tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post3192867390082263904..comments2024-03-28T16:56:27.956-05:00Comments on Althouse: You know, when someone is actually named Ann, she's probably tired of hearing people tell her: Ann is my middle name.Ann Althousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-69708526307759281382014-02-12T21:12:40.289-06:002014-02-12T21:12:40.289-06:00Kir Parker,
It's Anna Christina! Have you no ...Kir Parker,<br /><br /><i>It's Anna Christina! Have you no sense of meter???</i><br /><br />Not to mention that "Anne Christine" sounds perilously like "Anchor Steam." I would be surprised if Siri could tell them apart. Michelle Dulak Thomsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18041391162535875301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-48465212409051845822014-02-12T18:53:53.927-06:002014-02-12T18:53:53.927-06:00"That made me laugh. I am Carol Ann, and I ha..."That made me laugh. I am Carol Ann, and I have met only one Carol in my life whose middle name was not Ann."<br /><br />I am Carol Marie. When I was in grade school the nuns would always call me Carol Ann. I was too afraid of them to correct them.CarolMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06357698369178272616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-310546418415275822014-02-12T18:47:13.669-06:002014-02-12T18:47:13.669-06:00I had two female relatives, one called Nanalee and...I had two female relatives, one called Nanalee and the other Analar. It wasn't until I read their obituaries that I found out their names were Nancy Lee and Anna Laura.ken in txhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14345764031059905578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-65104775484749569172014-02-12T18:03:44.038-06:002014-02-12T18:03:44.038-06:00Hagar,
"Anne Christine"
HERESY!
It...Hagar,<br /><br />"<i>Anne Christine</i>"<br /><br />HERESY!<br /><br />It's Ann<b>a</b> Christin<b>a</b>! Have you no sense of meter???<br />Kirk Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05921711310191924997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-40811981193308405012014-02-12T17:09:43.304-06:002014-02-12T17:09:43.304-06:00My middle name is Ann. When I worked with another ...My middle name is Ann. When I worked with another Kim in a call center, I became Annie at work so when people called and asked for Kim we knew who they wanted.<br /><br />My mom has always used her middle name (a grandmother's first name) but a friend of her's and my dad's always addressed things to her with her maiden initial instead of her middle name. It did not matter how many times Mom told him to use the M of her middle name, he kept using the S of her maiden name.kimschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15742219426291395677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-50643646173557201642014-02-12T16:01:14.240-06:002014-02-12T16:01:14.240-06:00Carl,
I blame considerations of euphony and the m...Carl,<br /><br /><i>I blame considerations of euphony and the modern preference to give girls names with three or more syllables. When you give a long first name, a short middle name gives the combo better rhythm. And as it happens, "Ann" is one of the relatively few anodyne feminine monosyllable names.</i><br /><br />As it happens, my mom was "Linda Joan." And she needed the middle name, because even in her tiny class there was another Linda with the same surname. Rural Wisconsin was like that.Michelle Dulak Thomsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18041391162535875301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-22019906947429439722014-02-12T15:40:34.316-06:002014-02-12T15:40:34.316-06:00Ann/Anne
Lynn/Lynne
Marie/Mary
Those were the mos...Ann/Anne<br />Lynn/Lynne<br />Marie/Mary<br /><br />Those were the most common middle name for girls. However, nowadays, we give two first names like Olivia Grace or Elizabeth Annalise. Madison Renee, etc.<br /><br />It used to be you gave a rather common middle name so that when the young woman dropped her middle name upon marrying it was no great loss, I suppose. And my middle name is Anne.SarcastiCarriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16256830838017211858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-62953712369137451252014-02-12T15:09:47.654-06:002014-02-12T15:09:47.654-06:00I also know quite a lot of women with the middle n...I also know quite a lot of women with the middle name Elizabeth/Elisabeth SchrefflerFamilyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16250571296052594274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-62306080278438348512014-02-12T15:08:03.383-06:002014-02-12T15:08:03.383-06:00I think Lee or Lea or Leigh anything pronounced li...I think Lee or Lea or Leigh anything pronounced li would give Ann(e)(a) a run for its money. Steven Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11430645803810847730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-32092186306101619412014-02-12T14:13:05.170-06:002014-02-12T14:13:05.170-06:00I am Carol Ann, and I have met only one Carol in m...