My name is Davy. I am female. Do you suppose those two facts could complicate my life at all?
I relate to many experiences on this list of things only people with unique names can understand (salty language warning).* Yes, extended family members spell my name wrong. Yes, mail is often addressed to "Mr.," "Davey," or "David." Yes, I automatically spell my name. Yes, I am extra careful to spell names carefully, especially on Facebook (seriously, there is no excuse there).
As a child, I had short hair...and my name was Davy. Mean kids called me a boy, which is the worst insult to a little girl. After all, boys have cooties. I was horrified.
My cousins sang the Davy Crockett song at me.
I was terrified that I would be set up with male roommates at college. Imagine my relief upon learning that my roommates were Lindsay and Melissa. Whew!
The first time my husband heard someone say a rude comment about my name, he offered to punch the guy for me [don't worry, he wouldn't have actually done it]. We were being introduced to a couple at our new church. Upon learning my name, the guy said incredulously, "What were your parents thinking?!" Yeah, never do that. Not nice. "Well, rude stranger, my parents were thinking that Davy was a cute name for a girl. They were thinking that their older daughter's name had ended up number one on the baby name list the next year and they didn't want that to happen again. They were thinking that Davy was an inspiring, godly woman in a great book. Thanks for asking." I didn't actually say all of those things, but I was thinking them.
In spite of the complications, I do enjoy having a unique name [Thanks, Dad and Mom]. If I am in a group of people making introductions, the introductions usually stop at me for an explanation. While Sarah, Jennifer, and Amanda may not get to extend their first impression, simply stating my name usually starts a conversation. I consider that a privilege.
Will we give our children unique names? Yes. However, we have agreed that they will be easy to pronounce, gender-specific, and hopefully easy to spell.
*Note: The list unfortunately includes some salty language. If you visit the link, make sure to notice the unique names of people who commented at the bottom. And I thought Davy was unique!
Oh, I'm glad to know this! I've been meaning to ask if Davy was short for anything, and also if you'd ever read A Severe Mercy, which I am reading for the first time right now! Fun, fun!
ReplyDeleteNo, and yes. :) Davy is my full first name; however, my middle name is Jolene, and family members called me Davy Jo until I made them stop. I had decided it was in the "little kid" category with Barbies and the color pink.
DeleteA Severe Mercy is SO good. Also, I dare you not to cry while reading it (you will cry for sure).
Oh goodness! Well in all fairness, the only reason your lame cousins knew all the words to the Davy Crockett song was because they had stacks of pirated VHS tapes they watched for hours on end. Because they were (and are) pretty much nerds, haha! So sorry, I've actually always thought your name was really cool!
ReplyDeleteHaha, Rachel. My memory was a little foggy on which cousins participated, but I guess that you just incriminated yourself. Don't worry, I am not holding a grudge. :)
DeleteBy the way, we are still pretty nerdy, too.