What's in a name?

**matt56** · 07-26-2015 04:44

When I read Phillip's (millcoll73) post earlier this week I had to chuckle - he mentioned that Matt and Harry came up to visit him at the FNGS where he works in Celina. This has prompted me to change my name on my 'header' from Harry to Matt, since he and I are the same person!

My given name IS Harry, and I was named after my father and grandfather. So I am 'the Third' - but to avoid confusion when I was young, they called me 'Matt', and I also liked it better than Harry, so that was fine by me. So all through grade school and high school I went by Matt. When I went into the Army, they called me anything they wanted, but I 'officially' became Harry, and by that time I was comfortable with the name.

Thus, my dual identity is predicated on who knew me when - my family and folks I knew from early years or through folks I knew then, know me as Matt; while those I met in the Army and at college and in the workplace know me as Harry. And when the two meet, confusion arises - but I really DO respond to either. I think Jim (rhodie80) explained this to Neil (Skafloc) at Origins; being the good lad he is, Neil went with the flow naturally.

Now everything is aligned on the Forum header, there should be less confusion (if any of you were confused to begin with). And so when I sign a post, the 'signature' matches the name in the header.

Truth be told, I smell the same when I'm 'Matt' as I do when I'm 'Harry'...

All the best,
Matt

**Jager** · 07-26-2015 05:16

Originally Posted by matt56

Truth be told, I smell the same when I'm 'Matt' as I do when I'm 'Harry'...

So how is it when you're a "hairy mat"?

Karl

**Teaticket** · 07-26-2015 05:41

Originally Posted by Jager

So how is it when you're a "hairy mat"?

Karl

A lot of us were nice enough not to say that but Karl just couldn't hold back.

**Jager** · 07-26-2015 05:44

Originally Posted by Teaticket

A lot of us were nice enough not to say that but Karl just couldn't hold back.

I'm sure he'll get back at me next Origins

Karl

**matt56** · 07-26-2015 06:30

Karl, it's no worse a stench when I'm mat-a hari...

All the best,
Matt

**Jager** · 07-26-2015 08:30

Originally Posted by matt56

Karl, it's no worse a stench when I'm mat-a hari...

All the best,
Matt

But then you're wearing cologne, no?

Karl

**milcoll73** · 07-26-2015 10:22

Originally Posted by matt56

When I read Phillip's (millcoll73) post earlier this week I had to chuckle - he mentioned that Matt and Harry came up to visit him at the FNGS where he works in Celina. This has prompted me to change my name on my 'header' from Harry to Matt, since he and I are the same person!

My given name IS Harry, and I was named after my father and grandfather. So I am 'the Third' - but to avoid confusion when I was young, they called me 'Matt', and I also liked it better than Harry, so that was fine by me. So all through grade school and high school I went by Matt. When I went into the Army, they called me anything they wanted, but I 'officially' became Harry, and by that time I was comfortable with the name.

Thus, my dual identity is predicated on who knew me when - my family and folks I knew from early years or through folks I knew then, know me as Matt; while those I met in the Army and at college and in the workplace know me as Harry. And when the two meet, confusion arises - but I really DO respond to either. I think Jim (rhodie80) explained this to Neil (Skafloc) at Origins; being the good lad he is, Neil went with the flow naturally.

Now everything is aligned on the Forum header, there should be less confusion (if any of you were confused to begin with). And so when I sign a post, the 'signature' matches the name in the header.

Truth be told, I smell the same when I'm 'Matt' as I do when I'm 'Harry'...

All the best,
Matt

thats funny but i thought the guy who was with you name was harry.....

youll have to forgive me im terrible with names

**BobP** · 07-26-2015 11:51

Being a fellow ASA vet I know how the nick name thing works. At one duty station the civilian that had to write my eval came up and asked me what my first name was. He only knew me by the name everyone called me. After retiring from the Army it was strange getting use to people calling me Bob.

**matt56** · 07-26-2015 11:59

No worries, Phillip! That was Jim (rhodie80) who came with me to Dreadfully Good Games - he and I have been buddies for the last 35 years. He's much more gregarious than I.

Making the name change was a logical thing to do - it's not your 'fault' at all! It takes me a while, too, to match names and faces.

All the best,
Matt

**Flying Helmut** · 07-26-2015 12:14

In my reenactment group only three people know my real name.
They all know me by a nickname, which they all use.
Most know me by an alternative nickname.
A few can remember (and pronounce!) my character name.

Confused? You won't be, after this week's episode of SOAP!

