N is for Names

Names are so much a part of who we are. They are our very identity. I've seen several posts over the last few days devoted to different individuals names, so I decided I would dedicate my N post to names as well.

My full name is Vickie Lynn. My first name is a shortening of my mother's first name and my middle name begins with the same initial as my mom's middle name. For the first two weeks of my life, I was known as Vickie, but then my mom and dad decided I wasn't really a Vickie so I became Lynn. Which, I always was a Lynn and I've always since been a Vickie, but you get the point of what I mean.

On government forms, in school and in doctor's offices, I've always been Vickie. It's difficult because when I hear someone call me by Vickie, it often takes me a minute to realize they're speaking to me. Even with age, it still doesn't register usually.

The Hubs is, in one way, more fortunate than I with his name and, in another, less so. He does go by his first name (occassionally by a shortened version of it), however, he has four names (yes, four) plus his surname. I'm lucky in that I simply have my first and middle names, but The Hubs has his first name and three middle names.

The Hubs and I have talked through names many, many times (this sort of thing happens when you've been trying for a baby for over 7 years) and we decided that a first and middle name for our child is enough. We have names picked out that we'd like to use for our children: two names for boys and two names for girls. Hopefully one day we'll get the chance to use those names. One of the female names means "industrious assistant"; the other means "child of Maude who is like a bird" (Maude was my grandmother's name - this name wasn't chosen for that reason; it was just a nice coincidence that it meant that). For the boys, the first name means "comforting, long-lived twin" and the other means "jewelled gift from God". I won't post the actual names, so if you figure them out, please do not post the names.

What does your name mean? Do you like it? What does your spouse's/partner's/child's/sibling's name? If you have children, what name have you chosen for them and, if you don't have children, what name would you like to use for your child?