Where’d You Get Your Name?

This week, I listened to an Extreme Genes podcast with an interview of Judy Russell, “The Legal Genealogist.” She made the point that family stories are usually lost within three generations.

Let’s not lose our stories!

I am starting a weekly theme called “Our Stories.” These are the stories of not only ourselves, but also our more recent family. If they are still living, you can ask! If not, maybe you can remember!

The first week’s question is this:

Where’d You Get Your Name?
Do you know how you were named? Who named you? Also, did you have any nicknames as a child?

Here’s my story (& I had to call my mom to remind me!):

My sister was not quite one and her best friend was named Dana. My mom loved that name. My parents moved a few months before I was born and they named me Dana! (I think it’d have been weird if they still were living next door to each other.) They chose my middle name because they liked the way the names sounded together. (I do, too!)

As far as nicknames, I had two as a teen:
The first nickname was at school: “Smiley”
My other nickname was at church: “Big D” (And, no, I wasn’t ‘big’… it was just something the older guys called me in a deep voice when I would show up.)

I talked to my mother & mother-in-law and got lots of stories of names & nicknames.

The most interesting name story? My mom; her first name was a name on the tag of my grandmother’s gown!

Some nicknames (I’m keeping their real names private!):

• • Hootie – no idea why… her dad gave her the nickname
  • Radar – had big ears 
  • Bean Pole – was really skinny
  • Dodo – by an older brother… kids can be so cruel!