Thursday, September 29, 2005

Middle Name...

I've never been that fond of mine. It is in case you're wondering May as in Jenny May. Why I chose to use it on here is beyond me cause I never use it anywhere else unless of course a man in uniform asks for it!

I'm called after my Gran who was a May. Could have been worse I suppose she could have been an Agnes! I've only ever met one other person with the middle name May and that's my good fiend Nikki's little girl Rowan. Maybe there is something in a name because she is a lovely wee thing, individual, fiesty and always has a "thinking" look like she's summing things up. I predict big things for her!I was surprised to find out that May is the 5th most popular middle name for a girl in Britain.

Traditionally middle names are used as a salute to other, mainly older relatives. This is certainly the case in my family. My younger Sis has the middle name Heather after Mum and poor Mum got the middle name Williamina after her Grandad who was obviously William. My Dad was the only one of us without a middle name but his name lives on in my nephew Dean whose middle names are Samuel Ross after both his Grandad's!! My two carry middle names as well. 8 year old has Rebecca in the middle in memory of my Great Gran Becky and 5 year old carries the names Thomas Francis around with him in tribute to Better Half's Grandad and Dad.

I suppose many people think it's a bit uncool to use middle names as a bit of respect to another relative but I think it's lovely especially when you are the person being remembered! I recall being chuffed to bits when my Sis and her Hubby told me they had given my niece the middle name Jennifer after me.

Ross I know is one who was never a big fan of his middle name and so changed it, one person I know has the middle names Jemima Helen which is so strange it's brilliant and my other little niece carries the middle names Isabella Carmen which brings to mind a dark haired film godess instead of a little girl from Midlothian but as she's gorgeous and dark I think she'll grow into the name just fine!

Spare a thought though for a girl I used to work with who got landed with the middle names Isobel Theresa...sounds ok until you know her first name began with T and her surname was Spencer. Name on the cheque book? Miss T.I.T Spencer. As for the parents who called their son Paul Rory Ian Cameron Knowles...what the fuck where you thinking??

Jenny xx

3 comments:

Divemaster GranDad said...

Carrying on middle names in honour of past, or present, relatives is quite prevalent in the Douglas clan. My middle name is George, after both my grandads (imagine if I was called Steven George George Douglas, how fkin' daft would that have been?). My daughter's middle name is Christine, after my dad's eldest sister, who always used to babysit us when we were kids (it's not because of that, but because she is a wonderful person). My sister's middle name is Helen, after my dad's aunt. The Douglas list of middle names from other family members is amazingly small. I believe we had a milkman named Thomas, which might explain my brother's middle name though... :-)

jenny said...

You have a brother??? Is he single???

Divemaster GranDad said...

Yes, Jen, I have a brother and yes, he is single (at least he was in June when I sprung a surprise visit on him - he stays in Westerhailes, Edinburgh). Cuzzin Ross will know him and will (probably) testify that he's a bit of a loose cannon and a bit unreliable. He has a heart of gold though and that's his saving grace otherwise the family would have disowned him years ago. I'll see if I can dredge out a photo of the family and stick it up on my blog so that you can all see how strange we are...rumours of inbreeding in the Douglas clan are purely rumours, I assure you...