4 May 2013

IT'S ALL IN A NAME ...... OR IS IT?

Ah, how times have changed .....

Given that just like nearly everyone else my real name was given to me as a baby by others before my character was formed. Thankfully I bear no resemblance to ......

A dumb (generally peroxide) blonde who wears white stiletto heels and favours short, tight clothes, I have had a 'boob job', and tend to over-do the fake tan.

Vulgar, unintelligent and promiscuous, I've lost count of the number of Wayne's and Kevin's I've dated, my best friend is Sharon.

Yes, this is me, this is Tracy

OR at least its the stereotypical Tracy of so many 'jokes'.

Huh, originally to be called Carol, how did my parents look at me and decide, no, I looked like a Tracy?

Must have been all of that blonde hair and fake tan.

Seriously though, if I was to have been born in New Zealand I'm sure my name would have be on the list of 77 names to be banned.

That's right, officials have banned names such as ......
  • 4Real
  • V8
  • Queen Victoria - the 'rules' forbid the use of any official title or rank so likewise 'Duke', 'King' and 'Princess were among those turned down
  • Justice (most 'popular' of the names to be banned, it was rejected 62 times)
  • Justus
  • Juztice
  • Lucifer
  • Mafia No Fear
  • Anal
OR ......

As in the case of the parents who had seemingly run out of inspiration ......
  • 2nd
  • 3rd
  • 5th More.
Hmm, much better a nickname (stemming from an old word, ‘ekename’, meaning ‘additional name’) which, after all, probably represents the 'real' us anyway.

‘Relationships are about how we talk to each other and a special name reflects a special relationship,’ said Professor Andrew Linn, a linguistics lecturer at the University of Sheffield.
‘It’s about intimacy, about showing we care, that we are affectionate enough to think up a special name.’
At school I was known to my best friend, Ironteeth, as Peanuts (apparently I have peanut shaped nostrils) whilst as an adult I'm known to various friends as Mrs T, Double T and Tracy Three Wheels (see HERE for explanation)
What about you, what were/are your nicknames?

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16 comments:

Barbara said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Barbara said...

Hello Tracy, I didn’t see you as any of those things because I thought you were called Petty! How dumb could I be? You sign your name on every post! I did think Petty was an unusual name!!
I much prefer Tracy to Barbara (or Babs!!) it just makes me sound so old.

Nina Gray said...

oh I have just grown fond of my name! Nina...

Kelly said...

I always liked my name, which is a good thing. I remember having friends who switched to middle names or nicknames to re-invent themselves.

I certainly wouldn't name a child "queen", but I did have a Rottweiler named Queen Esther (for the one in the Bible). We dropped her royal title, though, and just called her Esther or Essie.

Suko said...

Fun post today, Tracy/Petty! My current nickname is from my blog. ;)

Stephanie@Fairday's Blog said...

What a great post! Here in the U.S.- I think people can (and do) name their children any name they want. I have known some people with some strange names.

I have had a lot of nicknames, too. Before I was born one of my brothers wanted to name me Heather Princess (both names). My parents decided against it. :)

Arti said...

Names are banned too, never knew that!! Made for a very interesting read!!
My name Arti means 'Prayers to the Gods' and I am pretty happy with my name :)
Have a wonderful day Tracy :)

Tangled Cobweb said...

Shelley Belly, Mish, M and a few others I wouldn't repeat.

I like your name.

Kalyan said...

I guess nicknames provide a much needed intimacy and closeness and shows a deep bond among the callers.

The Bookworm said...

lol...I'd hope they'd ban the name Lucifer.
My high school nickname was Green Eyes, which is pretty self explanatory :) And my in laws just call me the word for Daughter-In-Law in their Serbian language, it's stuck all these years later.

Yvonne @ Fiction Books Reviews said...

Hi Tracy,

I was given two French names Yvonne Denise and my brother two Scottish names Ian Stewart. I have no idea why to this day, as neither of my parents have any connection with either country.

My Mum's reasoning was that both were unusual names and neither could be shortened .... WRONG!

My brother's name was quickly shortened to 'I' (pronounced E), or 'Robo' in honour of our surname of Robinson.

Me, I was put into a class where there were two other Yvonne's and my nickname became 'Vonny' with my classmates, 'Flossie' with my parents and 'Nippett' with my first employer!!!

What's that all about!

Great fun post 'Ironteeth' and have a great Bank Holiday Monday,

Yvonne

Nikki - Notes of Life said...

Nicknames: Nik, Nix, Nox, Ginge (argh!).

One thing that really annoys me is when people insist on calling me Nicola, despite that not actually being my name and they've never ever heard anyone call me that, but still insist on it.

strange.friendships said...

I dont know why, you post made me think hard. Do we live up to our name or our name lives up to us..

I have a pet name which sounds very silly since I am no longer a little kid now..but still people who knows me before calls me that name...

They call me Ponnumol means golden girl... it is silly but I cannot shake it off...

Gina said...

Never really had a nickname growing up or now for that matter. I was always the quiet one that kept to herself. Maybe I just never heard it... *-*

carol said...

My daughter and I were talking about the New Zealand banned names the other day, too.

I like my name, Carol Sue, in theory. A carol is a song of joy, think Christmas carols, and I love playing the piano. However, with my mom being names Carol, too, and my mother-in-law being sue, I sometimes wish my name was something different. My current choice would be "Miranda Collins."

Jinky said...

Wow, never thought about names being banned ..few of those you listed cracked me up!! Some people are just off their rockers!

Nicknames ..jinx, jinxter, jing.