My favorite story about a person’s name came by way of a friend who had heard of an instance where a group of people were waiting at a government service center.  They had already turned in some paperwork so they were being called to the counter by name.

A puzzled clerk came to the front and hesitantly called out “Dee?  Deeah?”

After a moment’s silence, a clearly frustrated customer marched up to the clerk and demanded to see the name on the paper, which looked like this:  D-ea.

The customer rolled her eyes and huffed “It’s ‘Dee DASH ee ah’!  The dash is NOT silent!”

How could anyone know?  No wonder D-ea was miffed.  She probably realized in that moment she was going to spend a lifetime correcting people.  That can’t be fun, but it’s  the curse of having an uncommon name.

I suppose there’s a different type of frustration that rises out of having a name that is so ordinary, you run into like-named people at every turn.  I can scarcely imagine what it’s like to be a “Bob”.    Or a “Mary”!

Our national naming preferences are nothing more than fashion – a “hot” name sweeps the country and fades away, like weather or the flu.  That’s nicely demonstrated in the image below from the website Jezebel, which clicks through the years to show which girl’s names had favor in which states  at what times.

I’m amazed at the way “Jennifer”seized the national imagination and held it for so many years in the ’70’s.  It’s like the FDR of names – I’m sure parents at the time thought there would never be another top name for girls, ever.  Perhaps we need term limits for monikers.  Or it may be that our population is so diverse, there is less likelihood today that everyone will be on the same page, name-wise.  “Ashley” and “Emily” made a run at “Jennifer”-like status in later years, but the dominance Jennifer showed through Watergate and the Carter Administration is surely impressive and may never be equalled.    Today, it looks like “Emma” is ascendent.

But she’s no “Jennifer”.

How do you feel about your name?