**Stumptonian** · 07-26-2015 12:29

Originally Posted by Flying Helmut

Confused? You won't be, after this week's episode of SOAP!

Ha - been a long time since I have heard that line.

I replaced my original VHS version (that took up a substantial amount of shelf space) with a DVD that occupies about the same space as one volume of the tape version.
Of course, it's still in the shrink wrap ....

**OldGuy59** · 07-26-2015 15:02

I was called by my first name until I joined the military, and asked everyone that I met from that point onward to call me by my middle name. I won't explain why. It was important at the time. So, I'm in a similar boat, where people that knew me before I joined would call me something different from people after I joined.

Pretty confusing at my wedding, where my family met my military associates and friends, besides my wife not knowing me by my first name, either.

Just did a family reunion this summer. That was a bit confusing for me, hearing my second name constantly for 36 years, with only short interspersed occasions with family over that period.

**matt56** · 07-26-2015 18:01

My wife knows me as Harry, Mike, and my family calls me Matt - sometimes my mom will call me Harry around my wife...it's all good - I know they're talking about me!

But it does give 'strangers' pause sometimes when two names are used to refer to the same person.

All the best,
Matt

**Nightbomber** · 07-27-2015 02:25

Thanks for fascinating stories of your names chaps

.

**7eat51** · 07-27-2015 03:45

Everyone in my family has a name of an aunt, uncle, parent, or grandparent, sometimes with gender crossover, e.g. Michael to Michelle. You can walk into any family gathering, call out two or three names, and have everyone covered.

When I was in the military, I had to initial multiple forms, daily. More often than not, I had someone respond with "Use your real initials". They wouldn't believe that "EAT" were my real initials.

I was recently on jury duty. As often is the case when someone is reading a list of names out loud, the bailiffs, attorneys, and one of the judges would reach a name, pause, look up, look back at the names, and start to spell my last name. I have become accustomed to shouting out my name whenever the pause occurs, often receiving a smile and "Thank you". Five letters, my last name has only five letters.

**Tonx** · 07-27-2015 07:14

I got teased something CHRONIC at school for having the name Barnaby so this during secondary school (13 years old) was shortened ... To Bob! Only since I served in the Armed Forces have I come back to being called Barney for short.

During my service life I was known as Ginge because I used to have bright ginger hair. This has now matured into a more pleasant shade of auburn.

But what really has followed me around either side of serving in the Armed Forces is the fact that somebody will always come up with the nickname Biggles wherever I either go or find myself ... I think it may have something to do with aircraft

**milcoll73** · 07-27-2015 10:47

Originally Posted by 7eat51

Everyone in my family has a name of an aunt, uncle, parent, or grandparent, sometimes with gender crossover, e.g. Michael to Michelle. You can walk into any family gathering, call out two or three names, and have everyone covered.

When I was in the military, I had to initial multiple forms, daily. More often than not, I had someone respond with "Use your real initials". They wouldn't believe that "EAT" were my real initials.

I was recently on jury duty. As often is the case when someone is reading a list of names out loud, the bailiffs, attorneys, and one of the judges would reach a name, pause, look up, look back at the names, and start to spell my last name. I have become accustomed to shouting out my name whenever the pause occurs, often receiving a smile and "Thank you". Five letters, my last name has only five letters.

i can empathize. i started initialing pdm because i got sick of all the night time jokes when i just went with pm. plus people can never seem to figue out how to properly pronounce or spell my last name (not even google or spellcheck). so i now i just tell people think of marriott without the O.......or the money......

**csadn** · 07-27-2015 15:04

No one ever had a problem pronouncing my name -- my problem was with the school district's computers; due to artificial limits on number-of-characters, my name was always rendered in printouts as "FRENCH, CHRISTOPHE" (losing the "R"). This caused no end of difficulty for substitute teachers, who figured either I didn't speak English, or was female (I don't understand that one, either). Regular teachers would either add the "r" to the end of the sheet, or more commonly scratch out the "tophe" (as the only person who called me "Christopher" was my mom when she was pissed off at me); but I was never sure which they'd used.

So one day, we have a substitute teacher. She has the regular role-book, where the teacher had added an "r" to the end; but since the regular teacher always called me "Chris", I figured she's struck off the "tophe". She reads off the names, and inevitably reaches mine -- a fact noted by a pause, and a confused look.

I say, "Just strike off the last five letters."

She blinks, looks down, looks up again, and a small voice, says, "...'Christ'?"

