When I was out for my walk this afternoon, after baking the lemon cake that we are having tomorrow, I ran into a lovely woman, the daughter of a widowed woman in the village. We had a nice chat, she also does supply teaching, but not at any of the schools I go to.
After I continued on my walk, I wracked my brain trying to remember her name. I went letter by letter through the alphabet, and never did come up with it.
It drives me nuts when I can’t remember a name and trust me when I tell you that I have thousands of names stored in my head and it is often that I have to spend a bit of time recalling them. I’m now in my thirty- third ( fourth?) year of teaching ( albeit not full time any more) and with a class of approximately 25 students, that’s 825 names at the very least . Of course I would know students from other classes, or their siblings, let alone their parents’ names or grandparents. Let’s add in various staff members, some you know for years, others who come and go quickly.
Of course, I’ve had occasions where someone says hi to me while I’m out shopping and I realize he or she is a previous student ( from twenty odd years ago) and they change of course. Sometimes I know their name right away, and other times I ask for a little reminder.
But getting back to my walk and the thoughts that run through my head, I got thinking how names can be popular for a while and then you won’t hear of anyone with that name at all. Being around small children for all these years, I’ve really noticed the name trends.
I’m 57 years old and some girl names when I was young were Jeannie, Linda, Heather, Tracey, Sharon, Wanda, Kristine, Colleen, Carolyn, Lisa, Sherry, or Angie. None of those names are popular now, at least where I’m from.
Boy names go through trends. Husband and I used to joke about cowboy names beings a thing a while back : Cody, Dylan, Maverick, Wyatt…
Lately there has been an onslaught of what I refer to as the “on” names for boys: Bryson, Carson, Tyson, Jaydon, Jordan, Jackson, Brandon, Kaden, Landon, Trenton…
For a while there were also boys named after hockey players, both first and last names being inspirational.
Creative spelling of names has also become a thing. I always feel a little sorry for the child, knowing they will forever be spelling their name out loud to people when filling out forms or signing up for things.
There are the traditional names that still stand the test of time but you don’t hear them a lot. I knew one William, a couple of Johns, quite a few Emmas ( that was my grandmother’s name).
Have you known any youngsters with your name? Is your name quite unique or one of many? Any “creative “ names popping up in your families? Do you also have a little difficulty recalling someone’s name after not seeing them for a while? Share in the comments if you wish.
I'm used to spelling out my names...and how many times do people write "cks" instead of the x in my surname?!
ReplyDeleteThings take a while to emerge from the archives... usually appearing too late!! It is a problem..always has been, with a visual memory.
Sorry to say I'm not sure what your name actually is, so now I'm guessing in my head using your clues...
DeleteIt's a good Scrabble score!
DeleteGwynneth Zoë Rixon
Your first name is my daughter's middle name! It's a Welsh derivation of my own name.
DeleteI've got a real 1950s name -- Debra/Debbie -- inspired by Debbie Reynolds' stardom during that period. At school, there were 3 other Debbies in my class alone. Now it's one of those obsolete names you never hear anymore, lol.
ReplyDeleteI can confirm that I have not come across any little Debras or Debbies in my travels.
DeleteI have always had trouble recalling names (I was known for it at school) and have always found it embarrassing. Now I can put it down to a "Senior moment".
ReplyDeleteIt's like our heads are filing cabinets and we just have too many files, so some of them have to get tossed.
DeleteMy name is of a definite era and it doesn't seem likely to come around again.
ReplyDeleteI have a very good friend named Lynn (she's basically my age).
DeleteI notice we don't get Edith and Hazel and that era name. Maybe they'll come back. I've been surprised by preschoolers named Agnes and Sadie, names from my forties childhood which I guess have come round again sounding new.
ReplyDeleteActually I did teach a Hazel a few years ago, but alas it was because her parents named their children after plants (they also had a Rowan and, well, I forget the third child's name, of course).
DeleteMy mother's name was Edith and 2 of my neices have Edith as a middle name. It was a name which came down 3 generations. I would have hated it in school but am now sad it wasn't handed down to me, a 4th generation
DeleteMy sister has my mom’s name as her middle name, my oldest brother has my uncle’s name for his middle name, and my other brother has my father’s name for his middle name. I am the fourth and last child and I am named after no one. Let that sit for a while.
