Each day I am calling someone by name. At the daycare I call each child's name during roll call and for many other reasons their names are used throughout the day. I have some children whose names are said more than others :>) When I am at the store I try to greet each customer by their name if I know it. Once I learn a customer's name I use their name as often as I can. When a people hear their name during the transaction I watch his/her face relax some and a smile grows. We all love to hear our names used. So this prompt is dedicated to "names".
You name it and I will have a prompt about it I bet!!
First, let's write about our own names. Do you know the meaning of your name? Write it out on your journal page and put a border around it. Now, do you feel as if your name fits you? Do you live up to the meaning of your name? Were you named after someone in your family? Why did your mother give you that name? Is the person living still? Do you have a special relationship with that person? Are you named after an actor/actress? Is there someone else you are named after?
Write in discussion format how you feel about your name. Do you like your name? Have you ever wished you were given a different name? Did you ever use another name when you were in school? Have you ever used an alias? Do you go by your middle name instead of your first name? Why do you do this? Write how you feel about your name.
I have used more than one name in my lifetime. My birth name was Marchelle Marie Umipig. I never used that name because my mother kidnapped me from my father when I was only six months old and gave me another name. I went by Marshel Marie Chambers. Did not know my legal name until I was in high school. That is another story for another day. But my family called me Shelly and that is the name I used until high school. I did not like my middle name because it is after my maternal grandmother and I could not stand her. She was the meanest woman I knew. Her birthday was Halloween and I always said it was a holiday just for her. Another story at another time. I really like my first name. I know no other Marshel. Since the onset of internet I have seen some spellings of my name. But have yet to meet another Marshel with my exact spelling. When I ran away from home a couple of times I used the name Michelle Marie Mason. I pretended to be my best friend's sister. My family never knew I used that name and if I ever wanted to never be found that would be the name I used. My best friend Perry Mason even named his first born after me. Well, my namesake is Michelle Marie Mason so I guess she is actually named after my AKA. When I was in high school we went by nicknames in our circle of friends. My name was Sundown. That will be discussed later. But I truly do love my name now that I have met my real father. See, my name Marchelle is after my real father Marcello. My mom did not want him to find me so changed my spelling of my name to Marshel. I love it spelled that way.
Speaking of nicknames. That is one subject that you could write about in many different ways.
As I asked earlier, write about your nicknames in school. Does your family call you by another name besides your given name? Did you give yourself a nickname or did the family give it to you? Why is it your nickname? Did your nickname change over time? Have you been called by that name for so long your friends did not even know you had a different name? Write about these questions.
Another form of nickname is terms of endearment you give your family members. Some of those would be sweetheart, sweetie, sweetness, sweetcakes, babycakes, cupcake, honeybun, cookie, muffin, sugar, sugarpie, and pumpkin. Write why you call them these names. (I just realized that those terms of endearment are all desserts. Is there a relationship to that?) Does anyone call you those names? Who and why? My grandson's name is Mythias and I have called him my honeybun ever since he was born. My granddaughter has the prettiest red hair and I always call her pumpkin. I shared before how she was learning how people are related and I asked her how Mythias was kin to me and she said he is your grandson. Then I asked her how she was kin to me and she put her hands on her hips and said you know. I am your grandpumpkin. When my husband is just talking to me lovingly he calls me "girl". Why I don't know but it his term for me. My oldest daughter's name is Philesha but we call her Lesha. My middle child is Jessie not Jessica because we did not want her to have a nickname. My son is Dewayne and we called him Bud when he was younger and when he went to kindergarten we realized he did not know his name was Dewayne.
