Monday 3 June 2013

to discuss my name...

This weeks prompt from Kirsty over at My Home Truths is -


let’s talk baby names. What are your favourites? Do you prefer traditional, contemporary or ‘out there’ names?

Before I discuss baby names in general let me first mine..

Zita
pronounced Zee..ta or Zeeda, depending on how redneck your accent is! Lol...

I wish I had some amazing story about the origin of my name, that it was a tradition or that it was because we migrated from some wonderful country, but really it just came out of a book..

From what I have been told the story goes...... I was a few days old and still didn't have a name and my mum urged my dad to pick a name for the baby and I swear he turned straight to the back. His first attempt was apparently Wilhelmina...which (I think thankfully) my mum was not a fan of, and then he found Zita....and the rest, as they say, is history. I also have what I deemed a weird middle name...Frances.. although named after my great grandmother so I could appreciate the family link there.

Growing up with a different name was really quite hard, especially when I considered my other sisters to have 'normal' names. Jody Maree (my mum's given name), Linda Anne, Kathy Lee, Renee Louise.... There was a point during those difficult teenage years where I was convinced that my parents must have disliked me at some point and that's why they gave me a stupid name! I even declared to them at one point that when I was old enough I was going to change my name to something 'normal' like Mary or Sue! (no offence to any Mary or Sue readers that I may have!). I hated that my sisters could get things with their names printed on them and me having to get something like "Special Girl" on mine!

One thing that made those teenage years with a name like mine more difficult is that kids can be so damn mean! My name, especially the way it is spelt, coupled with the fact I wasn't blessed with glowing clear skin, made me an easy target for name calling.....Zithead, Zitface, Zitwod...you get the picture..

I had heard of other people with the same name but spelt Zeta but had never found anyone with it spelt the same as miine until I was on a tour around Canada in 2005. It was a girl about the same age from Switzerland and she to had grown up with her fair share of dramas with having the name. The story went that many a pet cow in Switzerland was called Zita so she was often the butt of many a cow joke.

I was so happy a few years ago when a friend of mine sent me this book that now takes pride of place on my bookshelf beside my novels. I felt like finally I had 'made' it! Lol...
image credit

Now as an adult I can appreciated that my name is different and I think that it makes me unique, if nothing else, it's a great conversation starter when I meet new people. It often amazes me though at some of the spelling attempts people have made to spell my name....
Zeetah
Zeda
Xeda
and the other day I arrived at one of my schools to find the name
Zeti 
on my pigeonhole....? (What the....)

I was even asked one day what my name was short for....? (Seriously, what could Zita be short for..??)

As a teacher we come across so many weird and wonderful name - it seems gone are the traditional names and society is moving towards the unique and different, and don't even get me started on the spelling of some of these names. I have come across so many phonetically incorrect names it is hard to work out how they were possibly formed! I often wonder what the discussions and the birth registry offices must be about when they get the registration papers from the hospitals!

As a teacher there are so many names that are off limits if I ever do have the opportunity to have children. So as to not offend any readers I will not mention said names but there are certain ones I will avoid as memories flood back.

I would urge anyone naming a child to consider the name deeply, call it out your back door, hear it out loud, the full name, first middle and last, what do the initials look like when written, (a friend of mine had her baby girls name picked out until she realised the initials would spell GPS) consider what nicknames, mean names and all the ways the name could be made fun of before you settle. After all, your child is stuck with it for life!

11 comments:

  1. I did all of that when I was considering names for DS. My partner thought I was crazy for it but I just didn't want to make it any easier for kids to pick on my son, because kids can be cruel. When my mum named me it was an unusual name, but then it exploded and there seems to be Tegan's everywhere. I have seen some strange ways that people try to spell my name too, like tiegon.

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    1. It's crazy how people want to spell a name differently but I think it's because of all the crazy names and spelling we get these days! There is a girl at my local petrol station called Danyell..... hmmmmm

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  2. I think your name is pretty and unique. But you're right, kids can be cruel and I'm sorry you were teased. My name - Vanessa - wasn't that common when my Mum chose it because she loved actress Vanessa Redgrave. Surprisingly, a lot of people can't spell it either, even though it is quite common now. Oh well, I mostly use Ness for short now, anyway.

    And yep, you've totally made it, with that book title! xo

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    1. nawww thanks Ness! Isn't it funny how we always shorten things...a lot of my closest friends call me Zeet!

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  3. I had to laugh - one of your sister's is Linda Anne (with an 'e') - and so I am - Linda Anne !!!
    Do you have a second name ? I'm not particularly fond of either of my names (my second name is my Mom's name) - I don't know what I would like to be called but I know that i don't like either of those names very much !!!
    Have the best day !
    Me

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    1. That is funny!! Those names just seem to go together I think! My middle name is Frances....

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  4. I love your name Zita. I like the originality. Although it must be really annoying having to spell it all the time and then people still get it wrong. Argh!!

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  5. I think Zita is a lovely name.

    I have a sister named Anissa, which I think is pretty. I think she has found it hard though to have such an unusual name as she is a shy, retiring kind of person who shuns the limelight (not like me at all! LOL) People always mishear her when she says it, and think it is Melissa, Vanessa, Alyssa ...

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  6. I share your pain having a slightly unusual name Zita. I get Kristy most of the time and I was named Thirsty Kirsty at school (it is literally the only word that rhymes with Kirsty!) We were very careful when naming our kids' names and with my husband being a teacher too, he certainly had some names that were completely off limits! Thanks so much for linking up this week!

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  7. I love your name. I think kids will always find something to tease someone about be it a name or something else. We were fairly traditional when it came to naming our three girls.

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    1. I love your name too and I agree kids are kids and will find anything!!

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