Life Matters

There seems to be no end to the stories behind the names of Life Matters listeners. It's been fascinating to read the guestbook entries and emails prompted by our program on Friday on names.

There were many wonderful letters but this is our selection from this week:

Flloyd Kennedy: What's in a Name
I have been most uncomfortable with my name for my whole life, in spite of the fact that I only ever receive compliments for it. I was named after an aunt, who received the name because my grandmother decided that Floyd would be a pretty name for a girl if it were spelt with two 'l's. This would have been around 1912.

I was only ever called "Flloydie" when I was a child, to distinguish me from Auntie Flloyd. Since adulthood, it's always Flloyd, which still sounds to me as if my mother is cross with me.

I decided some years ago that the problem lies in the lack on a sense of belonging to a community. In days gone by, people named their children in order to include them within the family or society. Thus my first-born son is named Iain, for his paternal grandfather, and his son has been named Neil, for his paternal grandfather - a tradition in my husband's family for many, many generations.

Nowadays, I just accept gracefully when, EVERY time my name is heard by someone for the first time, I hear "That's an unusual name" (and I'm not exaggerating, I promise you). I tell the story as my grandmother told me. I am sad to be the only Flloyd in the world (of the female variety), but it is, nevertheless, who I am.

Guests

Further Information

Disobedience by AA Milne
The poem mentioned by Richard Aedy during Your Feedback today

Presenter

Richard Aedy

Producer

Kerrie Jean Ross

Story Researcher and Producer

Tracy Trompf

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