What's in a name?

Shakespeare once asked, What's in a name?

Think about when you were in school. When the teacher checked attendance each morning. You probably heard names like Emily, Michael, or John. In fact, you might have had a couple kids in your class with the same name who had to be designated by the first letter of their last name. Ex: Jennifer D. and Jennifer T. When I was in school, one of my teachers had the brilliant (and I use that term loosely) idea to sit me between the 2 Joel's that were in my class. So there we sat, Joel/Joelle/Joel. We never knew who he was talking too.

While in school and after graduation, I worked in Medical Records. And during the 17 years that I worked in that field, I came to the realization that my name was not as unusual as I had thought it to be. I came across names like Tight Banks and Quadralon. There was the sweet little lady of Asian decent named Phat Ho. (Pronounced exactly like it looks.) The brothers, Cassius, Cashmere, and Cashmoney. There were the kids named after the alcohol that their parents were drinking when they were conceived; Jack Daniels and Brandy Wine. One of my duties as a medical records clerk was to do birth certificates. You'd be amazed at what people name their children. It wasn't uncommon to see kids named after movie characters, animals, or even foods. Then there was the "normal" names with the different spellings. (Sydni pronounced as Sidney) Heck, I went to school with sisters named Sundown and Earlie Mist. Compared to those names, Joelle seems rather normal doesn't it?

When you think about naming your children, remember that they are the ones that are going to have to live down the monikers that you force upon them. Before you slap that name on them consider how you'd feel if you had to use the same name yourself. Naming your daughter "Mystique" after the X-men movie might seem cool to you. But imagine her applying to an University and having to explain 200 times that their name is pronounced Miss-teek, not Mistake. Think about it. You name your pet Sam or Max, but your child is Eolande or Atreyu? Also, avoid initials with odd spellings such as “RAT" or "ASS."

Well gang, It's time for me to exercise and then go to bed. I'll talk at yall another time.

-Joelle