What’s In A Name

Amanda is a common name and many times in preteen/teenage life, I wish I had an uncommon or unique name. And even though there are still times I get a pang of jealousy when I hear a cool name, I am pretty happy with Amanda. I’m even more happy with why my parents (or should I say my Dad) named me Amanda.

See, my Dad was fond of the actress who played Miss Kitty on the TV show Gunsmoke. Her name was Amanda Blake. When I was born, my Dad decided that I would be named Amanda. He forgot to tell my Mom about the change since they had decided beforehand to name me Lacey Lynnette. To say my Mom was shocked when they handed her “Amanda” is an understatement. My Mom and Dad hardly ever added the “A” sound when pronouncing my name so all my cards, presents and notes where addressed to “Manda” which is the name I prefer.

My middle name is Sue, which is also my Mom’s middle name so I always assumed my middle name came from her. But I have never officially asked my Mom or Dad why they went with Sue.

When me and Mike were pregnant with Raven, we decided to name her after Edgar Allen Poe’s poem “The Raven”. I wanted something unique and always had a fondness for that particular poem of his (though The Black Cat is my favorite). Also, my grandfather (my Mom’s Dad who died when my Mom was 8 months old) was half Native American and the name Raven has Native American ties to it. So I thought it was fitting. Her middle name is Jane, which we named her after my Nan (grandmother who is named Mary Jane) who passed away almost a year ago. Her and Raven where extremely close.

What about you? Are you named after someone, something?