What's in a name?

Tim (or Timothy) Tyrell-Smith wrote a great blog posting about names "Are you a Kate or Katie" I found it interesting not only from a personal perspective, but also from a professional standpoint.

The implication, regardless of how it was framed, is that being a Kate or a Katie suggests something about you. That you and your supposed opposite are truly two different peas in the same pod.

It got me thinking because I have multiple personalities. Depending on the era we met, I am either, Chrissy, Chris, Little Etz or Christine.

My family calls me Chrissy. I am not sure if it is because I come from a large family of six kids, or what but we tend to add a Y and shorten everyone's name. Cindy, Debbie, Neicy (Denise), Chrissy, Andy and Johnny. Of course there are my kids Rossie and Neddy (Edmund). I also have a few close friends who call my Chrissy.

The majority of people who know me before I got married, refer to me as Chris. Short and sweet. I am little Etz to my sister's friends (i.e. Big Etz, and Etz were already taken) Etzler being my maiden name, by close friends and sorority sisters.

Shortly after I got married my sister in law Cynthia (sometimes Cyth, never Cyndy) made the comment "Chris Smith, sounds like you are saying Christmas with a lisp." It was a combination of that comment and a mother in law who didn't believe in shortening names - (Mark, Cynthia, Pamela, David) that helped me make the switch to Christine.

I have always been a fan of nicknames. I tried to go with Tina for a short while, but since my name was not Christina, it was hard going to get the name to catch on. I went through that phase after my sister Cindy asked to be called Thea - very dramatic. She wouldn't answer to anything else. At least until Dad came home and told her If he wanted a Thea, he would have named her Thea.

I tend to address people by their formal names, especially if they introduce themselves as such. I don't change Michael or Mike or Theodore to Ted. It is a pet peeve of mine when people call me Chris, especially after I tell them my name is Christine, especially in business settings.

My husband says that it is time to start calling my younger brother John, since he is an adult. But, back with my family at Christmas, I find myself falling into the natural order of things and dropping the y's everywhere. But isn't that what home is for?