Lola’s Onomastic Fits

The Middles

24 Dec 2008 Leave a Comment

by Lola in baby names, Boys, Girls, Musings, names Tags: Alice, Arthur, Balthazar, Barnaby, Edgar, Edward, Elinor, Esmée, Esme, Frances, Henry, James, John, Kathleen, Lilias, Lily, Lucy, Pandora, Ruby, Valentin, Violet, Willem, William

I thought I’d talk a bit about those names that you always see in my middle spots and why they’re there. It seems as if the same ones show up again & again and that can be tedious to  see over & over again.  At least, that was the thinking at the beginning of this post, I have no idea where this is going yet.   Now, onto those names!

The guys:
Edward/Edgar – I have two Uncles named Ed-, One married into the family (Edgar), one was born into the family (Edward).  I liked Edgar better than Edward, as far as Uncles go but like both names pretty much equally.

William/Willem – William is the family name, I have had several cousins with this name. Willem is my “MIL’s” Pop’s name, I found out recently.  Never thought to ask her parents names before this past summer. Duh.

Arthur – One of my favorite Great Uncles on Pop’s side.  The sweetest guy on earth (next to my other half, that is).

Barnaby – He’s in the middle because we both like him very much. We allow ourselves one name that doesn’t honor. I’ve got him in a combo up front too. Which seems apt since we both do like him enough to do so.

Balthazar – Great Grandpa on Mom’s side. Father of my Babci and her 12 brothers (and one sister who died at 2). Mighty awesome dude with some really great stories. I like it enough to use up front but he’s wary of Getty. So in the middle he goes.

Henry - His Grandpop. I like Henry but not enough to use him up front. So in the middle he goes, again.

John/James – One of the other half’s middle names. James is the other.   He’s not fond of his name but like James & John. That’s why they’re on this list.

Valentin – My personal favorite of The maternal Great Uncles. Balthazar’s boys.   And he backhandedly seems to honor my Pop too, Valentine’s Day was his birthday and I’ve been  thinking  it’s a grand way to honor my Pop who hated his given name.

The gals:

Lucy – This is what my Mom wanted to name me, or Alice. She called me Lucy about 80% of the time anyway. I like the way I feel when I say Lucy. As Lucy though, I think she’s too short to stand well next to big sister Josephine.

Lily/Lilias – Lilian was Grandma. She went by Lily to one & all and called me Lily too. Lilias is just the Scots version that goes better with my surname.  I dislike the intense popularity of lil- so they go in the middle, where I can enjoy them but not share them often.

Alice -  She goes into the same category as Lucy. Even though she didn’t call me Alice very often, it still feels familiar and most definitely reminds me of Mom.

Elinor – I like her but not enough to actually use it in front. She honors a cousin of his that even I knew as a kid.  She died very young and I still miss her.  It’d be morbid up front too, for me.

Frances – Was Mom’s name.  She forbade me usage on a girl but She’s been gone so long (she died the same year the boys were born, but earlier in the year), I don’t think she’d begrudge me honoring in the middle, I hope.

Ruby – is a roundabout way of honoring me! It’s my birthstone. I love rubies too, more rare than diamonds, more precious too. Again, she’s unbalanced next to Josephine but works beautifully in the middle.

Esme/Esmée – Is the Barnaby of the girls list. We just like her. I prefer the streamlined Esme, he prefers the more obviously feminine Esmée. So I try out both variations to see where they’d fit best.

Violet – My lovely  Aunt. Well, sort of. I always called her Aunt Violet, she always answered to it. And always wondered why the older cousins & mom called her Val. But long after her death I find out her name was actually Valeria or Valeriana. The latter is on her BC the former on her SS card. And Violet is on her death Certificate!  I always remember her as Violet though, so Violet is what goes in the middle.

Kathleen – My younger sister. She’s a darling and I love her to pieces. She’s childless by choice and 39 so I doubt she’ll have any herself in the near future. I thin it’s one of the freshest forms of Kate around right now and love it because it’s her name.
 
Pandora – only shows up in the middle because it’s my “MIL’s” name. (I put mil in quotes because we’re not married and she’s not technically my mil, but  we’ve been together so long it’s like she’s unofficially so). A lovely, unassuming woman. She stepped right in when my Mom died and took over for her. Made  me feel safe again. Even though its usually “dead to be honored” around here, she means so much to me, I’d love to see her face  when she realises it’s for her. We’re not telling her beforehand.  I love it and would use it up front but the myth rather bugs me. So in the middle she goes. Where she’s safely honoring.

 And those are mine.  Any you like? Dislike?   What names do you find only “fit” for middle use?