A Rose by Any Other Name

Do you like the name you were given? Is there a name that you think would suit you better?(prompt from Nablopomo)

I never really thought about my name until I was in high school. My best friend and I would write notes back and forth and she really identified with Scarlett O'Hara in gone with the wind and thought I was like Melanie, so we signed our letters with those nicknames. Ironically, I never read "Gone with the Wind" - I should read it now...see what she was talking about. She always said that everyone liked Melanie and Scarlett was always looking on, wishing that people liked her but unable to do what it took to make that happen.

I thought about writing under a pseudonym but then I realized that if I ever did become a famous author (haha), I would want people to know it was me.

Roby and I talked about names of characters we wanted to write about and he wished he could change his name, but I never really thought about it. My name is my name. Sometimes I wished for a more exotic spelling for either my first name or middle name, but ultimately, my name is who I am and I don't know that I could actually pull anything else off.

I think I was pretty lucky in the grand scheme of things - my family is from the south and we have names like Leafy Mae and Bernice Fae (sounds like Burnisfae) and Barbara Mae (Barbmae) and Bonnie Dale. They are old-fashioned, southern names that I'm not sure I could have lived with when I was 12 years old and living in a new place, not knowing anyone and trying to find a way to blend in. Now, I would probably be more okay with an unusual name, but I never had to worry.