Are you a grandmother? What name have they given you? Grandma? Grandmother? Grandmama? Mimi? Mawmaw? Granny? Write what the children call you and how that came about. How does it make you feel to hear them call you by your special name? My oldest two call me Mimi. My youngest call me Grandma Marshel. They call their paternal grandmother MawMaw. How it came about who knows. They just started calling us that. My daughter asked me what I wanted to be called and I said I always wanted to be called granny. She laughed and said I was not a granny. She explained that grannies cook, bake, sew, clean, etc and I do none of those things. So, I just let the children call me what they want. When I am at the store and they are there too and they see me I love it when they come running at me and jump into my arms. Oh what pleasure! Write of different memories of your grandchildren and them calling you by name.
Is there certain names that are just used in different parts of the country? For example, here in Oklahoma we call every boy Bubba. My son is Bubba. My grandson is Bubba too. We even call our boy dogs Bubba. My children did not even know their Uncle Bubb's real name until they were already grown (it is Jerry). I call my daughters Sister. We call our neices Sister. I even call my four girl dogs Sisters. Some even go by Sissy. My boss goes by Sissy and I did not know her real name until I had to call her and find her name in the telephone book. Are you a Sissy or Sister? Do you have a Bubba? When I met my real brother for the first time I said "I finally have a Bubba." His name is Joelino.
Speaking of names only used in certain parts of the country here are names I know are in Oklahoma but may not be in maybe Florida or Canada or so... Gunner, Hunter, Tanner, Wyatt, Bo/Beau, Cinch, Rope, Duke, Chisholm, Quardale, and other cowboy names. Do you know anyone with a name that isn't really a usual name for a boy or girl? I have a friend who named her two girls "Noah, and Micah". Write of these people and how they came to have these names.
Google the popular names for the year you were born. Is your name one of them? Do a search on the most popular names in the 50s, 60s, 70, 80s, 90s, and nowadays. What are the most used names in your town today? In my teaching career I have had several names that were never going to be in the most popular names. And then there are the names that are NEW but everyone starts naming their child that. Right now in the daycare I work at these are the names of our students or their siblings -
Aiden, Braidon, Braden, Braidon, Bryden, Bryndon, Caden, Caydon, Camdyn, Drayden, Dradon, Dryden, Hayden, Hadyn, Jaydon, Jaden, Jordyn, Kayden, Layton, Payton, Tristan, Tristen, Triston, Trysten, Trystin, Zaden, and Zaydon. Yes, and many other versions.
Why did you name your children their names? Write why you chose that name. Describe what makes your children's names special. My oldest daughter is Philesha DeAnn. Her father is Philip. My best friend's middle name is Ann. Her father's middle name starts with D. My other daughter is Jessie Leighann. My husband's oldest son is Daniel Leigh. He had a sister who passed away named Jessie. And we put our two oldests' middle names together. My son's name is the same initials as his brother. Dewayne Louis. If I had one more daughter I would have named her Jaycee LouAnn.
What would you name more children if you were to have more? Is there patterns to their names? Do all your children's names start with the same letter? (It amazes me that 20 children and counting could come up with that many J names.) Have you ever wished you had named your children another name instead? Write your reasons. I wanted to name my middle daughter Sarah Marshel, but Gordon got his way. I wanted to name my son Joseph Michael, but again Gordon got his way. I was not with my oldest's father at the time of her birth so I got to name her what I wanted. One of the names I had considered calling my oldest was Chyvona Llyshel. No one liked it. If she had been a boy I considered Chevy Blue (Cher had named her son Elijah Blue) but no one liked it. What list of names had you thought about naming your children but didn't? Why did you finally decide on the name you did? Write about your children's names and let them know all of this.
Are you married? Write how you felt when the minister said, "And now I would like to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs._______." Did it take you long to get used to your married name? Right after I got married I had to go to a doctor appointment and the receptionist called Marshel Morrison and I didn't go to her desk. She called me two more times before I realized it was me she was calling. Are you divorced? Did you keep your married name or go back to your maiden name? Write your reason.
Are there names that cause you to remember a special memory? If you hear a name being called does it make you think of someone in your life that had a positive/negative effect on you? Do certain names make you stop and look for that person? Write about particular names that are important to you or that conjour up certain memories. Write about those memories.
