Sweet William

After a few days of relatively colourless posts (at least in one sense) it's time for some flowers. I love Sweet William for their tightly packed heads, pinked petals and fresh green fronds.

I'm biased too because I have my own 'sweet' William, now almost sixteen and a fine strong lad, though he probably won't relish being mentioned in a floral post.

Which leads me to the question of names and whether we like them and can properly identify with them or would we ever consider changing them or going, at least informally, by a nickname?

Our children's names were chosen with various family references in mind, so grandparents, great-grandparents and others are remembered in the youngest generation. The bearers seem happy enough with our choices for them.

I've never felt completely comfortable with my name (which even has three different pronunciations) though I'm not sure what I'd want to be called. How about you? Any very unusual names out there? Any nicknames you'd like to divulge? Do tell.

An afterthought for Natalie and Dee (if you're reading this): how do you think up such imaginative names for your yarns? Or anyone else who has to name things in the course of their job, what inspires you?

Comments

[natalie]

My husband calls me daisy! I like it (he did it independently of any influence from me), and in another life I'd quite like to be known as daisy. It seems to suggest a carefree and calm personality.... especially when it begins with a small d.
(I expect other real-life daisies may disagree!)

[Peter the Flautist]

In general I don't like nicknames (and almost always dislike contractions, e.g. Bob for Robert). I do remember a curious incident from my youth when I met up as an adult with a girl I had known well from my earliest years. She was called Sally, always, but when I was at a dinner party of hers outside of Edinburgh where we grew up and I offered to help her clear the table, there was a stunned silence and she gently (and without explanation) said "Ah, down here I am called Catherine."

Regular readers will know that I adopt a number of feline soubriquet (is that the correct use/spelling?) when posting to Cornflower. My real first name is much more mundane.

Literate Cat

[Dee]

Well to begin with, I very much dislike my proper name, which is Trudie (actually, Trudie-Anne, which is even worse). I'm so much happier as Dee. I think you should earn the right to choose your own name when you hit 21.

When it comes to naming the yarn, oh I just love doing that. Occasionally I have recourse to a thesaurus, when I think I've used a favourite name before but nothing else seems to fit. But in general, I spend an afternoon naming and labelling, and I sit and stare at each colourway, and let it tell me what it wants to be called. I think my favourite of all time was 'Hello Sailor'.

[Ali]

I quite like having a formal name and a friend-name.

My proper mane is Alison, Alison Louise, which my family has always contracted to Alilou. But to hubby and the majority of my friends, I am Ali.

[Lisa W]

"Soubriquet" - now there's a word to remember for the Scrabble board. People do come up with clever names for their products, don't they? I once had a pedicure which included the application of a cheerful red polish called "I'm Not Really a Waitress". I still smile when I think of that name.

[natalie]

Naming yarn.
I hit a name block a few weeks ago and posted a "help" on the shop blog... and ended up with about 150 new ones. Then I took a batch of yarn to a friend's birthday dinner (she was looking for things to keep everyone occupied while she was busy in the kitchen). It was a great ice-breaker, people who had never met before soon got deep into conversation about the whys and wherefores of the names they picked.
I'm in the process of designing new colourways as a permanent collection to go with the limited edition yarns and they will have Scottish names (and explanations).
Watch out for Haggis, Hogmanay, and Cranachan, just to whet your appetite.

[Charity]

I am often called Sunshine, but quite like my own name, Charity. It is unusual, and I hear lots of jokes and puns on my name by those around me, but I still like it. I also really dislike contractions of names.

My own children are all named with famly references, and I think it's an important part of their heritage, especially since we live so far away from extended family.

[peg]

My Sweet William are days behind yours, Cornflower.
Names - I wish someone could tell me how Peg or Peggy comes from Margaret. My full name is Margaret Elizabeth - being the 'baby' and having three older brothers, I was told many times that I might be named after princesses, but not to expect to be treated like one - I never was!

I am now by Peggy by my older relatives, but have been Peg for many a year. When my DH calls me Margaret, I know he wants my attention - I also call myself Margaret when I am annoyed at me!
Did your mother ever call you by your entire name - first, middle and surname? When my Mom did, I knew I was in trouble! I also used that on my children - I always thought it gave me that extra breath before I had to start questioning or - whatever it was I felt I had to do.
As a grandmother now, I want to say to all you younger women - you will forget all those times that you needed to call them by their 'full' name and mostly remember the times they made you smile, laugh and even cry!
Also, I remember the times they said or did something and I had to walk out of the room or I would 'crack' up in front of them! Those were the funniest of times!

