Jinjer 41: Felicity Nicole 8 lb 3 oz

[BernRul]

I'm an early 90s baby and my middle name is Marie. I have at least three cousins with the same middle. It's not a family name--that's just how common Marie was at the time we were born. I once asked my mom why she used Marie (maybe because of the Mary connection, since we're Catholic) and she said "Oh, I don't know, middle names don't matter." 

When I went to school Lauren, Katie, and Brittany were the most popular girl names. For some reason, there were no boy equivalents, at least where I grew up. Boys had classic names like Tommy, Danny, and Mike. 

[IntrinsicallyDisordered]

1 hour ago, itqitc said:

My maiden name is very unique, only 40 people or so have it in the country so I got a very common first name/middle name Melissa Marie.  Late 70's baby.  

 

Marie was my grandmother's name, all the girls in my family have it as a middle name. 

 

 

Also a late 70s baby and I knew quite a few Melissas.  The most common names in my age group were Jennifer and Jessica though, several in every class.  Heather and Megan were also very popular.  

My own name is very uncommon (I have never encountered anyone else in person that shares it, though I have seen a couple online).  I don't remember ever wanting to have another, more common name but my sister is in the same boat and has been talking about changing it since she was 8.

I like the name Felicity.  Glad everyone seems healthy and safe.  

[Pinkdrink]

Late 80s baby here and in my class in school I was one of 4 Ciaras which was  fairly strange as there were only about 15 of us in the class (small country school)

One of the Ciaras ( pronounced key-a-rah, I don't understand when I see people pronouncing it Sierra lol) had the same surname as me and also had a sister called Caoimhe who was in my sister Caoimhes class which led to confusion all around.

There was a fair lack of imagination in 1980s ireland lol, most of my friends were called Aoife, Niamh, Aine or Grainne.

[finnlassie]

1 hour ago, Pinkdrink said:

Late 80s baby here and in my class in school I was one of 4 Ciaras which was  fairly strange as there were only about 15 of us in the class (small country school)

One of the Ciaras ( pronounced key-a-rah, I don't understand when I see people pronouncing it Sierra lol) had the same surname as me and also had a sister called Caoimhe who was in my sister Caoimhes class which led to confusion all around.

There was a fair lack of imagination in 1980s ireland lol, most of my friends were called Aoife, Niamh, Aine or Grainne.

A lot of the male Irish dudes I know are either Niamh or have a sibling named Niamh. I guess almost every nation goes through a "every kid is named this" phase.

 

At one point in Finland in the early 2000s, a new name Lumia emerged, thought to be a version of Lumi (which means snow). Well, too bad for those girls now, thanks to Nokia/Microsoft there's a phone mobile phone line named Lumia. But I suppose it isn't the worst connection they could have lol. Yrjö, Finnish version of George, also means puke/purging. You can sure guess that it's fallen out of fashion and HARD.

[AmericanRose]

I didn't think passing on middle names was common, but now that I'm thinking about it, I just realized my aunt passed her middle name on as her first daughter's middle name, and gave her second daughter her mother's name as her middle. The same grandmother also gave my mother her MIL's name as her middle.

I'm an 80s baby, and my middle name is Rose, which is what I go by (my first name is an 'old lady' name that people have trouble pronouncing... somehow. Edit. Eatit.). My classes always had tons of Ashley's, Jessica's, and Sara/h's, and at graduation I realized that Marie and Lynn were the go-to middle names!

[Letizia]

3 hours ago, itqitc said:

My maiden name is very unique, only 40 people or so have it in the country so I got a very common first name/middle name Melissa Marie.  Late 70's baby.  

 

Marie was my grandmother's name, all the girls in my family have it as a middle name. 

 

 

Time to share my Melissa story. 

Whenever I hear the name Melissa I think of my horrible 6th grade teacher. She was born in the 50’s when Melissa wasn’t common. Her mother didn’t give her a middle name because she thought Melissa was so much prettier than any other name that there was nothing that was worthy of Melissa. She hated the lack of a middle name because when she was in high school monogramming was super popular and she didn’t have a middle name so she had to make up an initial. 

