the story behind your name, Pam. Funny about the Catholic hospital. I am a Catholic! LOL. I remember when I met Father Mike, a new priest that had come to our church. He asked about my name, Renie. "Is that a nickname for Irene?" I said, "well, kind of, but I never use Irene anymore." He seemed hurt by that. "Do you know what the name Irene means?" "Yes, Father, it means Peace," I replied, "But I am Renie now!" He continued to call me Renie after that.
ReplyDeleteSo now you know. I was named Irene Serene, (after my mother, who died soon after I was born) although they both sound different in Hungarian. But don't tell anyone, Pam. It's a secret. :-)