Wednesday, February 22, 2012

What's in a name?

I had a person that I spoke to on the phone today tell me that I have a pretty name.  I know some people growing up who would always say "I wish my name were..." and then fill in a unique name that was totally different than what they were actually named.  I consider myself blessed to have a name that I have always liked.  My name was actually supposed to be one word, and look like this: Julianna.  I had one great grandmother named Julia, and one named Jewel, so my mom wanted to have a variation of those names in my name.  My middle name was supposed to be Michelle, but my dad said that my name would not ever fit in the boxes on a testing scantron (where you bubble in the letters) if it were that long.  Yes, he always thinks ahead.  :)  Since being told that story, I have checked on every scantron I have encountered and stubbornly report that on each one, my name totally would have fit.  My mom saw his reasoning though, and met him in the middle by naming me Julie Anna, with Anna being my middle name.  It throws people off a lot of times when they're trying to spell my name, and I usually have to spell it a couple of times..."there's a space between the julie and the anna....yes there's an e in between those two as well....yes, two n's in anna."  It is particularly hard when trying to give someone my email address; always have to spell it.  Whenever it's not important to spell my name right, I usually just let people spell it however they like, and don't say if it's spelled wrong. 
What's funny is that you can tell at which point people met me, by what they call me.  My family mostly calls me Julie, expect my mom who usually calls me Julie Anna.  Because of this, most people call me Julie Anna who met me before I could talk, because my mom would tell them my whole name.  In middle and high school, people called me Julie.  I don't really know why I just wanted to be called Julie then, but I didn't really care I guess.  My fellow sports teammates all called me Jewels (often spelled Jules).  My coworkers at the Zaxby's I worked at in high school though called me J.A., something that the manager started.  In college, I decided that I wanted to start going by Julie Anna, and made it a point to introduce myself that way.  That's why Timothy and his family all call me Julie Anna.  I guess because of this, I now call people by their full name, unless they tell me otherwise.  That's why I call my husband Timothy, not Tim.  I know a lot of times that sounds too formal to people, so I apologize if I've called you your whole name instead of its shortened version and you don't like your full name.  Just let me know and I'll stop. :)
Sorry this is such a random post, I just realized today that I am grateful that my parents named me what they named me.  I like having a unique name, even if it's confusing to spell.  So thanks mom and dad!  :)  Because I'm so content with my name, I feel a little pressure to think of a good name for my future children.  Boy's names are completely lost on me, but some girl's names I like are: Riley, Sydney, Sybil, Josephine, Evangeline, and Leora.  Anybody out there who wishes their name were different?  Got any girl's names you really like?  

3 comments:

Teresa Close said...

I'm so glad you like your name. It had to be a beautiful name for a beautiful person!!! You know I love Riley Jewel and Sydney Ann! I saw another name at work that I think you should consider...Fabiola!!! I can just see Fabiola Helms running around the house right now with her sister Citranilla!! Love you!!

Anonymous said...

Hmmm...............I always thought it was Baby Girl. Nan

Anonymous said...

I call you Julio! :)
- Casie