Wednesday, June 22, 2005

What's in a name?

I read an interesting comment--to my sister--on my friend's blog--by said friend's boyfriend. Although the two of them (boy and sis) have been friends for years, he had to ask her her name. Bizarre? You see, she's Amanda. Officially. Growing up she was Mandy. Now I think only family calls her Mandy, and to everyone else, she's Amanda. When this change happened and why, I'm not really sure.

Personally, I seem to have a different name for every roll I play. At work, I'm Rebecca. Close friends call me Becca. My family has called, and will always call me Becky. When Janzen could start talking, he decided to call me Boo. Now he's 11, and Boo I remain to him, and to Erik's family. (The nieces and nephews call me "Aunty Boo.") I don't really know how this happened either. I guess on job applications, I wrote my full name, Rebecca, and so that's what the boss, and ipso facto, the other employees called me. The Becca thing I just don't know.

Neither Mandy nor I (nor Katy for that matter) have middle names. The plan is/was, that when we get/got married, our maiden names become our middle names. Growing up, I always felt TOTALLY GYPED (Is gyped short for gypsy, and is it therefore a racial slur? Jesus, I hope not) and bitched about it to the point where my dad gave Mandy and me fake middle names. I became Rebecca Sue Ann. Mandy became Amanda Lou Jean. We heard these names when my dad was in a particularly jovial mood.

When thinking of a name for Sophie, one thing I wanted her to have was a cool middle name. If I had MY way (luckily I didn't) she would have been named Juniper Blue. (Called Junie) Erik wanted to name her Scout. Then one day, I was going through the list of names I had made, just reading combinations of names to Erik to check for their first/middle compatibility. Gene is Erik's insane, wonderful, boisterous grandmother's name, so I had written it on the list with all the other family names. When I said "Sophie Gene" time stopped for an instant. The air kind of shimmered. There was no further discussion or doubt. We both knew that Sophie Gene was on her way.

She's had several nick-names in her almost 3 years. At first, her dad and bro called her "Soup," a rather undignified reference to the consistency of the poop in her diaper. I called her "Pumpkin Pants," and "Sugar Bugger," a nickname I stole from Mandy. We've also caller her "Bug" and "Darth Sophius" as well as "Miss" and the longest endearment, "Sweet Angel Princess Dreamer."

Sophie already knows that when she hears Mommy say her whole name, "Sophie Gene Jorgensen!" trouble is coming. For a while she called me "Mommy Boo" but then settled back into Mommy.

Because of my class and her napping schedule, I haven't seen her very much this week, and I miss her like crazy. In my head, I call her "Sweet Sophie Gene" and can't wait until next week when we can play and do errands together and watch Care Bears. Of course, by Wednesday, I'll be blogging about how mind-numbingly dull motherhood can be.

Today's best thing about being a mom:
Picking up your sweet girl after not seeing her all day and getting a big hug, kiss, and lick on the cheek.

Today's worst thing about being a mom:
Missing her all day

5 comments:

hazel said...

I love name stuff. I think it's neat that you have so many of them for yourself. I am patrice. period. I too have no middle name, which I always wished I had, and I never have patrice shortened to pat. NEVER. my family used to call me tricey but that ended a long time ago.

(sidenote: gypped does come from a racial slur about gypsies.)

I couldn't even tell you all the names we have for bella. or trent. or our pets. or each other. seriously, our baby will probably be 4 or 5 before she knows her real name.

sophie gene is such a great name; I remember thinking that when I first read it. and it seems to fit her so well. though I really do like juniper blue. but sophie gene - perfection. and you can totally say it in relationship to someone's predeliction for naking: she must have the sophie gene. ba dum bum.

Froggylady said...

Sophie Gene is such a great name! It just rolls off your tongue and sounds so sweet and strong all at the same time. Great job!

In my family, we all have about a bazillion nick-names and it just depends on the mood of the person calling...and each sibling has their own nick name for the other. It's craziness.

Thank you for sharing and I hope your schedule balances out and you are able to spend more time with sweet Sophie.

A Man without a Band said...

When I first ran into the two of you again (you and yo' sis), I also wondered the same thing about you. I remembered you from high school (and while I don't remember much, also college) as Becky.

Jennifer was the same. I don't think she has a preference (except for "not Jenny"), but for some reason I prefer the full name to just Jen.

Anyway, quick question (this is fun when I actually have a little free-time). How do you list other blogs on your main page?

Oh yeah, in case I didn't pose the question to you, as well. Karaoke, friday?

Oh yeah, Sophie Gene does roll off the tongue. I didn't know it was one of Erik's family names. As a Paul Daniel Dail II (Grandfather was the first, and Dad is Daniel), I appreciate the passing on of names.

A Man without a Band said...

Okay, two other questions.

Am I supposed to respond to your comments to me on my blog, or yours? Supposedly I started this whole damn thing, but I was just looking at it as a write-off. Anyway, I'll respond here. Thanks for the kind words. Jennifer makes me happier than I've been in years, and, to spread the sticky sap, that much happiness only makes me want the same for my friends.

Number two. How do I get a picture like all you cool kids got?

NME said...

I go by both Nicole and Niki interchangably. And though my middle name was Marie - I ditched it to make my maiden name my middle name.

Sophie Gene is an excellent name. It's classic and timeless, strong and pretty. I like Junie Blue too. Very colorful and cute. I used to always say I'd name a girl Ruby Blue - but now plan on naming a yet unconceived daughter Muriel, after Mark's mother who passed away.

We have a billion nicknames for Noah and I don't think he recognizes his real name yet because of it. But he does turn his head in response to Schmoo and Monkey.

Sad you haven't seen much of Sophie lately. It will make the time you do get to spend with her even more special.