DeleteIt's such a fascinating subject. Names can be great indicators of class and fashion trends. I was shocked when my grandson was considering Gertrude as a possible name for a baby daughter!
ReplyDeleteThen imagine if Wills and Cate were called Billy and Cathy...
Sue
I find it fascinating as well!
DeleteDo you sometimes see a face but not remember the name? I do this and then wake-up in the middle of the night remembering the name. I find my name pops up rather regularly. You certainly know name trends working with the schools for many years. I wonder what names are trending now.
ReplyDeleteThe below comment is a reply to you, Susan.
DeleteI’m sitting here trying to remember names from the grade one class I was just in: Brody, Olivia, Kate, Logan, Ryan, Autumn, Callum, Oliver…
ReplyDeleteMy parents gave my brother and me very common names which I always resented especially since there four besides me (yes, that was five of us!) in my first grade class with my same first name. But I think Mom and Dad did that intentionally since our last name was for the most part unpronounceable. I do like some of the unusual names kids have these days. On the other hand, there are a few that make me cringe knowing the child will probably be teased about their name for most of their lives. Remembering names is becoming increasingly harder for me and hubby both. Often several hours later one of us will pop up with the name we couldn't say for love or money during a conversation. My excuse is that we simply have too much data to store in our heads these days and somethings get lost.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea you came from a family of five! Were your brothers Bill, John, Dave, and Ed? Just guessing! Haha.
DeleteI am 83 today and have spent 77 years explaining how to say and spell my name. I am of Irish, Welsh, and German descent, but my mother chose to call me Ana (with the Spanish pronunciation) because it was something she learned in her high school Spanish class as being her name (Hannah). Not a drop of Spanish blood in my blond fair body, so people persisted in calling me Anna (German or Scandinavian pronunciation) because I looked the part.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I’m not sure how you would say Ana with a Spanish twist to it. Would it be like Anya?
ReplyDeleteIt is pronounced "Awe'-na" not "Ann'-na" as so many people do - thinking I am German or Scandinavian.
DeleteIn Ashkenazi Jewish families, the delightful tradition is to take the name of a recently passed, beloved relative for the new baby. So all our children have grandpa's or great aunt's first name, then exotica if we want for the middle name eg Miriam Blossom or Solomon Jaxon.
ReplyDeleteBut the memory issue is horrible.. and inevitable. I remember everyone's face, even decades later, but the names escape me as often than not.
Middle names, here, tend to be used to honour a relative. Our son has two middle names - both of his grandfathers.
DeleteI was in my 50's before I met someone with my name and it was the same for her!! We were both very surprised....
ReplyDeleteYou're the only one I know!
Deletewhat an interesting post! The fashion of names!! It actually happens here (Greece). In the 80's the name Alexandros was fashionable, now I can say I prefer classic names! Loved your blog and following! I am a colleague from Greece!
ReplyDeleteHello and thank you for following! I read another blog written by a woman who lives in Greece and I always found it so interesting that you have "name" holidays as well.
DeleteMy eldest son and daughter in law have given their three children (my lovely grandchildren) made up names. It took me a bit of getting used too at first. The eldest boy is Link, younger boy is Rain and youngest girl is Yuna. I always have to spell out my surname as people spell it in all sorts of different ways.
ReplyDeleteThe only one of those names I have come across before is Rain, but I seem to remember it being for a girl. (As many names now can be either sex).
DeleteMy first name is Ellen and I taught school for 24 years and had only one student with the same first name. She was quite happy to know she had the same name as her teacher. My husband's name is Basil. You never hear that name unless you are talking about the herb or Basil Rathbone being Sherlock Holmes. I always forget names so when I meet a former student and I don't remember their name, I simply say although I look the same you have gotten so beautiful/handsome, I can't remember yours. Works everytime.
ReplyDeleteExcellent strategy! True, I've never taught an Ellen or a Basil.
DeleteIn grade 6 , I was one of 6 Barbaras. Our teacher was a neighbour of our Family , and as she knew what my childhood name (up to age 5) was she called me that. Babsy, Do you know how cruel 12 yr old kids really are. She did apolize years later but that year was one of the worst years of school for me.
