I'm participating in Two Writing Teacher's
March Slice of Life Challenge, sharing stories
Every day in March
Including Fran Haley
Wrote about their names.
When I was born, I was a surprise to everyone (except my parents) who lived far from their families in the days before Zoom and social media. My mother left my father with the task of making long distance calls to share the news that hot August morning.
Yet, they were not surprised that at the last minute, my planned name, Colleen Kathleen, was changed after my arrival on my mother's best friend's birthday.
Thus, I became Anita Jane, an entirely un-Irish moniker that I never really liked as it was not popular, like Linda or Debbie. Even the nickname that came with my moniker was strange - Nity (pronounced Neetee). Amazingly, there was never, ever another Anita in any class of mine ever.
Anita, which means gracious, has Spanish origins and actually, my namesake and I were named after the housekeeper who helped her mother during a bed-ridden, twin pregnancy. The Jane part of my name came from a beloved English Grandmother who would never meet the first Anita Jane.
I must admit that it took me many years to embrace my Spanish name, but over time, it became OK to have a name that was just a wee bit unusual. These days, I do see Anitas every once in a while; although the Anita Jane moniker is not one that I expect to see again!
4 comments:
I am so enjoying all of these name stories this month! I very much wanted a name that was popular when I was a child, and now I am grateful for the unusual name that I have.
My sister's name is Nanita. She hated it for years, but it finally grew on here and she's not as hateful about it as she was as a child. I remember my father naming her for his sisters: Nancy, Margaret Anne, and Rita - all of whom are no longer with us. I'm not sure how he put together "Nanita" from these three names. It seems to me that if he intended to incorporate all their names into one word, her name would have been something like Namargita. Oh well, she loves her name now. I've always loved her. Thanks so much for sharing this Slice about your name.
Fascinating story of how your name came to be - to honor a housekeeper who so embodied "gracious" by helping out with a twin pregnancy. My great-grandmother had 8 children and named the last after the doctor who delivered them! Also interesting how your intended name was changed. That Irish name is lovely, but you were clearly meant to be Anita Jane. It's a musical-sounding name, to me!
I am so happy that I came here to read about your name. I had an aunt named Anita. I never knew the meaning of her name nor that it had Spanish origin. I liked my aunt and her name.
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