To continue the drift, this woman loathed me. I was always a really fast reader and the best in the class when it had anything to do with reading. I give credit to all the sugar and caffeine my parents gave me from pretty much the start of my life. When you are on a caffeine and sugar high sleep doesn’t come quickly so I read a lot at night. So on the first day of 6th grade she wanted everyone to quietly read a short story and then we were going to be quizzed to test our comprehension. It was super easy and as usual I finished first. The teacher made a huge scene and refused to believe I could have possibly read the story and comprehended what it was about. All my classmates started to defend me because they all knew reading was my thing. She still wasn’t listening so .I then proceeded to provide every detail about that stupid story. Instead of admitting she was wrong she got mad because my play by play had ruined the quiz and sent me to the principal’s office. Unfortunately for her this was a super small school (525 students from pre-K to 12) and the principal knew what a good reader I was. From that moment on anytime I received any sort of award or recognition I would bump into her and she would make some joke about being so surprised that I wasn’t stupid after all. 

Still drifting.....This horrid creature sadly had a last named that rhymed with bitchy so naturally we all called her Mrs Bitchy behind her back. At the time I had an obsession with an old baby name book my mother had so I knew Melissa meant “honey bee.” Never one to miss a chance to be passive aggressive and petty “The Bee” became my nickname for her. It really took off and we used it whenever we could. For instance upon entering the classroom she was often greeted with things like,”The Bee is back!”. Unbeknownst to her my classmates and I knew the proper spelling of the nickname was “The B”. However I enlightened her at my HS graduation where she made a joke about being surprised I got into the college I planned on attending. Unfortunately for her that day I not only graduated from HS but I graduated from being passive aggressive to regular aggressive so I responded,”B was for bitch, not for honey bee.Buzz off.” 

[Kittikatz]

@finnlassie interesting about Lumia being a relatively new Finnish name  - and it's alternate Spanish meaning. A good friend of mine is a descendant of a family that immigrated from Sicily. One of her middle names is Lumia - it was the name of her maternal grandmother's family and in Sicily it apparently denoted someone who made their living growing/selling lemons. 

[Glasgowghirl]

No one in my year at Primary or High School had my name, a few girls the year below did though. I was born in the late 80s for girls Nicola, Louise, Danielle and Amanda were common in my year. For boys Ryan, Paul, Christopher, James and Stephen were popular. 

Kayden, Aidan and Jayden are popular names here. My nephew is friend's with two Kayden's an Aidan and has a cousin called Jayden. It gets confusing if the are all together. His name is not anything like those. I had Aidan as a possible name but I doubt I'll use it now down to it being overused. 

[Tenyari]

Jinjer was the one of the Duggars who dared to dream big (at least by fundie standards). Here's to hoping that little Felicity will grow up to dream even bigger and see her own dreams come true.

[lumpentheologie]

I'm so impressed that you folks know other people's middle names! I'm curious how---did people talk about it or go by their middle names as well as their first names? 

I could tell you maybe 8 people's middle names and they're all family. I'm not totally sure what my best friend's middle name is. The relationship I was in before this one lasted for 5 years and I don't think I ever knew his middle name. I haven't the faintest idea what the middle names of people I went to high school with were. People I know just don't seem to talk about them, and I never ask. 

Maybe I'm just bad at names though.  Once I dated a guy for two years (fairly casually, but still) before learning his last name. 

[SapphireSlytherin]

I'm Southern (USA). Middle names are an important part of our culture. We were frequently called by our full names, even at school, and many of my friends went by their middle names instead of their first names.

Examples:  

Melissa Sue! Get over here!

Melanie Lee! How are you?

Michael Don - where have you been?

Brett Alan! Did you see that?

 

Also: 

James Christopher went by Chris; Lisa Renee went by Renee; Melissa Jane went by Jane, etc. 

 

I could probably tell you the middle names of 90% of my high school class of 250+.

 

[PurpleCats]

My mother insisted on giving me her middle name. My dad hated it but I’m pretty ambivalent.  Thankfully, my first and middle are too much of a mouthful to say together. 

[Tenyari]

In Croatia, people don't really have middle names, most people have just one name in all the documents, except for the people with like 2-3 first names. Some people have a Christian name, but that's not in any official documents, just something in your church that you get when you're Christened and your parents pick it out for you.

