What’s in a name?

When we were born, our parents gave us a name. Sometimes a baby is given an old family name, sometimes a baby is named after a family member or friend & sometimes the baby is not named after anyone. Typically, a baby grows into their name.

A child's name will often get shortened. My name got shortened to Meg. Family & close friends called me Meg. I liked my name then & now. In school, most of my teachers called me Megan, unless there was more than student who shared my name. You can’t really misspell Meg. Megan can be spelled so many different ways.

My older brother Andrew calls me, ‘Nerd’. I return the favour by also calling him, ‘Nerd’. It’s not meant to be mean. He was never called, Andy. When he got to high school his friends called him Drew. Ever since then he has gone by Drew. Our family still calls him Andrew from time to time.

My oldest brother Stuart was called Stuey as a baby. By the time I came along, he was Stu. He usually calls me Babe or Baby.

I usually call my mother, Mom or Ma. I always call my father, Dad. Now my parents are grandparents. Their oldest grandchild has named them. Even though we refer to them Grandma & Grandpa, Sophie has her own names. She calls my Dad, ‘Campy’. We think she means Grampy. Sophie loves her Campy. My Mom has been patiently waiting for Sophie to call her by name. The other day it finally happened. Sophie proudly said, ‘Bye bye Gamma’. It was a cool moment to witness.

Sophie calls Stu & I by our first names because our names are easy for her to say. We always refer to Stu’s wife as Auntie Michelle, but that is still too hard for Sophie to say.

A name is important. Naming a child is a big responsibility because it sticks with a person for life.