Guess What My Name Is Based On These Numbers: 8675309
by Jenners • 10/14/2009 • Life, Writers Workshop • 30 Comments
This week, I’m choosing Prompt 3:
How did you parents choose your name? What does it mean? What would you change your name to if you could?
A Cautionary Tale
The story of my name should be a cautionary tale for all women about to give birth. Here is what happened. My mom and dad together had agreed on two names before I was born: Melissa or Stephanie. They decided to make a final decision together after I was born. Well, when the day of my birth finally came (which was eerily and accurately predicted by my grandmother in a dream—but that is a whole other story), my mom ended up having a c-section. This was back in the day when mothers were totally unconscious during the entire procedure so my dad was unsupervised during the first moments of my life.
When my mom finally came to, my dad walked in with me and said “Isn’t Jennifer just beautiful?” My mom said “Who is Jennifer?” Apparently, my dad took it upon himself to change my name to one they hadn’t even discussed!
So what is the moral of the story? Mothers, don’t let the fathers of your children out of your sight after giving birth until the official naming has been completed.
What My Name Means
The name Jennifer was really really common back then (and still is today). I’ve read in different places that it means “fair one” or “white wave” or “white phantom.” There is a tie to Guinevere (of King Arthur fame)—and frankly I wished my dad has named me Guinevere instead of Jennifer.
In Which I Try To Spice Things Up
When I was younger, I HATED my name because I thought it was so commonplace and boring. In an attempt to fancy it up, I changed the spelling of my name in 4th grade to “Jenni” instead of “Jenny.” To this day, my mom still sometimes calls me “Jen-Eye” to “mock” me for this. (Well, I feel it is mocking.) I was quite adamant about the spelling and refused to accept letters or papers in which my name was not properly spelled.
When I got confirmed in 7th or 8th grade (I was raised Catholic), I saw an opportunity to spice up my name. (Did I mention I was also given the middle name “Anne.” Another totally common name. It was in honor of my paternal grandmother but still—I always felt a girl with a personality as big as my own deserved a more exciting name.) As part of confirmation, you are allowed to choose another middle name. The only real requirement was that it had to be a saint’s name. (Thus, preventing me from choosing the name I always wanted for myself—Ginger. I guess there is no Saint Ginger.)
Well, I saw my chance and I decided to run with it. I scoured books about saints to find the most interesting saint’s name. When I found “Felicity,” it was a match made in heaven. Here was an interesting name that no one I knew had. (This was waaaaay before the TV show.) But my mom—for reasons I’m not entirely clear about now (I think a phone call about this issue is due)—wouldn’t let me pick it. I ended up with Marie—pretty much the standard middle name for Catholic girls. Ugh.
Coming To Terms With It
Well, I’ve long since gotten over having such a common name. I’ve made peace with it. I no longer pine to be named “Ginger” or “Felicity.” I guess I’m OK as a Jennifer (even though I still chose Jenners to be my blogging nom de plume.)
But I suspect that other Jennifers out there are still trying to make the name theirs. In fact, there is a local newscaster named Jennifer who spells it in the most ridiculous way I have ever seen—Jennyphyr. Every time I see her name, I cringe. She is an embarrassment to Jennifers everywhere.
And I bet I get at least 5 visits or comments from Jennifers on this post! If you are a Jennifer and you are reading this post, leave me a comment telling me how you spell your name. And did you feel the way I did about your name—like it was the most boring name in the world?
Saint Ginger? Ha! All my kids have J names. When we knew we were having a girl, I couldn't name her Jennifer because there are 3 in the family already. I went with Jillian so I wouldn't run into that confusion at family events. My other son is Joseph. You can imagine how many Joes are in my husband's Italian family
I love how your Dad just announced your name. My Dad was also outside the hospital at my birth. The doctor went to find him and he was eating a hot dog.
By the way, I do think Jennifer is a lovely name! And the name Jenners is super cute too!! People have called me "Kelster". I don't like that one too much
What came over your dad at that moment? How are you doing, anyway? I know you are missing him, so this is a sweet story.
I felt the same way about the name Jill my whole life, I thought it was the most plain name out there. So, why in the world did I name my daughter Jill(ian)? I love it now, by the way.
Love the story of your dad taking over.
I think Jennifer is such a lovely name!
I love that you Dad just picked a name for you. Love it.
So, my name was supposed to be Beth, but everyone my mom talked to about it said Oh no, you can't name her Beth, you have to name her Elizabeth, beth is just a nickname. Seriously they were quite adamant about it. So she picked Charlotte as a last minute replacement. I LOVE my name. However woe be to she/he who calls me "Char"! UGH! No. Charlotte or nothing. Tho I did go by Charlie starting around 16 when I started my first job, until about 10 years ago when I got my first professional job. Decided I did like Charlotte.
