My mom disliked the name given to her at birth so much
that she had it legally changed from Martha to Marti.
♥
When my mom was born, her parents thoughtfully named her Martha Ruth after both of her grandmothers. Martha was the name of her paternal grandmother, and Ruth was her maternal. I would say that for this reason alone her name should have felt sacred to her - those are strong, traditional, and beautiful names. But I suppose I might feel the same way given the fact that my two grandmothers are/were named Gertrude and Bessie. :o|
In a way I feel sad for my mom – sad that she felt like her name didn’t suit her, that maybe it didn’t sound young enough or hip enough at that time in her life. I don’t really know. All I know is that once my dad was gone for good, everyone started calling her Marti.
In high school she had been known as Marti - "Marti-with-an-i” -
so I guess reverting back to that nickname helped her to reconnect with who she
had been before - back before she was a young single mother with a whole lot of
responsibilities to deal with. Back when she hadn’t had a care in the world and
she was happy. Back when she was Marti-with-an-i.
As a young girl in school I wasn’t all that crazy about my
name either. There were always two or three Debbie’s in every class, so I
always had to be Debbie N. Always with the N. And I didn’t like Deborah back then because
that name was only used if I was in trouble. Albeit rare. Cough. I was almost named Vickie. Can you imagine me as Vickie?
My sweet girl was named after her paternal-great-great-grandmother, Carrie, and her paternal grandmother, Rosalind. She has always loved her name and that makes me oh-so-happy.
So I wonder, do you like your given name? Is there a story behind your name or was it one that your parents just liked? Have you ever known someone who went so far as to have their given name legally changed?
I think in Heaven my mom is known as Marti.
Marti with an i.
♥
Marti with an i.
♥
10 comments:
There's no doubt that your mum is Marti-with-an-i-in Heaven. I am Ruth after a magazine article about a nun called Sister Ruth (yes, really) that my mum read just before I was born. I was originally going to be called Louise, but then there was an advert with the tagline, "pass the cheese, please, Louise"!
I don't love my name, but neither do I hate it, but I suppose it's very much part of who I am, isn't it?
I love the name Marti. So many of the girls in my family dislike their names but none have ever changed theirs legally. I am actually Carolyn which I was never called as a child. I honestly didn't know that was my name until I started school and when the teacher asked my name I told her it was Baby Sue. After that I was called Susie except for at school. Later in life (around age 38)I learned that I was named after a half sister that I did not know about. I like my name a little better than I used to but I am called Susi by pretty much everyone.
I like Marti and I like Martha too. I really like my name although I dislike how often it is misspelt. Too many times I have letters addresses to "abbey, abbie, abby or even once abbigail!" I am officially an Abigail but like you Deb, I am only called that when I am in trouble or if it is on an official form!
It's funny how many of us are only called by our full name when we are in trouble....maybe that's why we often don't like being called by our full name as adults....it makes us feel like naughty children again.
I've always been quite happy with my name....though it wasn't that common a name when I was a child.....I'm not sure why my mum chose it....but I do know that she didn't give any of her children a second name because she hated her own second name so much.
I really like the name Martha....but I can understand that at the time it probably seemed like a real old fashioned name to your mom....over here it's a name that's really back on trend again.
It's a funny thing isn't it. I love the name Martha, but only knowing your Mom as Marti, that suits her perfectly in my mind. I was going to tell you the story of my name, but once I'd googled (to check a fact)it seems the story isn't quite what I thought! I feel it warrants a blog post of its own now!
What can I say?! The only people to call me Deborah were my mum and dad, especially when I was in trouble! My dad sometimes called me Deb but my mum never did!
Martha is definitely coming back into popularity over here, a lot of the old names are having a revival.
Because my name is Welsh no one here knows how to pronounce it and that used to bother me a lot when I was little. But I don't mind so much now and I like that my Welsh dad gave me a Welsh name.
"Martha" is definitely becoming very fashionable again here
Haha, I love this post, Deb. My parents are ridiculously young. They were 17 when I was born. I am named after Linda Evan's character on the show Big Valley (thank G*D my Mom was kind enough to change it from Aubrey to Audrey). I had a spell when I was about 6 when I didn't like my name. I wanted to be April or Cindy. Oh me. I really love my name now, have for many years. I think Audrey is classic and timeless even if it did come more or less from a show called BIG VALLEY (I have friends who like to tease me and use that as my nickname). So I'm signing off now....Big Valley. :-)
Bessie is the BEST NAME. I do love that. Just sayin'. XOXO
I was supposed to be Elizabeth, and while I'm only called Catherine on legal documents (because I'm not naughty now I'm grown up), cate is perfect for me.
I would never have thought of your mum as a Martha, obviously Marti was perfect for her.
My brother was named for one of my father's best friends, and his middle name is a family name. I always felt like I should have had a family name as well. But my two grandmothers were named Bertha and Mame, and I have to admit I'm glad my parents didn't name me for either of them! Both of my children, however, were given family names as their middle names. I think they're both quite happy with them.
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