Name Game

Do you think the name you have been given when you are born affects your personality? I was thinking this because I read in the paper today about a Judge McWeeny. “Sorry, McWeeny, but I had to laugh out loud over your name!” It’s one thing to be McDreamy or McSteamy, but McWeeny!…I’m still laughing.

So then I was wondering…. Hmmmmm does his last name affect how he acts as a judge or how he is perceived as a judge? Is he a tough son-of-a-judge because with a name like McWeeny, people would think he was an easy push-over. If I was Joe Criminal, I would hope to hell that I would get Judge McWeeny, because my chances for a lesser sentence sound better than with Judge McKickass. Also I might want my attorney to be…Attorney Sue Thepantsoffyou instead of Attorney Walkalloverme.

It is funny when your name contradicts how you look….We knew a Mr. Small who wasn’t small at all and a Mr. Black who wasn’t black at all. And a Mr. Tidy who was a total slob…ok, I made that last one up.

When I was growing up, I once lived in a neighborhood of strange names. One particular family had two boys, one named Boy and the other Kicker. I’m not kidding. What kind of chance in life do you give your kids with names like Boy and Kicker? Not sure what Boy is doing now…but I can’t see him in the boardroom, shaking hands, “Hello, I’m Boy.” No one would ever trust a company to Boy! My god, aren’t you a man by now…when are you going to grow up? And then Kicker… unless you are playing for the New England Patriots…you’ve got a weird name, dude. There was also another kid in the neighborhood named Cash. Just because you name your kid Cash doesn’t mean he’ll be rolling in it! I think he’s a priest in Peoria.

My parents didn’t straddle me with a strange name….Back in the day, everyone was named Kathy, so I was destined to live life in the mainstream. Our children are lucky we didn’t give them names that would cause them embarrassment. We were pretty close to naming them: Maggie, Bart and Lisa, so they did okay.