Without missing a beat, I reply, "And don't *any* of you forget it." >:)

**OldGuy59** · 07-27-2015 15:20

Originally Posted by csadn

... This caused no end of difficulty for substitute teachers, who figured either I didn't speak English, or was female (I don't understand that one, either). ...

I apologize for the foreign language grammar lesson in advance, but...

Just a thought. When learning French, a poor rule-of-thumb was that any word ending in "e" was feminine, and was used with the feminine pronoun. So, perhaps that was the issue with your substitute teachers?

Or, Denis (Den-ee) is a male French name, and Denise (Den-ees) is a female French name...

**Flying Officer Kyte** · 07-28-2015 01:29

The mix up over my name is a much more simple one.
Always Rob throughout my life and through Higher ed.
When I started teaching I met an old colleague of my fathers, who mistakenly introduced me in the Staffroom as John (my fathers name.) I took him to one side and pointed out his mistake.
He then responded by announcing that I was in fact Bob. I did not have the heart to correct him a second time. So Bob it was through the rest of my career.
The up side to this was that whenever people phoned and asked for Bob, it was work and not friends, and vice versa.

Rob/ Kyte/Bob/Bligh.

**Nightbomber** · 07-28-2015 01:39

There is an offcial wording of my name: "Andrzej", but a friendly conversion used by those who feel a closer relationship with a person bearing that name is "Jędruś" and there are some friends of mine who call me this way - which is nice.

I know it may sound weird in pronunciation, so here goes the phonetical English version: [Yendroosh]. The "sh" in the end is pronounced a bit softer than it is in English.

My second official name (never used in personal communication) is "Antoni", after my Grandpa, which is a PL simple version of EN "Anthony".

**Boney10** · 07-28-2015 01:55

Strange things nicknames, i only had a nickname at school, a long time ago now, which was Haggis, no not scottish in anyway but due to my surname of Haigh, when I joined the army I went through the gamit of Sprog (new recruit) to scroat ( from room Cpl), 847 my last three digits of my army number, ugly looking person of doubtful parentage and not a nice and small male (Troop Staffy, Sgt and various Drill Sgts and RSM's) after I left the various training establishments and Rank courses, strange how none of the Senior Ranks in these establishments never believed I had parents for some reason , it was always Rank or first name, went into civvi street and again Christian name, then I arrived here and thanks to ebay, where I couldnt get the id I wanted, which was Bonaparte, my hero, or Boney, turned into Boney10 and been that now ever since in all my on line personas

**Zoe Brain** · 07-28-2015 03:11

I have a credibility issue regarding my surname.
For some reason, many think "Brain" is a rather pretentious nickname. Zoe "Brain" rather than Zoe Brain.

At least we had the sense not to call our son Peter, Paul, or Phillip. Andrew - A.Brain - is bad enough. P.Brain doesn't bear thinking about.

**Flying Helmut** · 07-28-2015 10:42

Originally Posted by Boney10

Strange things nicknames, i only had a nickname at school, a long time ago now, which was Haggis, no not scottish in anyway but due to my surname of Haigh,

STRIKE A LIGHT!

"Haggis"was MY nickname at school, bestowed upon me for the same reason (surname Hague)!

**Flying Helmut** · 07-28-2015 10:44

Originally Posted by Zoe Brain

At least we had the sense not to call our son Peter, Paul, or Phillip. Andrew - A.Brain - is bad enough. P.Brain doesn't bear thinking about.

I wish more parents put more thought into the names they give their children.
My mate David Daniel Thomas has always been, and will always be, "Poison".

And there are plenty other, far worse, examples...............

**OldGuy59** · 07-28-2015 11:11

Originally Posted by Flying Helmut

I wish more parents put more thought into the names they give their children.
My mate David Daniel Thomas has always been, and will always be, "Poison".

And there are plenty other, far worse, examples...............

A gentleman I met, by the name of Johnathan Shorts was ever so grateful his parents hadn't named him James.

**Flying Helmut** · 07-28-2015 11:14

Originally Posted by OldGuy59

A gentleman I met, by the name of Johnathan Shorts was ever so grateful his parents hadn't named him James.

Yep, a near miss there!

**Flying Officer Kyte** · 07-28-2015 11:25

I always feel sorry for those who get a name through no fault of anyone.
For instance a friend of mine from schooldays who's name was Lawrence, Edward, Matthews.
After the first Moon landing, he was LEM.
His parents could have no idea in 1946/7 that any such association would come about.
Not so with children whom I taught however, Charles Prince, or Beryl Savage for instance.
Registers were done in surname first order at that time.
Rob.