ReplyDeleteI always asked students which name they preferred (e.g. Mat vs Matthew or Maddie vs Madeline). I know two Barbs but they are either my age or older.
DeleteIn Greece names are almost always family names. As Linda is not a greek name one of my granddaughters was named Lydia. The closest we could find. In the larger family we have nephews and neices named George, William, Oliver, Olive and Sylvia. A few family names there too. My grandchildren are all named for grand mothers and fathers. I had to call one of my daughters after my M in law. I was not pleased and always shorten it to Elli. Most people have no idea her name is really Eleni.
ReplyDeleteI see you have another Greek follower.
William is a family name on my father’s side and his mother was Olive. My mother in law has a Croatian name which got anglicized when she came to Canada. So nobody was named after her.
DeleteMy name is Felicity and I have only met a few ladies with the same name. I always have to spell it, people tend to want to use a Ph…. as in Phyllis. And I am always being called Felicia. I used to hate my name when I was younger, now I like it.
ReplyDeleteWhen we are named, it is our name as an infant, a teenager, an adult, an elderly person… sometimes we grow into our names.
DeleteMy name is Gail, I was the only one in school and I still at 82 don’t know another one. My last name is the Scottish form of an English one so I always have to say, no E on the end.
ReplyDeleteI have a cousin ( older than myself) named Gail and another cousin ( also older) named Gayla.
DeleteMy name is Margaret but I always say that I respond to anything that sounds vaguely familiar as my name lends itself to so many variations. I actually use Maggie now and that is a name that I've noticed is popular again. (My online name is Margie simply because an elderly blogger kept getting me mixed up with someone else who commented and I didn't have the heart to correct her). I have noticed that my great nieces now seem to have what would probably be called "Old Fashioned" names - Emma, Jane, Evie etc.
ReplyDeleteAs for not remembering peoples names - friends still laugh at me about one occasion they witnessed. I got off the subway at Yonge & Bloor one day along with a group of friends. A woman rushed up to me and gave me a big hug saying "Maggie, how are you - so good to see you - so sorry to run but I have to catch this train" - she leapt onto the train and was gone. My other friends looked at me and said "You have no idea who that was do you?" They were correct - to this day I have no idea who she was!
I once had a student that had the same name as me & to top it off, we were both born on the same day - years apart.
ReplyDeleteHaven't met anyone under 60 with my name (and I'm over 70)...Mary :)
ReplyDeleteI do that whole: Run though the alphabet when I'm trying to remember someones name too!
ReplyDeleteGoodness; the names are Loco now. I mean, inanimate objects are names and also, parts of the world: Apple. Ocean. Moon. I can't. But really worse than that is the weird spellings; people don't realize how hard it will be for their child for their entire lives having to spell their name with three Y's and a consonant where a vowel should be.
No more Suzanne's as kids; all the Susan's and Suzanne's I run into are in their fifties.
Growing up there were 3 Bonnie's besides me. My great aunt Bonnie (I'm named after her), Bonnie Dunn (she was absolutely beautiful, and Bonnie St. John (mean as a rattlesnake). Since then, I've only taught one Bonnie and worked with one Bonnie. I have a terrible time remembering names if the person isn't where I normally see them. When I get tired I make all sorts of name mistakes. I'm terrified that means I will get Alzheimer's. When I first started teaching I had a girl named Harvey. Poor thing, I thought she was messing with the student teacher when she said here after I called Harvey. I chastised her for trying to be the clown. She got mad and said her dad wanted a boy. I felt terrible and learned a valuable lesson to not make any assumptions with a student's name.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Jeanie of 1951 -- nope. I don't think I know any Jeanies. Jeans, maybe -- but they're of that generation. Our littles are Carson and Cameron which strike me as somewhat trendy (both have "traditional" middle names. You're right about the generations. I always feel sorry for the ones with weird spellings, too.
ReplyDeleteI have quite a unique name. Rarely hear anyone with the same name. Growing up Christine, Susan, Felecia, for girls...For boys...Brian, Bruce, Scott were all common names.
ReplyDelete