Hi All,
I had an email discussion with a friend this weekend regarding baby names. (While Jim and I have shared our proposed names with many people that ask in conversation, I can not bring myself to commit them to writing just yet.) She shared some stories regarding the naming of her children, which made me want to know more about how my name came about.
My mom liked the name "Tricia". Richard Nixon was president at the time I was born, and he had a daughter named Tricia. It's possible that influenced her, as surely there was a lot of media coverage of the family. My middle name "Kay" comes from my Great Grandma Catherine Fink and Godmother Cathy. I remember times in adolescence, particularly 7th grade, that I did not care for my name. I wrote in some class assignment that I wanted to be named Tiffany, which I thought was much "cuter". My teacher tried to convince me that Tricia was a much more sensible name (no offense to any Tiffanies out there!).
As for my last name, again growing up, I would have gladly exchanged it for my married name - Manning: easy to pronounce, easy to spell. Nobody could ever get Casari right. But, as I've aged, I've really come to love and embrace my maiden name (and first name too). I love that it's unique. I strongly associate my maiden name with my Grandpa Casari. He was very proud of his Italian heritage, which I came to understand and appreciate as I grew. Furthermore, Grandpa Casari was a wonderful person who simply loved life, loved to tell stories, play jokes and make people laugh. Today would have been his 85th birthday. Sadly, he passed away almost two years ago. I miss his kindness and his humor. Here are a few pictures of my Gramps....
I had an email discussion with a friend this weekend regarding baby names. (While Jim and I have shared our proposed names with many people that ask in conversation, I can not bring myself to commit them to writing just yet.) She shared some stories regarding the naming of her children, which made me want to know more about how my name came about.
My mom liked the name "Tricia". Richard Nixon was president at the time I was born, and he had a daughter named Tricia. It's possible that influenced her, as surely there was a lot of media coverage of the family. My middle name "Kay" comes from my Great Grandma Catherine Fink and Godmother Cathy. I remember times in adolescence, particularly 7th grade, that I did not care for my name. I wrote in some class assignment that I wanted to be named Tiffany, which I thought was much "cuter". My teacher tried to convince me that Tricia was a much more sensible name (no offense to any Tiffanies out there!).
As for my last name, again growing up, I would have gladly exchanged it for my married name - Manning: easy to pronounce, easy to spell. Nobody could ever get Casari right. But, as I've aged, I've really come to love and embrace my maiden name (and first name too). I love that it's unique. I strongly associate my maiden name with my Grandpa Casari. He was very proud of his Italian heritage, which I came to understand and appreciate as I grew. Furthermore, Grandpa Casari was a wonderful person who simply loved life, loved to tell stories, play jokes and make people laugh. Today would have been his 85th birthday. Sadly, he passed away almost two years ago. I miss his kindness and his humor. Here are a few pictures of my Gramps....
Me and Gramps way back when....
Grandma, Grandpa and I at Lisa and Eric's wedding in July '06
A photo of Grandma and Grandpa
Love always Grandpa - you will never be forgotten!
And on with the name game...... Please feel free to share a comment with any anecdotes you have regarding your name, your children's' names, etc. You do not have to have a blogging account to make a comment. Just hit the comment link.
Here is my friend Nancy's story that inspired the Name Game to get you started.....
When I was pregnant for Steven, I chose a girls name of Nicole Louise, after my mother. I hadn't picked a boy's name, as I was determined to have a girl. As your mother can attest to, back then we didn't know in advance. When I first saw Gene (husband) after the delivery, I said Steven Eugene or Timothy Eugene. He said he didn't like the name Timothy. (Little did we know that our neighbor Teala had recently had a boy which they had named Timothy John)(Teala later became my best friend, which we remain today, and our boys grew up together.)
When I was pregnant for Rex, the girl's name was again Nicole Louise, and no name for a boy. Rex was born by emergency c-section on a Monday morning. (Back then I stayed in the hospital 5 days.) The night before we were to go home, I still didn't have a name for him. They said I couldn't leave until the baby had a name. That night we settled for Rex Leonard, after a t.v. minister and my brother-in-law.
When I was pregnant for Nicole, I was determined it would be another boy.(My friend Teala also had four boys by then) I can't remember if I had picked out a boys name, but I had become so tired of Nicole Louise, that I decided if for some outside chance I had a girl, I would name her Amanda Marie. However, I failed to tell Gene. Nicole was born again by emergency c-section at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids at 11:30 p.m. They whisked her away to NICU. Because she was premature, they had Gene go to the nursery while they finished with me in surgery. They asked Gene what her name would be. He said Nicole, but couldn't remember the middle name. Back then the nurse's had their names on their gowns in masking tape. Gene looked and the nurses name was Michelle, so he said, "Nicole Michelle." Thus Nicole became named after the first nurse she had in the nursery. At 35 years, I decided not to try for Amanda Marie.
