Wednesday, August 29, 2007

The name game

It's been 14 years, and my ears still pick up (like a dog's except you can't actually see it on a human) when I hear the name "Suzy." That is too weird. In fact, it even looks weird to see it in writing. But now that so much time has passed, and no one has called me "Suzy Q." or "Suzy Q. Winkle" (I never even understood that one) or sang "Wake Up Little Suzy" (this was a favorite of my mom's) in years, the name doesn't seem as annoying as it once did. People do still sing "Oh, Susannah" to me, which is not only still annoying, but confusing, as that is not my name ...

My grandfather called me "Sue" which I wouldn't let anyone else do, but because it was Grandpa, I took it as a term of endearment. He was a sweet man. But since he died, no one really calls me anything but my full name. Well, OK, both my parents and my step-mom occasionally say or write "Suz" which I actually kind of like, but no one else has ever done it. My husband usually just calls me "Sweetie" or "Mama" depending on the context. The only time I hear my name at all at home is if he's on the phone with someone else, talking about me.

Is it weird to be nostalgic for a nickname I never really liked in the first place? Maybe a little. :-)

This is in no way permission to call me Suzy, EVER, as you will die in a pit of flames, but just a retrospective analysis.

7 comments:

*kate said...

I actually like the name Suzy. But I completely understand, although it's the opposite as you. I really hate being called Katherine. Most people call me Katie, which I'm okay with - but I prefer Kate.

thesynergizer said...

You like it? You probably haven't heard "Wake Up Little Suzy" 27,934 times then. :-)

Katie is more of an accepted adult name, IMHO. You've got Katie Couric and Katie Holmes and lots of respectable Katies. But Suzy is totally a little girl's name, much like how almost all (Friends not withstanding) Joeys become Joes.

Anonymous said...

I can think of 3 adult Suzy's (spelled variously) that I know, without even really thinking about it. So I might even know more. They're all very quirky, in a good way.

I agree, Katie is an acceptable adult name. I just have poetic ideas with the name Kate. I was going to marry somebody with a good last name, like Wilkenson. Because isn't Kate Wilkenson a good name? Instead I married somebody with the last name Peck, lucky me.

*kate said...

Bummer, I thought that if I chose an identity that is "other" and put my website in, it would create a link to my website ... which is something that I think boosts page rank.

thesynergizer said...

Peck is a nice name! Like Gregory Peck from To Kill a Mockingbird. :-)

Katie Peck sounds better than Kate Peck, though, IMHO. Maybe that's why people have trouble calling you Kate.

Oh, and if you make your blogger profile public, you can put a link to your web site there ... or you can even make a blogger blog just for the sake of trading links!!!

Anonymous said...

My mother's name is Susan, and grew up trying to avoid being called Suzie.

My grandmother used to call her "Suzabelle." I thought that was cool.

thesynergizer said...

I have never ever ever ever heard the name Suzabelle! Wow. I remember thinking Suzette was unusual ...