what's in a name?

Someone recently apologised for calling me Karen and not Kate on an email.  The auto-suggest inserted it without her noticing.

And it got me thinking.  Like all the labels we take on, what's really in a name? 

I didn't choose my name.  My parents named me Kathryn after Loch Katrine in Scotland (photo above).   And I never liked the "ryn" part so, when I was younger, I shortened it to "Ka" (pronounced Kay) and then, at some point in my late teens, I grew into a Kate. 

I like Kate.  It's straight and to the point, like me.  It's cool (how I'd like to be).  It's strong (yes, I'm usually that - at least outwardly).  The heroine of a movie is often a Kate. 

My parents rarely called me "Kathryn", unless I was in trouble or they were talking about me to other people.  No, I'd be "Katie", "Gloops" or "Katie Gloops" or "K.G.".  

Gloops was from a comic strip in the Star newspaper from Sheffield (UK) of a cat with big dimples, like me!  Here's Gloops and me for comparison - you decide!

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I miss being a Katie now my parents are gone.  But Ron calls me Katie sometimes.  And maybe I'll be a Katie if/when I ever publish that fiction book ...

So I answer to many names these days and that's OK by me.  Because they're not me.  

And I wasn't even born a Kathryn - I'm adopted and my birth mother called me Amanda.  So that would have been a whole different ballgame - Mandy, Mandi, Mand, Manda ..? 

When Ron and I married, we were told by the registrar we could choose any name we liked.  Completely change all our names if we wanted.  Wow!  I wish I'd had time to reflect.   I might have picked something that fitted me better.  Something just for me.   By me.  

But in the moment I went for Kate, dropped my middle name and kept my surname.  Simple, easy and no fuss.

So what's in a name?  I guess it's different for us all. 

What does your name say about you?  Do you like your name?  What would you change it to, if you could?

And, now my mind is wandering to why, when we talk ABOUT a person or an animal we care about, we use their given name, but NEVER when we're talking TO them?  Unless we're angry with them and then, oh yes, we do!

I'll explain what I mean.
 
When I'm talking about my cat Sid (see photo)  I call him "Sid",  nothing else. 

But when talking TO him, I NEVER call him "Sid".  Instead I call him one of the following (or variations thereof):

Sidney
Sidney Piglet (he's very muscly and short-legged, like a little pot-bellied pig)
Sidney Pigley
Pigley Wiggley
Wiglet

and my current favourite;

Wiggly Woos   :)

But never Sid - not to his face.   Unless he's peed on the curtain again.

So much for keeping names short and simple!   Is this just me?  Do you do this too?

And maybe this doesn't just apply to living things. 

Some people are very close to their cars .....


Main Photo: https://pixabay.com/fr/users/PicturesofScotland-8052601