<i> I am Carol Ann, and I have met only one Carol in my life whose middle name was not Ann.<br /><br /></i>Carroll O'Connor?MadisonManhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01212179466758420208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-66057322851350075222014-02-12T13:56:45.839-06:002014-02-12T13:56:45.839-06:00I blame considerations of euphony and the modern p...I blame considerations of euphony and the modern preference to give girls names with three or more syllables. When you give a long first name, a short middle name gives the combo better rhythm. And as it happens, "Ann" is one of the relatively few anodyne feminine monosyllable names.Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10138276375040381842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-61373385614886092862014-02-12T12:31:23.261-06:002014-02-12T12:31:23.261-06:00That made me laugh. I am Carol Ann, and I have met...That made me laugh. I am Carol Ann, and I have met only one Carol in my life whose middle name was not Ann.Ctmom4https://www.blogger.com/profile/08128317047887374047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-3751790782865387052014-02-12T11:03:32.859-06:002014-02-12T11:03:32.859-06:00From the great Saki:
"Is your maid called Fl...From the great Saki:<br /><br /><i>"Is your maid called Florence?"<br /><br /> "Her name is Florinda."<br /><br /> "What an extraordinary name to give a maid!"<br /><br /> "I did not give it to her; she arrived in my service already christened."<br /><br /> "What I mean is," said Mrs. Riversedge, "that when I get maids with unsuitable names I call them Jane; they soon get used to it."<br /><br /> "An excellent plan," said the aunt of Clovis coldly; "unfortunately I have got used to being called Jane myself. It happens to be my name." </i><br /><br />The whole (delightful) story is <a href="http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/SecSin.shtml" rel="nofollow">here</a>.Michelle Dulak Thomsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18041391162535875301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-26811089551715205392014-02-12T10:58:47.432-06:002014-02-12T10:58:47.432-06:00Ann, so you were "triple A" Althouse! Wh...Ann, so you were "triple A" Althouse! What's not to like?<br /><br />I doubt that my parents chose my middle name for euphony. Who goes around calling anyone "Michelle Kathleen"? <br /><br />It's odd that no one has yet mentioned the old convention of women taking their birth surname as middle name upon marrying. My mom did; she had an existing middle name, but dropped it for her birth surname when she married my dad. <br /><br />Michelle Dulak Thomsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18041391162535875301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-51128580178226636522014-02-12T10:46:07.032-06:002014-02-12T10:46:07.032-06:00I grew up wishing I'd had a 3-syllable first n...I grew up wishing I'd had a 3-syllable first name that began with "a," like Alison or Amanda.<br /><br />Much, much later, I realized my parents had essentially given me that 3-syllable name: Ann Adair. If it were bunched together, it would be hard to see correctly for pronunciation. Annadair. Also, you'd need something else for the middle name. Too much clutter.<br /><br />They liked Ann Adair so much that they overdid talking about it, causing me to reject it. I was told many times that if I become a movie star or something, my name could/should/would be Ann Adair (dropping the Althouse). <br /><br />That rubbed me the wrong way for reasons that are hard to understand now.<br /><br />Maybe when I started the blog, I should have called it: Ann: A Dare. Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-3157548301943309352014-02-12T10:39:52.571-06:002014-02-12T10:39:52.571-06:00"Everyone in my family has last names as midd..."Everyone in my family has last names as middle names."<br /><br />My middle name — also my father's middle name — is a last name: Adair.<br /><br />It was his mother's doctor's name, and my father was the first baby he delivered.Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-8957655761559488432014-02-12T09:51:25.255-06:002014-02-12T09:51:25.255-06:00No-one in at least 4 generations of women in my fa...No-one in at least 4 generations of women in my family has had the name Ann or any derivatives. And this from a family that uses A for all the middle names. joethefatmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02362044843807995663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-20656140843195736552014-02-12T09:15:46.633-06:002014-02-12T09:15:46.633-06:00Also Christine. Anne Christine works better than e...Also Christine. Anne Christine works better than either by itself, and Christine Anne does not work at all.Hagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05011701168912339784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-19568609013618894672014-02-12T09:02:22.994-06:002014-02-12T09:02:22.994-06:00In southern Norway, Anne, Marie, and Tonette have ...In southern Norway, Anne, Marie, and Tonette have been popular "middle" names for at least 4 centuries.