 

Also, I just wanted to go through the JinJer tag on Tumblr and I typed in "Jinger Dinger" by accident because I was multitasking and apparently got distracted and my brain went there for some reason. Jinger Dinger. Jinger Danger? Sounds like a western heroine. 

[ElephantPatronus]

When I was born, my mom put both my first and middle names on the first name line-she always claimed that it was intentional, but it was the 70’s and I firmly believe she was doped up post-childbirth and just made a mistake. As a result, any official documents have my full name listed instead of first name-middle initial-last name, because according to my birth certificate, I have 2 first names and no middle name. While it’s only a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things, it still drives me a bit crazy that I always have to sign my full name. When my sister had one of my nieces and gave her my “middle” name, she thought about doing the same thing (“we’ll make it a family tradition!”) I was successful in convincing her to use that middle name line on the birth certificate.

[sparklymagie]

10 hours ago, NotQuiteMotY said:

Same boat here. Not currently expecting, but all of our planned baby names are family names. Currently my sister-in-law is pregnant, planning on using family names, and I'm pretty sure using the same first name we were thinking of for a girl if we ever have one. Wouldn't be quite as bad if it weren't for the fact that she might be thinking of using the same middle name, too, based on comments she's made! Add in that we're talking about trying for a second soon and, well, it might be interesting since that name was basically the only girl name my husband and I could agree on.

Using family names makes things so much more interesting, doesn't it?

I'll admit it -- I had a cousin who had a little girl and named her my very favorite girl name. Then my husband's cousin had a girl and named her the same name. It's not a family name on either side. But we barely ever see either cousin so when I had a girl, I gave her this name. I just didn't think seeing these cousins once every 4 or 5 years was a sufficient reason to lose out on me using my favorite name. 

[Ais]

8 hours ago, Pinkdrink said:

Late 80s baby here and in my class in school I was one of 4 Ciaras which was  fairly strange as there were only about 15 of us in the class (small country school)

One of the Ciaras ( pronounced key-a-rah, I don't understand when I see people pronouncing it Sierra lol) had the same surname as me and also had a sister called Caoimhe who was in my sister Caoimhes class which led to confusion all around.

There was a fair lack of imagination in 1980s ireland lol, most of my friends were called Aoife, Niamh, Aine or Grainne.

Claire/Clare, Catriona, Emma and Aisling make up a good proportion of 1980s Irish names too lol

[Front Hugging Fiend]

1 hour ago, Tenyari said:

Also, I just wanted to go through the JinJer tag on Tumblr and I typed in "Jinger Dinger" by accident because I was multitasking and apparently got distracted and my brain went there for some reason. Jinger Dinger. Jinger Danger? Sounds like a western heroine. 

I don't know if anyone else has acknowledged it yet, but Jinger Dinger is hilarious and I nearly choked on my chips when I read that. Thank you for the belly laugh!

 

I haven't commented on the baby's name yet but I love Felicity Nicole. It just seems that bit more elegant than what I expected from a Duggar baby. 

[GeoBQn]

My name is one of the lesser-used variants of the "names ending in i" craze of the 1980's.  I think there were only 2 other girls with the same name at my school at any given time.  It's uncommon to the point that when I finally saw a movie with a character that had my name, I started looking around thinking that someone was trying to get my attention.  When I tell people my name, I get one of two reactions:  1.  "What a pretty name!  I've never heard it before!  How did your parents think of it?" 2.  "What's your real name?  No, what's your REAL name?  No, what's the name on your birth certificate?"

Most common girls names in my grade at school:  Emily, Stephanie, Ashley, Amanda, Lindsey, Julie, Heather

Any given year at my Jewish summer camp, my unit would have about 4 Sarahs, 4 Rachels, 3 Rebeccas, 2 Leahs, 2 Shiras.  For some reason, there weren't many Deborahs or Miriams.

[PennySycamore]

I have the same middle name as my paternal grandmother.  I didn't much like it until I discovered that it had been passed down through 6 generations.  The name was actually the middle name of the first wife of my 6th great-grandfather and, in her case, it was her mother's maiden name.  My dad had always wondered if this great grandfather was part of their lineage and one of the clues that he was was right there in plain sight in the uncommon middle name of his mother.