I always thought it was such a pretty name! But that weird spelling you mentioned, that ruins the name!
From one Jennifer to another…
I feel your pain. ;-D
That is too funny. I'm so glad you posted this because we did the same before our daughter was born. We walked into the hospital with 2 names, and perhaps we'll do it again with our next!
As for the spelling of Jennifer, you are NOT ALONE! My sister in law spells her name with a "-pher" instead of "-fer"
I have the exact opposite story. My mom was planning to name me Kimber Lee (oh yeah, it was totally 1980). While she was still asleep my father named me Kimberly Ann for which I will be grateful until the day I die.
Kimberly might be boring, but at least I don't sound like a porn star.
FUNNY! I'm an "Angie", just as popular when I was in school as "Jennifer" was for you, so I totally sympathize. There were three Angies in my class all through elementary school (out of of about 25 kids – really). I wanted to change my name to "Raine", and still threaten to on occasion. Last Spring I was sponsor to a good friend's daughter for her Confirmation and she chose "Felicity" as her name – she's the patron saint of teenagers, so maybe your parents just wanted something more long-lasting for you.
Jenn-Eye…you are so funny!
"a girl with a personality" you most definitely are!
My name is Erin… my sister's name is Kelly… I look like I could be Italian… but, no. People always assume that I must be Irish… um, no. I was always happy with my name until the poetic name for Ireland – "Erin Go Bragh" – sounded to my childhood nemesis Bill Cooper like "Erin Go Bra-less" and I was teased mercilessly. (And even back in 5th grade I could never have pulled off the bra-less part!).
I believe that my mother either saw the name in a romance novel or in a soap opera… the alternate was either Shelly (ugh, no offense to any Shelly's out there) or Mark. And then my parents got all sorts of questions as to why they named me a BOYS name (um…that would be AARON!). There are other Erin's in the world, but not so much of us that it is awkward. I like my name and I am not sure what I would rather be.
Thanks for a fun post, Jenni with an "i"! You are hilarious!
Enjoy the day! Erin
That is almost exactly how my brother was named Daniel (a name they never discussed.)
Your poor mom! But, hey, at least everyone knows how to spell Jennifer!
OMG! If my hubby had free access to naming our kids they would be named Waylon or something.
As for my name, it was so uncommon and the spelling was even more uncommon. I wished and dreamed I could have a name like Jennifer!
wow your a comment queen. So yeah I agree that spelling is HORRIBLE! the phyr.. grrrrrrr makes me mad.
Anyway I am Brandy and well that's a common name too but I guess I learn to live with it, I do like that I have a Y instead of an I I was the only one in my classes that had a y.
The buzz, Brandy
p.s. that nameing story is hylerious your dad rocks!
ha ha, love it about your dad just naming you! LOL yeah so my name is jenna and everyone just assumes it's short for jennifer. NOPE. Oh and my BF calls me jenners. Weird!
I'm like Molly. I have a unique name and was always sad not be able to find personalized pens or plates with my name on it. As well my name was ALWAYS mispronounced on the first day of school or when we had a substitute teacher. Not to mention that when it was mispronounced it rhymed with a female body part!! The first time I actually met someone with the same name as me I loved it!! It was college though… We worked as cashiers together and would call acrosss to each other "Nina, do you have any extra quarters" … "Why yes, Nina, I do.
At least you weren't named after a toilet paper company, as I was…
Damn that Pat Boone and his infernal commercial!
Thanks for my morning chuckle
I have the opposite problem with my name. Molly is much more popular now than it was when I was little. I remember going to the department store and looking at all the personalized pencils and bicycle license plates searching in vain for Molly. I yearned to have a "common" name.
Your dad actually named you without even discussing it with you mom–that's crazy! Glad you're finally okay with it now though. My mom wanted me to use my middle name along with my first name, Karen Anne. She was the only one who ever called me that though and I preferred just Karen. It means "pure" and I was always okay with it. I don't know why they chose that name.
Here's a link to my writer's workshop post about my mom: http://zemeks.blogspot.com/2009/10/letter-to-mom-because-i-cant-write.html
I love this post! My mom is the one who had me start spelling my name Cyndy. Now it's more of a pain in the butt than anything else!
I agree-Jennyphyr is a horrific spelling. I know someone who spells her name Aimiee or something like that and when I type it I always type "Ayimeiieeeii" just to make a point.
Also, I once saw a Tiphanee. *shudder*
I also hated my first name, and so I also change the spelling to end it in an "IE" instead of a "Y" HAHA Classic, the things we do! I was 5 give me a break! haha And after that I just went by my middle name…and still do now, and I looked for my confirmation name to be something so out of the ordinary….ended up with Kathaleen, mainly because it was my aunt's name!
