Celebrate Your Name Week

Tags

family, memories

This is a celebration week that was created in 1997 and continues during the first week of March.  It promotes genealogy so it is natural that I want to participate.  My response for each of the days is all in this one post.

March 2 – Namesake Day: Today is for thinking about where you got your name and if you were named after a particular person, place, etc. Also, to identify people with the same name as yours, if any.

Even though I’ve heard this story many times I’m sure I’ll get this wrong but luckily Mom can correct me and add to it so I’ll have it in writing to get right the next time (Update: read my Mom’s addition to this). I was named after a person my mother thought was one of the most beautiful girls she’d ever seen, Kay Lynne (not sure how she spelled it).  Also, my mother’s room mate in college had the same given and maiden names as I did she was Kay Brown.  It is because of this that I often get confused on who I was named for.

As a child I never liked my first name because when people say “Okay” they rarely actually say the “O”, which leaves only ‘kay’.  I was always mistaking a teacher’s transition of ‘okay’ as a call for me to answer a question or pay attention and, as an extremely shy child, I found that horrifying.  Once when I was about 9 years old a woman asked me my name and I told her it was Kay and she said “No, what is your real name?”  I said “Kay”.  She continued to tell me that could not be my real name that it must be Katherine or something and she basically told me that I was wrong or lying because no one has the real name of Kay.  I found her exasperating. In junior high school I hated my name more when boys, in particular, used the phrase “if you see Kay…” as though each word is the single letter it says (F U…), which spells an obscene word.  This use may have begun by Memphis Slim in 1963 with his blues song by that title.  Since then there have been several songs made with the same connotation in mind.  I hated that so much.  Today, I like my name just fine.  Not too many people have it but it’s not so unusual that no one can remember it.

Celebrities with my first name.

March 3 – Fun Facts Day:   Celebrate names today by finding fun facts about names.

Here’s a site has listings of famous people and fictional characters named Kay as well as other fun facts.

I stumbled upon a site that tells me that names have a mathematical formula that contributes to our personality, who knew? I certainly am not going to pay money to learn this but here’s what their free information says about the name Kay:

• Your name Kay has given you tenacity of purpose and has made you extremely independent.
• Whatever you undertake, you approach from your own point of view, and others either have to conform to your ideas or go their own way and leave you to work things out for yourself.
• You are so narrowly focused in your pursuits that you frequently overlook the little personal considerations and attentions that create a bond of understanding and sense of companionship.
• Thus it is difficult for you to merge your efforts harmoniously with others.
• Although the name Kay creates the urge to be creative and original, we emphasize that it causes a blunt expression that alienates others.
• This name, when combined with the last name, can frustrate happiness, contentment, and success, as well as cause health weaknesses through tension or accidents to the head.

March 4 – Unique Names Day: This is the day for all people to appreciate friends, acquaintances and loved ones who have a unique name.  Let’s acknowledge them for going through life without seeing their name on things such as ready-made key chains, etc.

Here are a few names in my genealogy database that seem unusual.

March 5 – Learn What Your Name Means Day: There are many online sites with a names/naming theme.

As a girl’s name, Kay is a shortened form of the name Katherine, which is of Greek origin and means “pure.” It may also be a shortened form of any female name that begins with a “K.” While the girl’s name Kay originated as a nickname, it has evolved into a given name in its own right. Kay was also a name used among the Native American Hopi tribe: in that tradition it means “elder sister.”  You can read more here.

March 6 – Nametag Day: Celebrate your name by wearing it proudly!  (Not necessarily suggested for unsupervised children.)

March 7 – Middle Name Pride Day: Today’s name celebration requires honesty and boldness. Tell three people who don’t already know it, what your middle name is.

My middle name is Lynne.  Often people spell it incorrectly, even my father and grandparents and I’ve given up correcting them.  I like that my middle name is spelled with 2 n’s and an e because it seems it is not as common a way to spell it.

March 8 – Genealogy Day: Join in on one of the world’s fastest growing hobbies and celebrate names at the same time.

I do this every day.