One of my favorite questions I’ve ever asked of Magpies on Instagram: who were you named after? The stories that gathered were incredible: women named after plucky grandmothers, women named after places, even — and I wrote about this here — women named after near-strangers, the ones who left outsized impressions on our parents. (One Magpie wrote that she was named after “a smart, can-do woman my dad knew in college.” Can you even?! The warm laundry feeling this gives me! The way — just by being our truest selves — we can draw people in, leave a lamp lit. I wonder if that woman knows the legacy she left just by virtue of being herself?)
I’m curious today: who were you named after? Do you feel that your namesake has predisposed or shaped your life in any way? Why or why not?
For my part, Jennifer was both a family name and a trendy one. Jennifer was the most popular baby name the year I was born, 1984, which I have to imagine in part shaped my naming, but I also had a great-great aunt nicknamed “Jennie” (the “ie” spelling, which I also inherited during the brief window of time in which I went by the abbreviation), and she even — idiosyncratically — had a set of silver, which I have also since inherited, engraved with the moniker. Jennie on a silver soup spoon! Can you imagine? Avant-garde in its own way. I know next to nothing about her but this little wayward detail about the engraving speaks to me. The fact that we have somehow lost, in the course of a few generations, the family history related to this woman is yet another imploration to write things down. Especially the small, fine details. I wrote this post about my grandfather for this reason: to go toe to toe with the inevitable erosion of memory. I want to remember the gumdrops and the dashing hats and the way he counted iambic pentameter on his fingers over lunch (no caesar salads permitted). If you have a few minutes today, take a blank page of paper and write down whatever you remember about your grandmother, your aunt, your favorite distant cousin. The candy they kept stocked in their pantry, the smell of their soap, the off-color joke they told that one time in the backyard at the family reunion. One day, these details will be as valuable as anything else you could imagine inheriting.
But, to the point at hand: please share the provenance of your name! How do you feel about it? What story does it carry?
Post-Scripts.
+More talk about names here — p.s.: the comments are a great resource if you’re expecting a baby and in the naming conversation. We talk about names we love, the names of the kindest people we’ve met, “hot guy” names, and more.
+On being a joyful witness in motherhood.
Shopping Break.
+New favorite denim silhouette. Also come in petite, which I own! Super flattering on the leg thanks to that twist seam.
+While you’re there: Shopbop is running a 20% off sale, and I spent a lot of time sifting through the listings to narrow down to the best gems:
THE BEST OSFA SWIMSUIT (THIS COLOR!!!) WITH A PUNCHY COVERUP
SPRING WEDDING GUEST (OR LAST-MINUTE EASTER): THIS OR THIS
THE PRETTIEST TOP FOR SPRING (DREAMIEST LIGHTWEIGHT, PERFECT FOR TUCKING INTO JEANS)
+If you want to do a deeper dive, I organized all my sale picks here: The Daytime Edit, Spring Dresses, and Beach/Pool Edit.
SPRING DRESS EDIT (20% OFF)
+Julia Amory re-released her Jane dress in the most gorgeous seaglass green for spring. Swooning. I own this in a marigold color and the fit is absolutely perfect. Pair with one of these Lizzie Fortunato necklaces. I have invested in a few of these over the years and I get so much wear out of them. Even just layered over an inexpensive white tee (<< my favorite white tee under $20), they completely make an outfit.
+My friend Erin releases similar necklace styles for under $100 in small batches — waiting for this one to restock, but this one is really fun for spring, layered over a tee or patterned dress! I also really love these heart cord necklaces, somehow on sale for $19. Great for layering.
+Ordered several sets of these peony print cocktail napkins — art!!! These and other pretty spring finds for home and family here. These are SO DELICIOUS.
+A favorite polished athleisure top layer. I love the length — a little longer, nearly covers the rear. These performance-material half-zips are great for actual athletic wear (tennis, walking, hiking, etc). I actually got that one in the pink gingham but my daughter co-opted it for her new golf hobby! (In the XXS, it actually fits her, too!) I’ve been scrambling to find golf attire for her, and I came across great options at Gap and Target for reasonable prices. Any recs for girls golf polos? My daughter’s not super into the frilly stuff but I want something more interesting than a plain white. I’ve been saving all the best golf/tennis girls gear I’ve found here in case you’re on a similar journey.
+On the tennis front: my son in these shorts carrying this tennis racquet bag to his tennis lessons is…I can’t even deal with how cute he is. (I buy these performance polos in white whenever they go on sale, BTW. Good quality, simple, logo-less. The court he plays at has strict rules – he has to wear all white, no color allowed!)
+Two fabulous dressy spring coats for layering over cocktail wear / dressier outfits: this lace and this collarless style.
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Sometimes I’m told it’s after Kelly green (a forever favorite color) and sometimes I’m told my mom saw it on the news
Both inviting origin stories :). xx
I’m also a Jennifer! My mom loved the name (due to its popularity in the 70s & 80s) and said she knew if she ever had a girl, she would name her Jennifer. Funny enough, her name is Virginia (she is named after her grandmother), yet she goes by Jenny. When people hear we’re Jenny and Jennifer, they automatically assume she’s also Jennifer.