There are names that are not appropriate. Calling people bad names has been around for many years. Sticks and Stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. Did you ever have to repeat that saying before? Write why. Have you ever been called inappropriate names? My stepfather called me pig so many times. That may be why I am a hoarder now. Are there names you were called that still hurt you to this day? When my husband was drinking he called me many nasty names. I pray I never hear them again.
Have you called someone names that you wish you hadn't? Did you call someone Porky or Skinnyminny? Or other inappropriate names? Does it make you sad that you did that? Write how you feel about how you used to call people. When someone is called bad names as a youngster it can still hurt them as a grown up. Are you one of those children that people made fun of and called names? Write how this made you feel then and how you feel about it now. My students, who are preschoolers, call each other names all the time. I teach them that they are to call each other by their real names. One of the names that will cause every child cry I have ever dealt with is "Stupid". Have you ever been called Stupid or called someone Stupid? Write why you would do that. And how it made you feel to be called Stupid. My stepfather called me Stupid all the time. And I wasn't. I had the highest IQ in the county's dependent schools. I never knew I was smart at all. I was surprised when I graduated with honors when I got my Associate's degree. I did not even know I was smart when I graduated Cum Laude when I got my Bachelor's degree. But now finally at age 52 I feel smart and will be getting my Master's finally. I did not have enough confidence in myself to think I could be smart enough to get a Masters. All because I really thought I was stupid.
Did you teach your children to call adults by Mr. and Mrs.? Did you teach your children to call their aunts and uncles with that before their names? I still call my aunts and uncles Aunt Debbie or Uncle Jack. But many children do not do that anymore. And very few children say ma'am or sir. Write about how names show respect or disrespect. Do you like to be called by Mrs. or Aunt? In regular schools we call our teachers Mrs. Morrison, etc. But in preschool we are usually called by our first names. Ms. Marshel. I love it when they call me that. But most of the time they call me Teacher. And that is all right with me too.
I know this has been a long prompt. Now we are going to have a more spiritual prompt dealing with names. I have a book named "The Wonderful Names of Jesus." There are hundreds. I did a study once on each one of them. If you don't have a book Google names of Jesus or names of God/Lord. Write them in a new journal. Do one a day or more. Write the meaning of them. Write where they are found in the Bible. Write the situations when you would use them.
What name or names do you use when you are praying? What names do you call Jesus? Write about these names in your journal. Try using different names for different types of prayers when you are talking with the Lord.
There are certain names in the Bible that mean different things. Do a study on names in the Bible. The Lord changed some people's names like Saul to Paul, Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah. Do a study of these people who had their names changed in your journal. If the Lord were to change your name today, what do you think it would be?
There is a special book in the Bible that mentions our names. The Book of Life. It has your name written in it when you are saved. Write your salvation experience and how you felt when on the day your name was written in that special book.
When you hear your name being called do you know who it is by the voice? Does the Lord know it is you calling Him by name? Do you recognize the Lord's voice when He calls your name? Write your answers to these questions.
There may be many people with your name or names. There may just be a few with your name. Your name may be very unusual. Your name may never be remembered after you are gone other than family members. But one thing you can always count on is the fact that the Lord knows you by name. No matter who you are He will always know you when you are praying. And when others use your name during their prayer time. Remember to call out the names of those needing prayer.
Never use the Lord's name in vain. And when you hear other's use His name in vain remember to praise the Lord. Tell the person cussing that if he/she is going to knock the Lord down you are going to build Him up. When you hear the Lord's name being used in vain say "Praise the Lord". Write about times you have lifted the Lord up when others have put Him down.
I know that this has been a long prompt. Writing about names and their meanings have been around a long time. Children love to hear their names, see their names in writing, and know why they are named that. Take time to write about these different prompts about names. Someone is longing to know...
