When our daughter called and asked me to pick up some books
on baby names, I was shocked at the weight and thickness of the newer ones. Just out of curiosity, I checked to compare
our oldest books on the subject, “What to Name the Baby (A Treasury of Names)
15,000 Names to Choose From” by Evelyn Wells (1953), at 326 pages and “Naming
Your Baby: Rules to Follow When You Name Your Baby” by Elsdon C. Smith (1970), 94
pages. Compare these to “The Complete Book of Baby Names: The Most Names (100,001+), Most Lists, Most Help to Find the
Best Name” by Lesley Bolton, checking in at 675 pages and labeled “#1
Bestselling Baby Names Book!” or “60,001+ Best Baby Names” by Diane Stafford
(2011) coming in at 588 pages. It’s hard enough to decide among the books, let
alone deciding on a name.
It used to be so simple, making this important decision, but
that didn’t mean it was
always better. My
parents both had rather unusual names.
My mother was named after her aunt, Sister Mary Stella and she was often
called Maytel for short. My father was
named Hubert, after his father. He chose his own middle name, Aloysius, so
naturally he usually identified himself and signed his checks and letters with
his initials, not his given names. When my mother met my father, she did not
like either of his names so told him she was going to call him Mac (his last
name was McBride) and that was forever what everyone in my mom’s family and
those who worked with him in the South called him. My father’s family in Pennsylvania however,
continued to call him Hubert.
My mother’s favorite name was Cecelia and she and her
brother had a running friendly argument that whoever had the first daughter
would get to have the name Cecelia (the Irish spelling for St. Cecilia,
according to my mother) and that lucky person turned out to be yours
truly. However, my parents thought
Cecelia Marie sounded awkward so they named me Marie Cecelia. My two sisters
were Regina Elizabeth (translates as Queen Elizabeth, I’m told) and Helen Ann
(using my father’s initials after my parents had second thoughts about naming
her Huberta Ann.). All of this was fine
and dandy until I got my Social Security card and my drivers’ license. It just
got frustrating filling out forms, going to the first day of class year after
year and correcting the teacher, in front of the whole class, that my name was
really Cecelia and not Marie even though all the records said I was Marie
Cecelia. By then I was being called Ce,
CeCe and mostly Ceya and there was a “Cecilia” song from the 30s and 40s, “Does
Your Mother Know You’re Out, Cecilia” before the Paul Simon “Cecilia” was even
more popular. This went on for 22 years or so until I finally made a fresh
start when I went to graduate school, where no one knew me, and let it slide
when the teacher called the roll. My
name, from that time on until I got married, was Marie McBride. It was very easy getting used to and a lot more
inconspicuous.
There were little problems every now and then. I had to make two piles of Christmas cards
based on who I knew when in order to remember how to sign the cards. When my husband Jack met my family, he didn’t
know whom they were referring to when they talked about “Ceya.”
I’m told that when I was little, I couldn’t pronounce
grandma so I started calling my grandmother “Mimommy” which seems a little precocious. Anyway, my mother’s grandchildren adapted
this and called my parents “Mamommy” and Granddaddy. People have asked what we would like to be
called when we are grandparents and I guess I always thought that was something
the baby figured out but we’ll need to research that. When my sister and her husband were asked
what they wanted to be called as new grandparents, they decided they would call
themselves the names they wished they had been named, Katy & Tony, instead
of traditional grandparent names or their real names. One of their daughters
was fine with this but the other thought it a little too unusual and opted for the
traditional family “Mamommy” and Granddaddy for her children.
Celebrities aren’t the only people naming babies unusual
names. My sister’s daughter and her
husband named their baby Enzo because his family comes from Italy and Ferrari is his favorite
car. Our next door neighbor’s little
girl’s name is Winter. My son’s friend
wanted to name his son Tiberius but his wife put her foot down so it’s his
middle name. There certainly are more than enough choices but speaking from
experience, it seems best to name a baby something you wish you had been named or
would be happy to hear yourself called. Judging from all the book titles and the
names, most parents definitely put a lot of thought into the process.
When our daughter returned the library books on the subject,
she said it was really overwhelming looking through them. They didn’t want any of the Top 100 names or
names any of their friends or relatives had used, which narrowed it down a
bit. They don’t know what they are
having and so far haven’t shared the names on their list, except for the
rejects. My daughter-in-law Kristin (now
there’s a nice name) said that I need to practice my poker face when we talk
about name possibilities so I’m working on it.
Two of my favorite book titles on the subject are “Baby
Names: Choosing the Perfect Name for Your Little Star” by Emily Harper (2013)
and “Perfect Baby Names: a Parent’s Guide to the Most Important Gift ever Given”
by Ruthie Cheung & Rosie Cole (2011).
Look for these and other books on the subject in the 929.4 section of
our library. As an aside, today someone
called the library to reserve a popular book, “The Husband’s Secret” by Liane
Moriarty and the main character’s name is Cecelia. From the spelling of the name, she must be
Irish.