<br />The man is right, they are euphonious.Hagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05011701168912339784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-79173953005136758502014-02-12T08:51:38.925-06:002014-02-12T08:51:38.925-06:00Everyone in my family has last names as middle nam...<i>Everyone in my family has last names as middle names.</i> <br /><br />Ditto for my kid - four last names, two from each of their parents. It goes: MMM maiden name, PPM maiden name, M last name, P last name (M=Maternal, P=Paternal). (Or, I guess MMMP, PPMP, MP, P). Bruce Haydenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10815293023158025662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-54842258062177811382014-02-12T08:50:58.588-06:002014-02-12T08:50:58.588-06:00My family has the quaint tradition of not giving t...My family has the quaint tradition of not giving the daughters a middle name at birth; the point of which was that the last name became the middle name once said daughter got married. So among my generation of females, Kathleen, Susan, Polly, Sally, Katy, and Molly, with not a single middle name between us. <br /><br />Meanwhile, the male offspring all got cool family middle names: Harding, Slayton, Miner... <br /><br />Interestingly enough, each gal who has had daughters has continued the tradition. I love my family, but I sure got tired of putting in NMI on official forms. Stoutcathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990951911078504078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-87430374048676322112014-02-12T08:45:39.222-06:002014-02-12T08:45:39.222-06:00Nobody ever says "Bob is my middle name."...<i>Nobody ever says "Bob is my middle name."<br /><br />When I lived in Tyler, Texas, everyone's middle name was Bob.</i><br /><br />When one of my brothers and I were both living in Austin, I figured we needed to start using Texas names. My four brothers all have/had the types of names that can be used that way. Mine, not so much. The one brother with "Robert" as a middle name got it shortened to "Bob". Still use it to this day on occasion, though I left there almost 15 years ago.<br /><br />It was a generational thing for Robert, and probably Ann too. There is a web site where you put in a name, and it graphs it over time, going back maybe 150 years. And, up until the Baby Boom, Robert was inevitably in the top several names. I can think of maybe a dozen Roberts I have either a blood or blood/marriage relationship with. It is so bad that one of my great grandfathers was Robert William X, son of Robert Robert X (unless I have it backwards). Welsh, of course. Wife's parents and the other grandparents of her oldest grandchildren are both Bob and X. Her father is Bob, along with her best friend. Etc. Expect that the only reason that it was used as a middle name, and not a first name, in my family is that my mother's sister married a Bob, and my mother clashed with him for almost 60 years. Bruce Haydenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10815293023158025662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-69857028392227173312014-02-12T08:43:49.508-06:002014-02-12T08:43:49.508-06:00Everyone in my family has last names as middle nam...Everyone in my family has last names as middle names. My daughter's middle name is my Mom's Mom's maiden name. My middle name (and my Dad's) is my great-great-grandfather's last name. Mom's middle name was her Dad's Mom's maiden name. My sister's middle name is Mom's maiden name. My Son's name is my wife's maiden name. And so on.<br /><br />Not an Ann or a Bob anywhere to be found!MadisonManhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01212179466758420208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-4945927455585964352014-02-12T08:28:41.059-06:002014-02-12T08:28:41.059-06:00Any name is better than a "goofy fuckin' ...Any name is better than a <b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo8CrY_ZfFk" rel="nofollow">"goofy fuckin' boy's name"</a></b> like Tanner Colby.Wincehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15002449963597087316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-29105358984504355892014-02-12T08:28:09.723-06:002014-02-12T08:28:09.723-06:00My poor sainted mother. She was born as D. Ann, ne...My poor sainted mother. She was born as D. Ann, never liked D., and somewhat liked Ann, so maybe when she was in her late 60s or so, I got tired of this, and spent a year or so addressing her as Ann. I knew plenty of people who had changed their names up a bit (including my paternal grandfather, who had done just this, reversing first and middle names), and figured it was better to just do it, and to keep whining. Besides, I thought that it was humorous. My poor, humor impaired mother, did not. Bruce Haydenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10815293023158025662noreply@blogger.com