What's In A Name?

I was born in 1951....yep, way back in the dark ages. In my classes at school, there were a lot of girls named Kathy and Susie. Popular names back then. My given name is Kathryn, but no one ever called me that. My mom sometimes called me Katrina. Not sure why she did, but I liked it.

My parents had a difficult time keeping me and two of my sisters straight because they named us Karen, Kathy and Kay. Not a lot of creativity there.

When it came time to a name our first child, I wanted to be different. I didn't want a regular name that everyone else had. We chose Tresa. Not Theresa or Teresa, but Tresa...pronounced tree-suh. A simple and easy to say name that turned into a mini nightmare. I should have known it was going to be a problem when the hospital staff came in twice to ask me if that spelling was correct....and kept asking, "How do you say that?"

Having an unusual name also means you can't find any cute little personalized things at the store...like the pencils and little license plates with your name on them. It also means a lifetime of correcting people when they pronounce it wrong, or just allowing them to pronounce it wrong because you are tired of correcting people.

Our boys were easy. Our first son was named after his dad and his grandfather. He is Irving Michael....very old fashioned name. He has always been called Michael. His dad was always Junior to his Aunts and Uncles. I love the name Michael so there was no argument from me. I wasn't really sure about a baby named Irving, but it made some grown men very happy. Michael took a great deal of teasing when his friends found out his real name, but it didn't phase him.

Our youngest was going to be a Matthew no matter how popular the name was. It has always been a favorite of mine. The name suits him well. He decided in Junior High that he was to be called Matt and not Matthew. I usually call him Matti.

How about you? Do you like your name? If you have children, how did you decide on their names?