Names - May 17, 2012

Our granddaughter, Sara, is pregnant with their second child.  It’s too early to

know for sure, but she is convinced that it is a boy.  In fact, she has selected a

boy’s name for the new youngster when he makes his first appearance next November.

I say, SHE selected, because none of the rest of us were invited to make a recommendation.  Non-negotiable, she says.  The same as when their first child, a

girl, was born two years ago.  I had the perfect girl’s name, Reeda Macksene. 

Beautiful, don’t you think?  They (she) chose Molly Abigail.  OK, I guess, and I

tried to act not too disappointed.  A boy this time will be great, but, and don’t

tell, I’m secretly hoping for another chance to select that “perfect” name.

I’ve noticed that many of you have been calling me Reed Mack.  I know, that’s

my name, but for several years most people have used my first name only.  When

I was a boy, everyone used both my first and middle names. The same was true

for most other kids.  The boys were Harold Ray, Elmer Dean, Billy Charles,

Howard Lee, William Dean, Claude Dwayne, Billy Ray, Billy Gene and Billy

Joe to name a few.  The girls were Rosa Mae, Anna Faye, Goldie Mae, Anna

Kay, Marion Sue, Carol Lee, Mary Hale, Ruby Nell and many others.  Most of

these have used only their first name, or occasionally only their middle name for

many years.  To complicate matters, some use only their initials such as J.B., J.R.

J.L., J.C., J.D., J.O.,  E.C., B.T., A.C. and L.A.  Some call Rayvon “Ray”, thinking

that is his first name when actually it is one-half of his middle name.  His first name

is Claude.  Is this getting boring?  Hang on for just a little longer.  I have been a

little amused at times at those whose signature is the initial of their first name and

then their middle and last name such as J. Don or J. Harvey.  I was impressed by this

once and tried R. Mack but it just didn’t work.  Wait a minute, I haven’t even said

anything yet about “nicknames.” 

My sister had a nickname which was “windy.”  I never knew why; probably because

she was such a talker.  I never had a real nickname, although George always called

me “slick.”  I would have preferred “curly” but that didn’t work, either.  I had a

customer who always yelled when he came in the front door of the store “Hello,

Baldy.”  That got old after a while and I cured him once and for all when he came in

one morning and gave his usual welcome.  I answered, “Hello, Ugly.”  Sometime we

can get a little ugly with the names we attach to others such as “fatty.”  I never did

like the name we gave “Slim” Harris; we called him “Greasy Slim.”  I regret doing

that.  Some more common nicknames are “Bill” for William, “Jim” for James, “Dick”

for Richard, etc.  A popular local physician was sometimes called “Buck” by one of

his patients.  I wonder if everyone knows “Hoot” is really Alton.

My mother kept a scrapbook that contained a lot of interesting items, one of which was

unusual names that she had seen and cut out of the newspaper.  I won’t list any of these

names for fear of embarrassing someone, but take it from me, some were unusual.  I’ll

tell more about my mother and her love for words in the next offering which should be

in a couple of weeks.  Watch for Tom* next week.  So for now, I’ll settle back in my

corner here in the Queen City of the Ozarks, beautiful Calico Rock, Arkansas.  Bye.