[A Wildlife Gardener]

The name my parents put on my birth certificate sounds a bit formal, and sadly, now dates me, as no one would ever call a child by that name nowadays. But they never once called me by that name, preferring instead to use a diminutive form of it. As a result I have always liked my unofficial name and hated the real, formal one! Whenever I see it on official letters, I always want to say to them...I'm not known by that name...it's only on paper, a Sunday name! I have never changed it, even by deed poll. But from the age of 21, I have always signed everything with the diminutive name...all my paintings, letters, title deeds, marriage lines, anything official.

[Claire UK]

I called my swifts 'Sunflower Swifts' because they remind me of sunflowers when they are opened out, especially the ones made from lighter woods which catch the light as they spin. Dee came up with Sublime spindles so I can't take the credit for that one.

[rosie]

"Sweet William" reminds me of The Family from One End Street. And sweet williams remind me of my grandmother, who grew them in abundance.

[tara]

I have never liked my name and forever wished I had some sort of nickname. I have one now - my husband always calls me "T".

My daughter is named after a Grandmother and myself (my middle name). Before she was born we decided to call her a diminutive of her full name- I don't ever think of her as being that 'formal' person. Also, we have lots of nicknames for her, some having to do with her name and some not. I don't ever remember my parents calling me anything other than my name.

[Nancy]

My mother named me Nancy at her father's request - for his mother & both her grandmothers & one g'grandmother - plus Jo for a favorite neighbor. I have finally grown to like it in my 60s but would much rather have been called Jessie after my g'father Jesse. All my early years I would announce what (boy's) name I would answer for the day. Until high school my brother called me by a nickname I won't repeat here but didn't mind in those early years. He never learned to call me Nancy. As an adult, introductions were made for his unh, ahhh, ummm, sister - Nancy. As with others here my mother called me Jo unless I was in trouble, then it was Nancy Jo. In my husband's family I'm Nancy B. in the company of his brother's wife Nancy G. and cousin Nancy Holly. I'd never known any others before.

[Sandra]

I do not like my name and the nickname Sandy does not suit me. It is not a 'pretty' name and buxom bar maids in bad TV programmes seem to be called Sandra!
Sweet Williams remind me of childhood and I always buy a bunch from the farmers market when I see them.

[Les in NE]

I think I've always liked my name, although growing up in the U.S. (born in Canada), I disliked its spelling. Nobody can ever get it right! It's Lesley, not Leslie.

The majority of my friends and family call me Les, but my husband and a few good friends prefer Lesley. Either is fine with me. It's my middle name (Helen) I don't much care for.

[Barbara]

I love Sweet Williams and am picking them regularly. They go very well with some bright pink Pinks, an old cottage form I don't know the name of. Heavenly smell. Both names are common ones and might mean different things to different people, which is why we should of course call them Dianthus. But using the old names links us to all the people who have done so in the past so I like to do it.

[Jerry]

I love the yarn naming game. We buy so much that doesn't have a name. It has a colorway or it was dyed by a custom hand dyer and we come up with our own. I log it all into an Excel spreadsheet with all the parameters of the fiber for future reference, so I need to have some name even if it's my own. My Favorite names come Alchemy yarn, "She Threw Brick" and "Scarlets Dark Secret."

When it comes to my Name I'm not too fond of my given name. I'm the 3rd son and my Mom wanted a girl so I was Gerald. After a few Geraldine comments I switched to the nick Jerry and never looked back.
http://twistedknitster.blogspot.com/

What a beautiful blog!!!
Jerry

[Tui M.]

I have a cottage style garden and love the old flowers such as pinks and sweet William. Their gentle, humble faces cause cars to slow down and faces to smile out the window at them, surely a good thing.

As for names, I've been called Tui forever but Dad could never quite explain where he got it. I've found it in the I Ching, the Chinese Book of Change; it's a bird in New Zealand and Maori women are often called Tui but my family is Scottish through and through. I have a prosaic birth certificate name (there were five of us in any given class all the way through school) and two middle names but these were (as with Peg) used only when I was in hot water. Tui is who I truly am.

My twin lads have Gaelic names. My husband's surname comes from Cornwall, one of those difficult unpronouncable Tre/Pol/or Pen names, so the only thing which sounded right with it was something Gaelic - and we loved the meaning of each name. They badly wanted to be called something 'popular' when they were younger but are grateful to have something different now.

Re the name comments here: "Tara" is the ancient home of the Kings of Ireland. It's an old and lovely name. "Karen" sounds beautiful when said the way the Swedish say it: KahREN. "Charity" sounds so kind and gentle. "Sandra" sounds incredible when said with a French accent, plus I've never met a Sandra who wasn't just plain nice - name associations! My mother was named Doris and she always wondered how her mother could look at a tiny little baby and name her Doris. My mother-in-law is Olive and has always wondered the same thing. Funny old world.