(no subject)

[katallison]

I've been really enjoying the comments on my earlier post about names, and find myself moved to follow up by tossing out a few questions for anyone who feels like responding:

1) Your LJ user name--how did you come up with it, where did it come from? And do you have a different pseud for writing/lists/whatever? How do you decide when to use which?

2) Any stories about how your family chose your RL first/middle names? Is there something you were *almost* named until saner heads prevailed?

3) What's the coolest name you've encountered (either real or pseud), one you really wish you had?

Answering for myself: (a) Kat Allison is simply a slight revision of parts of my RL name; it's the only name I've ever used in fandom. (b) My mother once told me that, if my father had had his way, I would have been named "Ariel," which ... well, let's just say I'm very glad he lost that one; it would have been wildly incongruent with both my RL last name and my basic temperament (I'm not remotely ethereal and poetic enough to be an Ariel). And (c) there are two public figures whose names I've always envied: Tai Babilonia (figure skater) and Moon Landrieu (former mayor of New Orleans). Those are just ... *cool.*

Comments

[jacquez.livejournal.com]

1) Your LJ user name--how did you come up with it, where did it come from? And do you have a different pseud for writing/lists/whatever? How do you decide when to use which?

"jacquez" is my RL middle name. I've used it as an online ID since at least 1995. Very rarely is it taken anywhere.

Fannishly, I tend to use variants on my RL name - Laura Jacquez Valentine, Laura JV, jacquez h. valentine. I admit I'm not the best at keeping track of what I use where - I don't *think* "Laura JV" is on any archives, but some non-auto-archive archivists make strange choices about how to list me - I've seen a few stories attributed to "Jacquez", and some to "L. Jacquez Valentine", among other things.

2) Any stories about how your family chose your RL first/middle names? Is there something you were *almost* named until saner heads prevailed?

"Laura" is a family name from both sides of the family, though much more common on my mom's side: my mother is Laura, her mother is Ethel Laura, Grandma's aunt and grandmother were Laura...back into the dawn of time, apparently. My father's grandmother was also Laura.

"Jacquez" is the original not-munged-at-immigration spelling of the family name "Jakeway". The last person to carry the original spelling only did so for a short time - he was born at sea, on the boat to America, in 1888. Then came immigration and the Jacquez -> Jakeway change.

And yes, "Jacquez" is pronounced close enough to "Jakeway" that it's a reasonable transliteration (djay-kway).

3) What's the coolest name you've encountered (either real or pseud), one you really wish you had?

I like my name, really. For a long time I hated it, but it's me, and that's kinda that.

I do like nlanza's maternal grandmother's name, though - Evelina Fortunata DeNarro (say it! It rolls off the tongue!) - and my great-grandmother's first name, Constanzia. One day I may inflict "Evelina Constanzia" on a child.

[colleenkane.livejournal.com]

All these years I thought it was pronounced 'HA-kez'. Thanks for the enlightenment. *g*