[lumpentheologie]

My middle name is my mother's maiden name: something like Richardson.  I know several other women who also have their mother's maiden name for a middle name, but no one would ever call any of us by that. (Well, my mother did yell my full name when I was really in trouble, but other than that.)

Maybe that's more of a thing outside of the South, if there people actually call you by your middle name? 

[Glasgowghirl]

I don't have my first names picked for my kids yet but I have my middle names chosen for a boy John and Thomas, both my grandfather's names. For a girl Elizabeth after my great aunt. I prefer to use family names as middle names than first names. On my dad side their are about 10 John's, my dad broke the tradition of naming his son John buy calling my brother, David. He has always been known as Ian, he didn't know his name was John until his teacher called him John first day at school. His younger sister was Ellen Marie but they called her Lynn. My gran has said that her mum put her off registering my aunt as Lynn saying it wasn't a proper name. 

 

 

 

[melon]

My mother had a common German name,common at the time.She said there were four girls in her class,who also had her name.

My aunt,her sister,has a common,for the time,name and hated it...everyone has always called her the short nickname of her full name.

My name is a common classic name.My brothers all have common classic names,too.All of our names can be made into a shorter common nickname.My mother insisted that we use our full name.If someone called and asked for "Beth" instead of "Elizabeth"....she would say"That's not your name.Your name is _________".But,Mr Melon has always used the shorter version of my name.My full first name has 9 letters.

As for my middle name,I have always hated it.In our family,it was common to use a surname as a middle name.My grandmother was named after her grandmother,who died at 52,she had her grandmother's first name,then her grandmother's maiden name as her middle name.Her grandmother was known by her nickname,so that's what my grandmother was called...she hated this version of her name.Fannie....she said it wasn't a name for a little girl,it was what you call a behind...lol....so she insisted on using her full name,Frances.I hate my middle name because it sounds like a man's name.It was one of my grandfather's names and the name he used...my grandfather had five names.A friend of the family,a former senator then his grandfather's name.

I dropped that sucker,my middle name ,when I got married.I never cared much for common first names or common middle names...I tried to avoid them when I had my sons.My boys names according to some chart I found,were more common in the 70's and they were all born in the 80's.

[SamiKatz]

15 hours ago, LilMissMetaphor said:

Has anyone mentioned Felicity Shagwell?

In my heart of hearts, I wish I looked like Heather Graham.  I think she's gorgeous.

[ViolaSebastian]

12 hours ago, Pinkdrink said:

Late 80s baby here and in my class in school I was one of 4 Ciaras which was  fairly strange as there were only about 15 of us in the class (small country school)

One of the Ciaras ( pronounced key-a-rah, I don't understand when I see people pronouncing it Sierra lol) had the same surname as me and also had a sister called Caoimhe who was in my sister Caoimhes class which led to confusion all around.

There was a fair lack of imagination in 1980s ireland lol, most of my friends were called Aoife, Niamh, Aine or Grainne.

Interestingly enough, I once worked with a Ciara who pronounced it as Sierra. 

[VelociRapture]

2 hours ago, sparklymagie said:

I'll admit it -- I had a cousin who had a little girl and named her my very favorite girl name. Then my husband's cousin had a girl and named her the same name. It's not a family name on either side. But we barely ever see either cousin so when I had a girl, I gave her this name. I just didn't think seeing these cousins once every 4 or 5 years was a sufficient reason to lose out on me using my favorite name. 

My sister did something similar with her second son. His first name, William*, was one she had loved for the longest time. Like over a decade long. Her husband has a maternal cousin that used William a few years ago for his son, but they live several states away and they really don’t have contact with them at all. So my sister and BIL went ahead with William as their son’s first name. 

Now, little William’s middle name is another story. They picked a family name on my side, Henry*, for his middle name. My sister and I have both loved that name for the longest time (again, over a decade) and one of us was bound to use it for a boy somehow. Husband and I have opted not to use that name if we have a son now because of how close we are to them and because our first kids already accidentally have the same start to their first names (Samuel and Sara* - my BIL and I both gave the kids our middle names as their first names and they’re coincidentally pretty similar.) We don’t want to look like we’re copying them and we’re just happy one of the kids has that name, so we have a running list of names we like and we have two we’re most likely to use.

*Names changed for privacy.