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Friday, October 16, 2015

Story of the middle

Last week my sign language class got to talking about middle names and it turned out that everyone who had a middle name had a story that went with it – named for a relative or place etc.

My middle name is Dee – because I was born in Aberdeen and the Dee is one of the rivers of Aberdeen, the one beside the maternity hospital where I was born.  When I was 6 we moved to a house very close to the river – here is a photo I took when I was back in Aberdeen in January and walking around old haunts

24-jan-15-(13)

So I was wondering – does your middle name have a story?

10 comments:

Maggie said...

Mine is Valerie. I don't think it has any special meaning and is not a family name. I have never liked it much especially as there was a girl at school called Valerie Stink. I can see now that she was far more unfortunate than I was! I like the connection of yours to the river.

Sian said...

That's a good story. I'm named for my Grandma; though she always used the shortened form and not what I was called. And when she died we discovered she had actually been christened with the shortened form so my middle name isn't really hers at all.

Totally unrelated. I have a joke for you...

Englishman walks into a bar..
Yes..usually there's a Scotsman, and Irishman and a Welshman in the bar too. But they're all still at the World Cup :)

Patio Postcards said...

Oh yes there is a story for my middle name - my entire name has a story that goes with it - I talked about it on my blog back in August during my 31 Days of Me. I was not given any part of the family name that comes from my Grandmother's (maternal) side of the family - there is a Ruth in about 6-7 generations (apparently).

Louise H said...

Mine has no connections and I have to admit I have never liked it. It may be because it is the same name (though a different spelling) as a cousin of mine. She was born with Turner's Syndrome and as a child she was different - which the rest of us struggled to understand (I am talking very young here - under 8 years old).
My children's do have a story. We had twin boys and struggled with one name each - so they ended up with my husband's names. My daughter has my grandmothers first name - she died when I was young. My Mum has done so much for us that it seemed a fitting tribute to them both.

Louise H said...

I have to add that I do feel guilty about how we treated my cousin - she is a wonderful person.

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

Fun question, Helena. My middle name is the same as my aunt's middle name and I always pretended I was named after her, but it was just a name my parents liked at the time. Jean. :o) My Carrie is named after her great-great-grandmother, Carrie, and her paternal grandmother, Rosalind whom she never met. ♥

Karen said...

Yes, of course. My given middle name is Louise, which I've never liked---not because of the name but because my brother's middle name was a family name, and my middle name came out of the dictionary the night before I was born---in case I wasn't a boy as the doctor predicted! As soon as I got married, I took my maiden name for my middle name. And, yes, both my children have family names as middle names!

alexa said...

I don't think there can be many people named after a place like this, Helena! For most of us, it's a lot more mundane. That's a very atmospheric photo ...

Sandie said...

What a lovely idea and name Helena. My middle name is Elaine, I've always liked it more than my first name.

Anonymous said...

Funnily enough my middle name is Gail - and it's just because my parents liked it. Thankfully they didn't let my Grandmother give me my second name me as she is the one who said She will be called after me and that's all there is to it! in regards to my first name that I do not go by and am loathe to tell what it is. Speaking of being named after places or things I had a girlfriend who was named after the tree outside the hospital room window - Linda for Linden.