I Name Thee - writercize #101

Before I continue - did you know there's a contest going on here at writercize?  Depending on where you live, a pizza meal or a cup of coffee is on the line - enter here: It's a Pizza - writercize (for a prize) #100.  Contest closes Tuesday, Sept. 13.

Ok, onto a fun little game, in honor of parents, children, simple word inspired games and the Group Blogging Experience.  

One of the most important things a parent will give a child, beyond the normal love, attention, food, shelter bit, is a name.  Expectant parents often put weeks, even months, into finding just the right name for their bun in the oven.  

My mom's parents and siblings squabbled for such a long time that she was born without a name and referred to exclusively as my Grandpa's nickname for her "Tuni" (from petunia) for most of her life.  After she was born, she was named "RoseAnne" but hates the name and never introduces herself as such.

My husband and I were luckier.  We chose family names for our twins - one is named after his favorite grandma, the other after mine.  We didn't tell a soul what their names would be until their birth; we just kept up with the doctor's "A" and "B" designation and never had to hear a word of dissent over their monikers.  It was a pretty good way to go about it, I think.

My parents gave me the unique name "Alana" and the ubiquitous middle name "Marie" so I have the simple with the rare which works for me.  They had some hurdles.  As two teachers, inevitably each name they considered came with an association of a previous student, whether they were an overachiever, troublemaker, lazy, bright, etc.  Makes things rough!

It's always amazing to me how many people compliment others on their name as if they had something to do with it.  I often get, "wow, that's a cool name" or "I really like your name."  I generally say, "Thanks, I like it too!" or "Yep, I'm lucky my parents picked a good one."

It's always fun to find out how people chose names - after mythological characters, family members, because their names are simple and they want something unique for their kids or vice versa, from name books, etc.  So, today you get to name an entire family however you like.  

In The Pocket Muse, a fun little book for writers, the author Monica Wood suggests that when a writer is totally stuck for inspiration, they should take advantage of their job which allows them to make up names all the time.  She points at that most people only get the chance when getting a new pet or a new baby, but writers can do it all the time!  You may even come up with a name you love so much it inspires a whole new story.  I like her train of thought and wanted to take it to the next level.

writercize:  Name a family of two parents and at least two children - any combination of sexes.  

Take into account who they are and what they are into.  Family history?  Pirates?  Literature?  Movies?  Geography?  Horoscopes?  Foreign languages?  Syllables, rhyming or first letters?  Run with it ...

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response about a family of nature lovers on the hippy side.

writercizer sample response:

the baynors

live near the coast in central california

(as egalitarians, they use only lower case for all names - looks like auther e.e. cummings)

mom: aurora rose

dad: john mitchell 

(dad comes from a staunch family background of proper names, 

but attended Reed and transformed to laid-back)

daughter #1: shasta sol

son: cloud hawk

daughter #2: willow reed