“What’s in a name?  That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

So, apparently there was some discussion when it came to giving me a name.  My parents were going to name me Jennifer Lynne, although at some point my mother wanted to name me Babette.  Her name was Barbara, so she thought “little Barbara” or Babette would be cute.  I can just see it now.  Babs Frohlich.  Wow, if that wouldn’t have gotten me made fun of, nothing would have. Or my married name; Babs Bush.  So many thoughts, so little time. The thing is, I am nothing like my mom, so being “little Barbara” would have been a misnomer.  In the end, music actually won.  My dad heard a song on the radio about a little girl named Judy, and the decision was made.  And so Judy it is.

The job of giving another human being a name is an important one.  It’s something we have for the rest of our lives.  And I don’t know about you, but when we named our boys, our minds changed depending on how old we were and how our tastes had changed.  We decided we wanted all of our kids to have Biblical first names, hence Aaron, David and Jacob.  We had Rebecca and Rachel chosen for the girls we didn’t get.  Anyway, the middle names were tricky.  Aaron’s middle name is Douglas for his dad, David’s is Kendall, just because we thought David K. Bush sounded great with a Dr. in front of it.  And Jacob Tyler just worked.  It had to have a certain rhythm to it. Although J.T Bush sounds more like a used car salesman.  But with the names, we attached hopes as to who these children would become.  Not the used car salesman, however.  Oh, and as a side note, we didn’t plan this, but we were able to teach all of them to spell their names by singing the Bingo song.  Obviously that makes the number of letters in a name important, right?

We choose names based on what we like, maybe after a family member, maybe something that’s unique or popular.  As a teacher, it’s always a little frustrating to have several kids with the same name only spelled three or four different ways.  It’s like parents are trying to send teachers over the edge.  All in the name (no pun intended) of their child being unique.  All of us want our child to be special, but what if the name is so unique that it’s never spelled right?  Or the child can never find a keychain or bike license plate with their name spelled correctly on it?  This can be a total bummer.  Or, if you become so old that your name goes completely out of vogue and you can’t find anything with your name on it anymore.  Like Judy. But I digress….

In my father’s family, the popular name is George.  A nice solid name.  Except just about EVERY male in my family has George as either a first or middle name.  It makes it really hard when you’re trying to figure out the family history.  In my husband’s family, his dad and for many generations before him were all William.  He goes by Pete, by the way.  Another story for another time.

And what happens when you outgrow your name?  I mean, Tiffany is cute if you’re a kid, but it’s hard to imagine an 80 year old Tiffany.  Right now, in certain circles I am being referred to as Judith.  I’ve never been crazy about it, but it sounds a little more distinguished than Judy perhaps.  Someone who could be taken more seriously?  Maybe.  There’s only one person in my entire life who has called me Jude.  And truthfully I kinda like it.  I even have my own song!

What would you rename yourself if you could?  What would it say about you?  Would you remain a Kenny or a Jimmy or change to Ken and Jim as you grew older?  You could name yourself based on the profession you chose.  Celebrities do it, why can’t we?  When I was a kid and my brother and I would play office or store (we were nerds), my made up name was Debbie Walker.  I have no idea why, but it was.  I also only answered to Maid Marion when I was about five, but pretty sure it was in response to my brother being born.  Again, I was a unique child with a not so unique name.  What can I say.

So, I’m pretty sure the point of all this rambling is, no matter what my parents decided to name me, I am who I am.  You can label me Judy or Judith or Jude and I am still who I was meant to be at this time in my life.  And besides, I have met another Judy Bush who turned out to be someone pretty special in my life – my mother in-law!  Don’t you know THAT gets confusing at family gatherings.  And when I see her and think of her name, I see kindness, beauty and wisdom.  So having that name myself may not be such a bad thing after all.