HEY CITYFAM,
How are you guys? It is Sunday night and I'm sitting here trying to name my ukulele. I got it around New Years and then we left to go to the UK; the whole time we were traveling, I was trying to figure out a name -what would I call it?
I just couldn't land anywhere. Rob mentioned maybe ‘Lucille’ and I was just like, ‘eh, I don't know.’ I tried coming up with all kinds of different names. I finally landed on a name for her tonight. I want to name her Ruby and I don't even know why. What does Ruby even mean? So I looked up the name and it means ‘to love.’ And I decided that I'm going to name her Ruby Lucille. I learned that Lucille actually means light. So her name means ‘love light’. That's so good! It's so fitting.
And it got me to thinking about names and nicknames. How many nicknames have I even had? How do we get those? What are my nicknames? My very first nickname was from my dad. He called me glow worm. I don't even know how long he called me that. When I went to elementary school, they called me Shrimp. Here is a picture of me and some of my best friends growing up when we were in elementary school.
How many nicknames have I even had? How do we get those? What are my nicknames?
So on the right is my friend Suzie. Susie and I are still friends, actually, she's in CityFam Houston. Lisa in the middle and I’m on the left -I was always the shortest. That's why they called me Shrimp. Now I’ve outgrown that nickname; I'm still the shortest, but now nobody calls me that because it just doesn't fit. When in high school, I had the name Malibu. You would think that it would be like Malibu Barbie –which is kind of cute! But, no. They called me Malibu because I drove a 1975 Chevy Malibu that was just humiliating! It was not cute and people would make fun of me for it. So sometimes nicknames are given because people are trying to make fun of us, like Shrimp or Malibu. Other times, it's a term of endearment, like with my dad.
There are some people who have their nicknames their whole life! I went to school with this kid called Scooter Cantrell. He signed his papers in school “Scooter”. Nobody knows what his real name is. Even today!
In general, men actually give each other nicknames more than girls do. And it's usually because men can show a sign of affection and still be masculine. They can still be real manly and give a nickname. Do you think that is true? Think about sports, rappers, and mobsters! You guys probably know “the King” is LeBron James, right? Or like rappers who make up their own nicknames. They just say, “Hey, this is what you're going to call me: L. L. Cool J.” Do you guys even know what LL Cool J is? It actually stands for Ladies-Love-Cool-James! I'm not kidding! Or who is Al Capone (aka Scarface), or Benny Siegel (aka Bugsy)? My dog is named Bugsy -he's gangster!
It's usually because men can show a sign of affection and still be masculine.
My name, Nicole, has a very logical nickname: Nikki. But nobody calls me Nikki. My first name is Genevieve and I went by it when I was young, but nobody could say it. So I ended up going by my middle name, which is Nicole.
There's Bible names kind of like that, right? Saul's name turned into Paul and Sarai’s name turned into Sarah. Both of their new names were a sign of a significant change inside them. There’s a life-changing pivotal moment that happens when that name changes, even when it’s only changed so people can say your name.
My boys do not call me Nicole, their nickname for me is Sue. That makes NO sense, right? It started when they were all in the backseat in their car seats. And we were listening to a Rihanna Remix of “Don’t Stop The Music” which has a part which sounds like “Mama say”. They really thought that this song was all about me, mama. So it got shortened; it went from Mama Susu to then just to Susu, and now it's just Sue. At first it was really, REALLY annoying. I'd say, “Stop. Don't call me that. I don't want to be called that.” And they would do it just to annoy me -they were little bitty kids. Now, I think it's very, very sweet. They’ll even text me, “Hey Sue, can you grab this for me?” And I love that! I think it's really cute when nicknames go from terrible to endearing. For me it’s all about the meaning and heart behind the name.
I think it's a way for us all to be a little affectionate, playful, and silly!
That's really my thinking today. What's a nickname name that you have that really fits you? I think it's a way for us all to be a little affectionate, playful, and silly! I would love for CityFam to be like that, like the kind of friends that you instantly feel a connection with.
I have felt that way in CityFam. I hope you'll have a great week!
So let's go do this!