Somewhat inspired by this thread on pet names, I wanted to ask if this had happened to other people.
I discovered my cousins’ dog’s name, Doggy Daddy, was not so quizzical as I had thought growing up. Winterhawk’s response led me to look it up and I discovered it was the name of a canine cartoon character, which I had not known about before.
I also shared this:
I had an uncle who died 2 years ago that we called Uncle Snook (rhymes with Snuke). I thought the name a bit odd, but I’m southern and we make up nicknames all the time. Hell, we make up christian names all the time.
Anyway, I was reading New Yorker Magazine a few months ago and discovered there is a fish called a “snook.” I started putting 2 and 2 together and figured it out. My uncle was raised by my great-aunts and all of them loved fishing, so I’m betting that he probably got the name from them. I asked my older sister, but she doesn’t know for sure.
Not a big deal, but for me the lightbulb that went off reflected brightly on the lore of my past.
Anybody have any names that they wondered about and thought unusual when they were young, and discovered their origin later in life? It could be a family name, a nickname or a pet name.
My brother’s family name is Trips (not Trip, Trips). Some people get the impression that he was perhaps clumsy as a child. I grew up assuming it was because he was a III (as opposed to Jr. or Sr.)
But it’s actually because of a card game my great grandma played which she called Trips (involved having three of a kind). It’s a funny nickname to give to a baby but that’s been his name all his life. I didn’t really know until I was older.
I met some good people in a gathering in Georgia and a friend of my buddy was called Spanky. I asked if it was Spanky, as in Our Gang. They all together laughed and said “No, it’s Spanky as in beat-me-on-the-butt Spanky”. I didn’t know whether to apologize or laugh.
I opted for the latter.