Oh I pray I did a good job in naming my boys! =)
I've never met someone with my name. Which is not surprising seeing as my dad MADE IT UP! It's my mother's initials. (Would not work with very many women's initials!) So, I am actually named after my mother, although her name is Dorothy and my name is Daja.
When I was growing up I changed my name about umpteen BILLION times. I actually FAILED my first spelling test (in the first grade!) because I spelled my name Laci instead of Lacey. Sigh. And then I failed the next few tests after THAT by trying out names like Robin, Star, and Lacieeeeee…
My teacher was not amused. And neither were my grandparents (who raised me) when I refused to go by any other name but the one I'd just made up.
(I also tried being "blind" for a while, which basically meant I walked around with a bandanna over my eyes for a week… and being "deaf and dumb" which happened when I refused to communicate with anyone except through sign language– which I didn't know. That one lasted almost a month. I'm surprised I wasn't put up for adoption, haha.)
I only had one other girl in all my school days who had the same name as me. I still hate her for it, but I'd like to think it was because she sucked a person, you know, rather than me just being insane. Hmm.
I have had the same feelings and even want to be called Ginger.
I am a Jennifer and that is how I spell it.
That new caster needs to be shot. That is just wrong to spell the name like that!
Mine is spelled normal. I'll be totally honest – hate the name. Rarely go by it. My sister has a gorgeous name (Jeanette) and my brother too (Julian). What happened when they got to me?
And there have always been at least 1 to 5 other Jennifers in my classes whether back in grade school, high school, ballet, or even grad school. So then there was Jennifer B, Jennifer M, Jenny, etc. You know the drill!
Tidbit. My husband never calls me Jennifer. He has dubbed me "Jenn-a-Mae". Kind of like "Padme" from Star Wars but with a Jenn in front. I'm good with that. I always tell people I'm only called Jennifer when I'm in trouble! Indeed, that was the case when I was little. My mom always called me "Dolly" because she said I was here little doll.
Oh, one more rant – my middle name. Given by my "god parents" who were business partners of my dad. They ran the business into the ground and were never heard of since. Luckily, the middle name, which is too terrible to mention, never made it on my birth certificate. So, I am middle nameless.
Whew – it felt good to get all that off my chest!
I think you and I were born around the same time… My dad was out of the delivery room when my mom got knocked unconscious during delivery, too.
They were trying to be creative and gave each of us 4 kids a variation of their names – I was named Stacy after my mom Stacia, then since I was second born (and my dad really wanted a boy), he 'accidentally' wrote my middle name as Michael on the birth certificate instead of 'Michel'.
I used to spell it Micheal so people would get the hint, but alas, that didn't happen. And to add to that, my parents have NEVER called me 'Stacy' (unless I was in trouble for something). They've ALWAYS called me 'Shelly', and still do to this day. In fact, I didn't end up going by my actual given name until 6th grade when there were two of us named 'Shelly' in my very small class – my sister suggested they call me by my 'real' name for less confusion.
But if any of my aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings call me 'Stacy' instead of 'Shelly' it just sounds odd coming from them. It does confuse lots of people, though, and I like to keep them guessing.
Heh, I guess I should have joined in on this week's prompt – I pretty much wrote a post in your comments!
Melissa isn't too bad of a name
I think I had about 34 friends named Jennifer growing up and another 12 Jenni(s).
Ahhh I think Jenners works out quite well.
Hooray! I'm the first Jennifer post! Mine is spelled normal. JENNIFER. I have come to terms with my name now, but as a kid I HATED it. In every.single.class there was another Jennifer. I hated it.
It was horrible for me when Forrest Gump came out. Getting Jennay in a Forrest voice yelled at you by immature little boys was not my idea of fun. One of the reasons I will NOT go by Jenny.
An occasional Jen is ok with me though.
My name is NOT Jennifer…( but keep reading…)
However, I do have a name I do not like. It's a boy's name. And did I tell you, my middle name is Also a boy's name.
My mom really wanted a boy.(my mom got to choose my name, and my name would've been the same whether I was a girl or a boy)
The only somewhat gracious thing is that she gave me a more feminine spelling of my first name, so it could've been worse, but still. PUH-Lease. It's a horrible name.
And as an aside… my dad's choice for a name? "Jennifer". Yup. lol. My brother's all had Jennifer as names had they been girls instead of boys.
So. I coulda been a Jennifer. But I'm not. I don't think I look like a Jennifer, butat least it would've been a girl's name.
So when you were growing up would you rather have been Melissa or Stephanie? I love the title for this post! Once I read the number out loud I knew exactly what it was referring to (and now have the song stuck in my head).
I had a friend named Jennifer who went by the name "Jenni," and a friend Christy who changed the spelling to Kristi.
I never did anything to change my name. Of course it wasn't a common name, but I did get tired of people mispronouncing it.
Oh my gosh, that story of your Dad naming you is priceless. Hahahaha! Bet he never dug himself out of that hole!