Revisiting… What’s In a Name?

I mentioned this topic tangentially as part of my blog “birthday” celebration, but one of my all-time favourite posts remains a fascinating discussion about names. (Here’s the original, posted back in April of 2024)

I rarely (this may, in fact, be the first time) repost something verbatim, but the comment section on a post like this is GOLDEN, and I realize I have some new readers, with their own name stories.

One other note: I always reference my children as Belle and Indy. Those are not actually their real names. For a while I referred them by the first letter of their actual names, but it was cumbersome and annoying and I found it easier to create distinct online names for them.

All these years after becoming their Mom, I truly love their legal names. Not for a single second do I wish John and I had chosen anything different. But, for a variety of reasons, I keep their actual names off the internet. So I won’t be pontificating about “Belle” and “Indy” since those are not actually the names they travel through life using 😉

• Do you like your name?

I do like my name! I can’t recall ever wishing for another name.

• Do people regularly misspell/mispronounce your name?

Yes! Elisabeth with an “s” is unusual in North America. Having it misspelled doesn’t particularly bother me. Thankfully, when people see my name spelled with an “s” they are unlikely to mispronounce it. But, I have been called the wrong name. Years ago, at our children’s preschool, a woman very enthusiastically saw me, waved, smiled, and yelled out Hi, Anne! I was so surprised, I simply waved back. From that day forward, I was—and likely still am—Anne to her. She called me Anne for years and I never had the heart to correct it.

• If you were going change your name to anything else, what would you choose?

I’m happy with my name!

• Do you go by your first name?

Yes, and I have to admit it is a bit of a pet peeve of mine when people name their children—never intending to use their first name—and then call them by their middle name. Why not put the names in the order you intend to use them? It’s confusing for everyone and a nuisance for the child in terms of official documents, etc. Dear friends have a daughter who, in 20+ years of knowing them, I had only ever heard referred to her by her middle name. Except I had no idea it wasn’t her first name until I watched a video of her high school graduation and the dean called out Emma, and our friend’s daughter walked across the stage and I was like WHO’S EMMA?! My father-in-law is named after his father, but has never gone by his first name, using his middle name exclusively his whole life. But then he gets frustrated when people call him by his first name—say, at the airport, since that’s what’s on his ticket—BUT THAT IS HIS NAME. But it’s also NOT his name because he never uses it. See? Confusing!

• Do you have a middle name?

Yes! Any guesses? I’ll give you a hint… my middle initial is H. (You could cheat by going back and looking at the comment section in the original post, but that wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.)

Fun fact. Friends of my parents liked my name so much they reversed the order of the names and gave it to their first daughter. So she’s H_______ Elisabeth.

• Do you have a nickname?

Well, I don’t, but that doesn’t stop people from giving me a nickname. My father was adamant he did NOT want me called Beth (even though, ironically enough, he goes exclusively by his nickname). I have a dear friend whose name is Elizabeth and goes by Beth and it suits her. I have had a few people call me Beth. I have a cousin whose name is actually Beth—it’s not shortened from Elizabeth. But the strange one is Liz. Liz does not suit me, and yet there are a handful of people who call me Liz so confidently I feel obliged to roll with it. My husband’s previous boss, the secretary at my doctor’s office, several people at church. I have never once IN MY LIFE referred to myself as Liz, but these people must think it fits. I have a niece named Elizabeth and she goes by B and I LOVE it (we sometimes call her Queen B which also very much suits).

Your turn.

1. Do you like your name?
2. Do people regularly misspell/mispronounce your name?
3. If you were going change your name to anything else, what would you choose?
4. Do you go by your first name?
5. Do you have a middle name?
6. Do you have a nickname?