Baby Naming:
or how I learned to live with my name
by Maria Trimarchi (with a little help from Tripod's homepage publishers...)
I do not have a baby, I am not interested in having a baby, and I don't plan on having a baby. However, I am totally interested in naming babies and the meaning of names. Take my name, for example: Maria Lynne Trimarchi. MLT. Mutton, lettuce and tomato. If you've seen the movie The Princess Bride, you know what I'm talking about, and I must say that people need to stop and think twice before they ask me if the tomatoes are nice and perky. It was funny when Billy Crystal said it as Miracle Max, but it's really not funny when you say it. I did not like my name as a child.
Maria, a girl's name of Egyptian/Hebrew origin, means: The perfect one; bitter; with sorrow. Its ethnic backgrounds include Greek, Czech, Polish, Italian, Russian, Hungarian, Hispanic, Swiss, and Swedish. Maria is the 48th most popular girl's name. 100% of people with this name spell it "Maria." With popularity like that, one might think people would know how to pronounce it.
The only other name that I hear my parents remotely considered was Catherine.
Catherine, a girl's name of Greek origin, means: Pure. Catherine's ethnic backgrounds include English/Welsh, French, and Scottish. 16% of people with this name spell it "Catherine." Or, perhaps they would have spelled it Katherine. Katherine, a girl's name of Greek origin, means: One of purity; beloved. Katherine's ethnic backgrounds include Scottish. Katherine is the 12th most popular girl's name. And 52% of people with this name spell it "Katherine."
Either way, I could have been called Kate or Katie which is much more of a kid name than Maria.
It's important for me that my name is pronounced correctly. My name is not Marie, Mariah, or Mary. Everyone knows how to pronounce Kate. When you're a shy little kid who doesn't have a little kid name, you dread meeting new people (like substitute teachers!) who stumble over your first name and then totally wreck your last name. I certainly would never have guessed Maria to be the 48th most popular name — it's been my experience that the name Maria is a foreign word for most.
So for all of you expectant parents, remember back when you were in elementary school and how you reacted to kids who were not named Jenny or Chris — and don't pain your own child. If you're expecting a girl, name her Maria and she can grow up to be like me, bitter. After all, it's in the name.
Now that you've checked out all these great baby pages built by Tripod members (assuming you were smart enough to click on the links), aren't you just itching to build your own? Funny you should mention it, because with Tripod's fabulously easy Baby Page Builder, you can! No programming needed, we promise, it's just point and click. (Our designers and programmers already did all the work for you.) So what are you waiting for? Start building!
Community Editor Maria Trimarchi is Tripod's member content queen.
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