That is so fun! What a great connection to your mom. Love her devotion to the tree of names Jen/Jenny/Jennifer!
xx
My mom liked my name after hearing it on a soap opera, which cracks me up. My middle name (Diane) is after her best friend, who died just weeks before I was born under very tragic circumstances. It’s always felt like an honor to carry her name. It’s may be part of the reason why I didn’t legally change my name when I got married. I frequently use my husband’s last name, and initially thought I would take my maiden name as my middle name, but I never did the paperwork!
I love the soap opera start! So charming, really, that your name was part of your mom’s imaginative landscape / what she enjoyed watching and reading at the time. And so beautiful that you carry Diane in your name!
xx
I was named after the Van Gogh painting bc it was my parents’ favorite. I think they had romantic ideas about me being different like the lone white iris, ha! Like Melanie, I also hated my name as a kid because it was so different; I just wanted to be a Kimberly or Elizabeth! But then I got older and did actually become a bit of a contrarian and now I love my name. I think I’ve grown into it quite well.
On a related tangent— although I was happy to change my last name when I got married, particularly to have the same name as my daughter, I sometimes miss my maiden name (it is also pretty uncommon). My work friends still use it sometimes as a nickname, and it feels like a warm hug whenever I hear it. I wonder if anyone else feels the same?
OMG love the art provenance of your name! And the idea that your parents had a strong reaction to the painting and sort of wrote you into it. So beautiful. Your parents seem v. cool 🙂
I do sometimes miss my maiden name. I mean, it was always botched because it was so unusual, but it was also always a conversation starter, and people seemed so curious about the Scandinavian roots! I also liked that it connected me to my big family of seven. We were always “one of the Nurmi girls,” and it made me feel like I belonged to this powerful pack of sisters, which I did 🙂
xx
Aw, how lucky to be rooted in such a strong sense of belonging! What a lovely way to grow up 🙂
I do feel the same!! Something about the flow of my first name maiden last name (plus an abundance of Kelly’s) made people call me by my full name! So at many different times in my life my last name loomed large. I more miss that ease and banter than the name itself. My married last name is clunky to nickname. I still refer to many of my childhood friends by their maiden names.
I do the same with childhood friends!!! You know how Apple / iPhone will occasionally overwrite the names you’ve put in your phone with the names your contacts have put in for themselves? I don’t know how or why this happens so selectively, but I panicked awhile back because I couldn’t find my friend “Tini V.” in my phone. That had been her name FOREVER, since I was 18, and she was gone! Then I realized she must have changed her name in her own settings to her married name — ha!
xx
My middle name comes from my paternal grandmother. She died almost exactly one 1 year before I was born – 1 year and 8 days, if I’m remembering correctly – so I sadly never met her. I love hearing stories about her from my father and cousins. She had a master’s degree in education and a B.S. in chemistry (all this back in like the 1930s!!) and was a middle school math teacher. She was twice widowed – her first husband died from pneumonia when she was pregnant with my uncle, and then her second husband (my grandfather) died suddenly from a heart attack when my father was a young child. I frequently wonder how she handled those deaths, and think about the strength she must have possessed to get through that. She was Catholic and had a strong devotion to Mary, and I wonder if and how her faith helped her.
It’s been fun to think about her this morning – thanks for the prompt!
How beautiful is this?! A real plucky lady! Admiring her from afar — what strength! What a survivalist! Thanks for sharing these notes and wonderings.
xx
I meant to jump into the comments in the last namesake post, since I’m named after my dad! We’ve been discussing being named after significant women, but I’m wondering if other Magpies are named after male relatives. I wouldn’t say I’ve pondered the significance of being named after someone, nor have I had really strong feelings either way about my name – although it is another trendy 80s name (nowhere near as trendy as Jennifer! I can think of at least 5 Jenni/Jenny/Jennies that I graduated with in class of ‘98). I’m assuming my dad was named for St Stephen (big catholic family) but I guess I could ask him! His middle name is after his dad, who died in a car accident before I was born. My oldest shares a middle name with my grandma, one of my aunts, and several of my cousins. I wasn’t particularly close to that grandma, but I was with my aunt, who died of breast cancer two months after my daughter was born. I felt strongly that my daughter should have a name that connects her to my side of the family, since her last name connects her to my husband’s. Somehow I didn’t feel that way about my second, but she was much harder to name in general. Coming up with a second girls name that we both liked was challenging, ha!
I love that your name is an homage to your dad! How special that you carry him with you in your very name. I find that idea very comforting.
Love all the name borrowings in your family! So sweet!
xx
My mom was reading the book Gone With the Wind while she was pregnant with me and she liked the name Melanie. My dad wanted to name me Rene but obviously mom won that argument! As a kid I hated my name. It was too “different” and I always had to correct people who thought I was a Melody. But over the years I came to appreciate it *because* it’s different. I’ve run into very few fellow Melanie’s in either my personal life or professional life and people often comment on how unique it is. I guess mom’s really are always right haha!
Love this and the evolution of your relationship to it! The only constant is change, right? Plus, pretty cool that you have a name inspired by literature!
xx