Dear LPG readers, 

Did either of your parents ever tell you why they gave you the name that they chose for you, and do you think that you slotted into being a typical person with that name?  

I know that I was named after a sports personality all that time ago, but I am not, and have never been the least bit sporty.   I was also told that I would have had a different name if my father did not go to the registry office on his own.  

Then there is the other side of that coin to be considered for those readers who are also parents and grandparents, did you do lots of research into the meaning of the names you chose or were you baby-naming during that period when it was fashionable to make your own names up for children.   I have memories of hearing mums calling toddlers with some of those names that you can hardly get your tongue around in parks, school playgrounds and from behind the isles of the supermarket.  I have to admit to sometimes wondering what possessed them although I accept that other ears and brains most probably reacted in the same way when computing the name choices that I made and broadcast when gathering and chastising my little ones.   

I think that so many young parents visualise their even younger children with their chosen names but often forget to think about the consequences of their offspring being an adult with a need to be taken seriously with some of the names that we choose and, even though we are always becoming a more internationally diverse community where heritage culture and language has to be taken into consideration, time has made little difference.  

One positive thing that I have learned today is that most conventional names have a name day attached which is reason to celebrate something else, and tradition has it that holding a party and expecting another set of annual presents was part of that custom and I have found some information that might get readers thinking… 

I think that we all need to be thankful for the deed pole system.   

CJ, Lewisham.

CJ lets us in on the websites that she used for her research…

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